Bank-owned properties can be great opportunities to buy a home at a fraction of the original or desired asking price----sometimes as high as 50% less than what is owed on the mortgage, and often as high as 30% less than the appraised value.Bank owned properties and the journey one may take to arrive at the closing date is not for the impatient or light-hearted. The Buyer must know, expect, and be prepared for delays, complications and miscommunication.
We've read horror stories of these banks delaying the closing date by months---notifying this new delay on the scheduled closing day! We've heard about Buyers that have moved into their newly purchased bank-owned homes, and coming home from work one day to find a notice taped to the window and the locks changed---all due to misscommunication between the bank and the home's county or city courthouse.
Banks are often nowhere near the homes they have taken over, and they don't or fail to understand the life-rearranging that many couples and families undertake to purchase these homes. Often the necessary steps to an efficient sale and movement of these distressed properties becomes diluted and postponed.
The nation needs to overcome the foreclosure crisis in order to rebuild, but with an overwhelming workload on the part of the banks and lenders---often doubled or tripled---paperwork gets 'misplaced', work is duplicated, and deadlines and closing dates are extended.
Bank-owned has it's advantages, but you have to consider that time is money. How much time will it take to 'hopefully' close on this bank-owned property, and how much money too?
Buying through a Realtor, who has a Seller of a non-distressed property may prove itself in the long run---to be the short run.
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