What Is A Foreclosure?

Foreclosure is the legal process by which a lender or other lien holder obtains a piece of property by termination of a borrower’s right of redemption.

The foreclosure process, as most commonly applied in residential terms, is when the loans is a bank or other creditor selling has repossessed a real piece of property after the owner has failed to comply with the terms set forth in the mortgage or other lien.

Examples of other lien holders that can foreclose on a piece of property include Home Owner’s Associations, or the county in which the property is located due to unpaid real property taxes. Therefore, through the process of foreclosure, the lender seeks to foreclose the equitable right of redemption and take both legal and equitable title to the property.

How To Buy A Foreclosure?

The foreclosure process in Oregon takes about 180 days. The state of Oregon uses both judicial and non-judicial means for carrying out foreclosures. ?The three counties, currently, with the highest number of foreclosures in Oregon are Multnomah, Deschutes and Washington counties.

Foreclosures can be purchased at auction at the courthouse in the county where the foreclosed home is located. For out-of-court foreclosures, the notice of sale is published once a week for four weeks before the sale in a local newspaper. The last notice is published at least 20 days before the sale date.

The sale is between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. at the location stated on the notice. Oregon foreclosure sales are public auctions. Anyone, with the exception of the trustee, may present bids.

If you are going to try and purchase a home at the county steps, you must have cash in order to do that. Also note, while you can sometimes get a good deal, a lot of times banks will set the minimum bid price well above market value. The trustee transfers ownership of the property to the highest bidder within 10 days of the sale.

The other way to purchase a foreclosure is through the bank. REO properties (real estate owned) is when the bank has gone through the formal foreclosure process and the property did not sell at the county auction.

Most banks will typically list their home with local real estate agents for sale. Hire an agent and ask them to search for bank owned homes.

If you are going to purchase a bank owned home at this stage, you must be approved for a mortgage or have proof of funds if you are paying cash. Banks will not look at offers without proof that the buyer has the ability to actually purchase the home.

There are some things to be aware of when purchasing a bank owned home. The banks don’t know anything about the house, and are in fact, exempt from seller’s property disclosures. Although not every foreclosure is bad shape, just note in most cases you take what you getting, meaning the bank probably won’t be willing to make repairs to a home.

You can potentially purchase these types of properties for below market value and get a really good deal. Banks can be difficult to work with, but the pay off of getting a home under market value could be potentially profitable for a buyer.