One of the most popular searches on our website is for Luxury Bank Owned Homes and Luxury Distress Sales throughout the Tampa Bay area. There are some great deals to be had out there and you can use these links above to find properties that are active and available now! Start your search here!
Keep in mind that when you are considering such a home that there are many homes on the market that are not distress sales that are priced similarly, many of which need little to no work and can close quickly. If you are considering buying a foreclosure or distress sale home, it is important reason to hire a Realtor who knows the process for buying a distress sale and can navigate you through it smoothly.
A few tips for buying a Bank Owned Luxury Home or Luxury Distress Sale:
1. Hire an Agent with Distress Sale Experience
I have handled many short sale, REO and bank owned transactions and can navigate you through the process. I am also a Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) with training on working with these lenders.
2. Submit Documentation & Purchase Offer to Lender
With short sales, often multiple buyers can submit offers on the same property, thus tying up those buyers for months on end. If you make an offer on a short sale,be prepared to wait. Hire a Realtor who knows how to work the contract properly. When I submit offers for buyers on short sales, I make sure the contract reads that only 1 contract (ours!) may be submitted to the bank until such time that the bank either accepts it or rejects it. With bank owned properties, the bank also generally receives multiple offers. In my experience, many banks are underpricing bank owned properties because they know they’ll get multiple offers often over asking price. If you fall in love with a bank owned property and its underpriced for the area, be prepared that you may have to go slightly over asking to ensure your offer is the one that gets accepted. A good Realtor will pull comparable sales in the area to ensure you are paying a fair price for the home. If the property is overpriced, I will generally send comparable sales attached to the offer to the Seller or Bank in hopes that they realize the true market value of the home.
3. Inspections and Repairs
Once the lender accepts (or they may counteroffer!), you generally will have a chance to conduct inspections if your Realtor wrote this into the offer. However, with some bank owned properties, the bank uses their own contracts and addendums and sells the property “as-is” – meaning without inspections. If this is the case, you need to make sure you have a Realtor who can help you understand the contracts from the bank and make sure your interests are protected.
4. Remember, patience is a virtue.
Banks respond on their own time, and sometimes will collect offers for 2 weeks or more before responding to them on a foreclosed property. With short sales, it can take anywhere from 2 weeks (rare!) to 6 months to receive a response as to whether the lender will agree to the sale. I’ve had some take even longer where there were multiple loans on the home, liens, etc. Again, its in your best interest to hire a Realtor who knows the right questions to ask before you get wrapped up in a short sale purchase for the long haul.
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