Bank Owned Properties

[Katelyn Montrony]

I am in the Long Island, NY area and there are tons of boarded up homes, When I look into who owns them I am finding it's the bank and then ROAD BLOCK! I am not sure where to go next. No one at the bank will talk to you or give you any information. I am not sure who to contact next. eventually these homes go up for sale and they never make it to the MLS because so many people want them. How can I get a step further from where I have been?

[Mark Elliott]

hi katelyn. boy, i wish i had an answer for you on this one. i have the same issue here in buffalo, ny. there is a house on the next street from me that has been vacant since 2010, and still no foreclosure on it. the bank, as you said, will not even talk to you. why does it take so long to foreclose on a house in new york???? i'll tell you why.......... lawyers. they need to get ever last detail correct or the previous owners can come back on them for the smallest of details. my opinion, if you stopped paying on your house, you loose it. is that so damn hard to understand????? the only advice i can give you is to keep checking with the county clerks office. anytime the bank takes the next step in foreclosure, there has to be a hearing and paperwork to go with it. this paperwork has to be filed with the clerks office and is free to the public to look at. sometimes, and this is a little known secret, banks just give up on a house. they weigh the cost of maintaining it for an extended period of time and legal fees along with it, verses the price they may get out of it in the end. the government puts a limit on how many foreclosures the bank can put back on the market in a year, so the banks are more likely to put the high dollar ones out there as opposed to the cheaper houses. who wouldn't? if you were the banker, you would do the same thing. so, the lesser houses, the banks sometimes just drop the whole deal. they file a release of lien or release of mortgage with the county clerk and they throw out any claim they have to that house. they send a letter to the last known owner that virtually says " here, have your house back". all you have to do then is find that owner. i have personally bought 2 houses that way and i am waiting on a couple more houses that i think that will happen to. do some research on these houses. you might find one hell of a deal. good luck to you