An important message for Banks, Mortgage Companies, Real Estate & Foreclosure Attorneys, and REO/Workout Specialists:
QUESTION: How do you handle non-performing loans, properties that are being foreclosed on, and properties that have already been foreclosed on, especially when you are outside the local area.
ANSWER: We usually look on REALTOR.com after we get title to the property to see if we can find a real estate agent who wants to sell the property for us.
The above scenario is typically what takes place once a property is placed in the hands of an REO or Workout Specialist at a bank or mortgage company, and the first step is to usually try to get rid of the property before it stays on the books too long. Often times, you are not even dealing with an REO & Asset Management Department when you call the real estate office because most firms have no experience in dealing with these types of properties. Instead, the broker/owner ends up giving the lead to the agent who happens to be on duty, in exchange for a referral fee. What usually ends up happening is the property ends up selling below market value and you end up holding the property for an extended period of time and the property becomes your problem because you do not have experts out there in the field who can respond quickly and look out for your best interests.
What if you had one person you can call on any time there is a non-performing loan so you can see if it is really a non-performing loan which can be refinanced so that it will once again become a profitable investment? Moreover, what if the non-performing loan were really a case where the owners abandoned the house and it just sat there for months, waiting for your legal department to initiate foreclosure proceedings, while the house begins to deteriorate and become the target of vandals? Wouldn't you want to know that and wouldn't you want to have a specialist out there in the field who could secure the property and have a local real estate attorney begin prompt foreclosure actions against the owner immediately?
Then there is the dreaded case of an adversely occupied property. The former owner or tenant of the former owner continues to occupy the property for up to twelve months after you obtain title to the property, while continuing to trash the property, and your hands are tied because you do not have a specialist out there (one who knows the local court system) working on evicting them promptly. During this period of time, you and your superiors continue to receive certified letters and telephone calls from the local Board of Health telling you that you need to do something about your property because your tenants and your tenants' neighbors are complaining about the condition of your property and about the code violations at your property.
Time is money. The longer a house sits, the greater the loss. As it deteriorates and becomes known as a "distressed property," the chances of recovering your initial investment decline as the market value of the property begins to decline due to the fact that the property becomes known as a distressed property.
None of this has to happen when you have a real, full-time, full-service, REO & Asset Management Specialist that you can call on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, who in turn, has a team in place out there in the field that can give you an immediate response for any type of property in Massachusetts.
For additional information, please contact:
Keller Williams Realty
276 Turnpike Road, Suite 221
Westborough, MA 01581
(508) 735-9923
FAX (508) 389-9922
Copyright (C) Randal L. Struckus, 2007. All rights reserved.