Buying off market deals

[Morgan Granger]

Hi everyone! I have a question about navigating off market deals and how to approach talking to the owner of the property. I was driving for dollars and found a property that looked abandoned so I copied the address and then searched it on the mls when I got home (I’m a local real estate agent). Anywho, I discovered the home had been foreclosed on in 2016 and the lender currently owns the property according to tax records. It seems like a smaller lender so I’m hopefully I will be able to get into contact with them.

My question is, what do I say or ask them once I do get in contact with them and how would I go about making an offer on a property that is off market?

[Steve Morris]

"My question is, what do I say or ask them once I do get in contact with them and how would I go about making an offer on a property that is off market?"

1) Get a title report.  Make sure there are no lis pendens (i.e. pending legal actions).  You do not want to buy a property with a cloud on title

2) If clear, go to the bank (if it is small) and determine who handles REO. Find out who needs to sign-off on a sale. More people = more time.

3) Find out if you can what the takeback amount was.  If it was a simple (i.e. non-judicial foreclosure) then it'll be cheaper than going thru the courts to take it back.

4) Determine your walk-away number. Realize most REO is "as-is" and don't expect repairs as a condition of sale. Also (at least in OR), you'll get something like a Special Warranty Deed (in AL may have a diff name). The bank is ONLY warranting title issues that happened while they owned it. So talk to the title officer to see if anything like recorded easements or if you need extended title (i.e. survey).

5) Call the bank tell them a price and do everything you can to convince this'll be a wham-bam simple transaction (you have enought money to make it happen).  The property has issues, so banks probably want it totally off their books, so don't assume they'll finance unless they have to.