F Jeffrey Scott

Buying an Outer Banks Foreclosure Home



Posted: Thursday, March 31, 2011

by F Jeffrey Scott
Scott Team Realty

Almost all Outer Banks foreclosure properties end up being listed by a local Realtor and are placed in the OBX Multiple Listing Service. Most local realty companies’ web sites have capabilities to search for bank owned properties. It is just another category that an agent has to check when inputting the listing data and most search engines have been modified to search for this category.

Most  Outer Banks foreclosure properties today are priced at or close to market value. Banks generally want obtain as much as possible for each property while pricing them to get buyers to view them. Occasionally today a bank will price their property very aggressively just to get rid of it. These instances are fairly rare and buyers will find themselves in a multiple offer situation even in this market. When looking at specific foreclosure properties, it is possible for your agent to pull up the listing history for the property. There you can see when it was first listed and see if any price reductions have been made. The bank is less likely to negotiate on those properties that were just listed or recently had a dramatic price reduction.

A consideration to make when deciding on an offering price is the condition of the property. Banks almost always sell their property in “as is” condition. If it is discovered after you have a contract that the heat pump needs replacing, then you usually you can void the contract or purchase it with the broken heat pump. Often these bank-owned Outer Banks homes require much more work because the former owners did not take care of the property long before they stopped making mortgage payments.

Banks usually have their own unique addenda they want a buyer to sign along with the contract.  Most of these addenda are usually just disclosure forms but can also state that the buyer pay the land transfer taxes. Sometimes these forms are not available up front and the buyer must review and sign these forms after a price has been agreed upon. Buyers and their agents should closely examine these additional forms to make sure no terms of the agreement have been changed.

Currently there can be great rewards for a buyer looking to purchase Outer Banks bank owned property. Your Outer Banks Realtor can help you avoid the common pitfalls found with these purchases as well as save you time in the process.
F Jeffrey Scott has been helping people buy and sell Outer Banks real estate since 1989. He has participated in or managed agents who participated in almost three quarters of a billion dollars in real estate sales. He holds five professional real estate desgnations and served as President of the Outer Banks Association of Realtors. Jeff received the prestigious Realtor of the Year Award in 2001 and 2002 for the Outer Banks Association of Realtors. He is the only person in the history of this Association to receive this award two consecutive years. He saw a need for an Outer Banks real estate company that offered a higher level of service and started Scott Team Realty in 2002. Jeff is also the author of Living the Dream. A comprehensive guide to buying, owning and selling Outer Banks real estate.
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