Bank owned homes in Bend are for more than the first time homeowner.  The choices in homes that have gone through the foreclosure process vary in price, location, size and style.  There of course are areas that have been hit harder by foreclosures than others but with patience and perseverance you can find just about any type of home you are looking for as a bank owned home or REO (real estate owned).

Bend Bank Owned Homes Under $225,000

Full List of Bend Bank Owned Homes Under $225,000

Remember that bank owned properties are generally priced under market value and priced to sell quickly! Occasionally a bank owned home will go through a price reduction or two before a buyer will write an offer. Remember that when a home is reduced and it excites you, it very well may be exciting others too! If you the home you decide is right for you and it is bank owned, be prepared to act quickly.

Bend Bank Owned Homes OVER $225,000

Full List of Bank Owned Homes OVER $225,000

Bank owned homes in Central Oregon can be anywhere from move in ready to almost needing to be torn down.  Some of these homes have been vacant for a year or more and some of them were just recently vacated.  Many times there is deferred maintenance and sometimes they are pristine.

Unlike Bend Short Sales, you will not wait weeks to months for an answer from the bank.  A bank owned home can move through the purchase process just as it would if the home were a traditional sale.  The bank has already taken their loss and is ready to sell these homes.

Many bank owned homes offer to pay the buyers closing costs right up front and even if they do not many times these costs can be covered when you write your contract.  When purchasing a bank owned home using an agent that understands the area, what is happening in the market and has good relationships with the listing agents that the banks use can make your bank owned home purchase go much more smoothly.

In all honesty the current real estate market in Central Oregon has brought out a series of buyers that vary almost as much as the Central Oregon landscape.  One common thread Realtors® hear no matter what the price point of the buyer or the type of home a buyer might like is that they would like to see foreclosures.  The public knows that a foreclosure is priced below the market value and that they can get more bang for their buck.

You Can’t Buy a Foreclosure!

Foreclosure is a process not a status of a home.  As an experienced real estate agent in Central Oregon, I don’t correct my buyers when they say they want to see foreclosures, I show them Bank Owned Homes or homes that are also known as REOs (Real Estate Owned).  A foreclosure is the process that a bank, homeowner and property go through when the homeowner is behind on the payments.  In Central Oregon most mortgages are actually Trust Deeds, meaning that if you default there will be a process that leads up to a Trustee’s Sale.  Once you are 90 days past due the bank can issue what is called a Notice of Default.  At some point during this process your lender will turn the information about the default out to the public. That is where websites like RealtyTrac, Zillow and Trulia (Zillow and Trulia appear to actually get this information through RealtyTrac) pick up homes that are listed as FORECLOSURES.  These homes are often listed on these sites with a price of half what other homes are selling for or obviously great deals.

It May Not Be For Sale!

This week it became painfully clear to me that the public needs to understand that those websites out there that show homes in the foreclosure process that are not for sale. I was cruising through Trulia and had answered a couple questions that the general public had asked to have answered, something I do occasionally.  (sometimes it is fun to see out of area agents try and explain things from Central Oregon they can be pretty humorous) Then I noticed a common thread, there are a lot of buyers out there looking at these Foreclosure homes and asking for information.  Sometimes the addresses are listed a price and even a photo, why would a buyer not think they could buy this home.

Beware of Owner!

So let’s say that one of those homes really peaked the interest of a buyer.  Saturday rolls around and the family is out for a drive and the parents say, oh that house we saw online last night is in this neighborhood, we should stop and take a look.  They pull into the driveway it appears the house is vacant, the yard is slightly over grown, there seems to be signs of disarray. When people get into financial trouble, they often give up or sink into depression.  Back to our happy buyers, they pull into the driveway, and the kids start running around the yard, mom is working her way around back to look in the kitchen window and dad is heading for the window on the side of the garage, just then he hears a voice (or a gun being chambered) can I help you?

No Sign – No Agent – Generally Means Not For Sale

On these foreclosure properties, the home is generally worth less than is owed, so if the house is for sale, it MOST of the time is listed through a real estate agent.  If this home is not upside down it might be a for sale by owner, or it simply may not be for sale.  Just because a home owner gets behind in their payment does not mean they will lose the property.  Home owners do find ways to bring the payments current, or have the bank modify their loan.

List of BANK OWNED HOMES

La Pine Bank Owned Homes

Three Rivers South Bank Owned Homes

Sunriver Bank Owned Homes

Bend Bank Owned Homes

The Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) is back for selected areas in both Redmond and La Pine, Oregon.   The NSP allows a buyer after going through a specific program a second loan on the purchase of a bank owned home.

In short the NSP program can give you the ability to finance about 99% of the purchase price of your new home.  There of course are specific guidelines but for the right buyer this is an awesome opportunity to have about 20% more buying power.

If you can answer yes to following questions calling or emailing for information on the NSP could be beneficial to you!

• Low to Middle Class income
• Verifiable Income
• Willing to Buy a Bank Owned Property
• 1% of the purchase price for a down payment
• About $1500 for costs associated with buying your home
• Be willing to attend a financing class (1 day class)

I you can say yes to each of the above, and are looking to purchase in Redmond Oregon or La Pine Oregon and a bank owned home would work for you – talking to me about an NSP loan program should be the top of your priority list.

Only some agents and some lenders are qualified to work with this program!

The easy overview of this program is (there are more specifics)

• 20% or up to $35,000 can be borrowed for the purchase of your home.
• 0% interest on this portion of the loan
• 0 payment during the life of the loan
• no pre-payment penalty
• when you sell or refinance you do pay the original loan off

This Home is in The La Pine NSP Area and is Bank Owned

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Your Perfect Home a Short Sale?

You have found the perfect home in Central Oregon, and you discover it is a short sale!  One of the most common questions is…. How long will it take to buy this home?  The answer is not simple; it just depends on a lot of different conditions.

What is a Short Sale?

A short sale (sometimes called a pre-foreclosure) is a home offered for sale at a price that will not pay the entire amount owed to the lender, the closing costs and so on.  So, why or how can someone list the property for less than they owe?  Market conditions, do not support the amount owed on the home.  However there must be a hardship, the bank that is owed the money will not take a loss just because the seller has decided they don’t want to own a home that may have lost value.  History shows that Real Estate trends go up and down today may be a down market – but over time this will change.

The Seller is Upside Down is NOT Reason Enough

If you owe more than you think your home is worth today that is not a good reason to short sale.  If you continue to make your payments and ride the market out the day will come when your home is worth more than you owe.

The home that is on the market today as a short sale can be a great deal, if you are patient.  However statistics show that only about 40% of these transactions actually close escrow.  The reason is not necessarily because of the bank, but that the buyer gets impatient and wants a home they can move into in a shorter period of time.

The agent that has a home listed as a short sale will need to be in constant contact with the bank.  As a buyer your agent can be as on top of things and aggressive as can be but if the seller’s agent does not know what to do or how to do it the buyer can sit and wait in frustration.  More and more agents are educating themselves as to the short sale process and banks seem to be getting through the process a little quicker to.

Personally I do not think the short sale home is the perfect home for a first time home buyer.  A short sale takes time, and the frustration of waiting can kill the excitement of the first time home buyer, not to mention that lending programs change rapidly and the loan you plan to use may no longer be available when you finally get the approval from the bank on the price and terms of the short sale.

Sunriver has not had the number of short sales or bank owned properties that the rest of Central Oregon has seen.  But there are a few great homes to choose from that fall into this category, remember not to limit yourselves to just the bank owned or short sale, a lot of  sellers have lowered their prices to compete with the bank owned and short sales in Sunriver.

Click here for your List of Bank Owned and Short Sale Homes in Sunriver