Foreclosure homes in Austin: Despite the national foreclosure clamour, there has not been a spike in the number of Travis County foreclosures as reported in my recent article Foreclosure in Austin: Crunching the Credit Numbers.

Right now there are just 94 single family foreclosed homes listed for sale in Austin, and 295 in the Greater Austin Area. And there are a whole lot of people interested in buying them. Here are the five most common misconceptions I hear from people trying to buy a foreclosed home:

Austin Foreclosed Homes1. I Can Buy a Foreclosed Home at Sixty Cents on the Dollar

Foreclosed homes are distressed property, and will likely be sold at less than market value for a comparable resale home. There are reasons for this. The bank who now owns the home has never occupied it, and gives no seller’s disclosure notice. The home may be physically distressed - there may be at best deferred maintenance items, and maybe latent structural defects.

So to sell the home, the bank’s asset managers use a Realtor® who will advise on a price necessary to sell the home quickly, and then put the home on the market. (There are slight differences for HUD Homes which I cover in a separate article)

That price will typically be comensurate with the perceived value, and given the interest of qualified investors who can still get loans at good rates, the list price is normally higher than 60% of the market value.

2. I Can Buy This Distressed Home For 3% Down With an FHA Loan

HUD Homes are often FHA Insured - which means that you can certainly buy them with an FHA Loan, and without the cost of an FHA Appraisal.

Other foreclosed homes may or may not qualify for an FHA Loan. If the home has major structural defects, such as a roof at the end of its life or boarded up windows, it won’t pass an FHA appraisal. And the bank’s asset manager will reject your offer if such conditions are known. They know that you won’t be able to close your loan.

Make sure you tell your loan officer that the home that you are buying is a foreclosed home, and get them to check with their underwriters about any major issues with the home whatever type of loan you’re applying for.
3. I Should Offer Below List Price

Firstly, list price and value may not be that close. When a foreclosed home is put on the market at a list price below its actual value, it will attract attention - Realtors® who work with ready willing and able investors check for these listings every day and we let our clients know when to jump on them.

When a foreclosed home in Austin is listed far below value there will be multiple offers for it (despite rumors that you’ve heard about the housing market!). It still happens - people are looking for value buys; yesterday I put in an offer for a home above the asking price. I knew that there would be multiple offers, and that we had to make all of the terms in our contract attractive to win, including the list price. And we’re still under the actual value in my analysis.

4. I Can Buy A Foreclosed Home Quickly - The Bank is Keen To Sell

According to Travis County Appraisal District (TCAD), there are 968 bank owned properties in Austin. This isn’t a particularly high number compared to say Detroit. National banks are still busy trying to figure out how to handle all of their foreclosed homes, and responses are slllloooooooooooow.

It can take a week or more for a bank to accept an offer, more over the holiday period, so don’t anticipate a 30 day closing unless you’re paying cash.

5. I Can Ask For Extremely Favorable Terms in the Offer Contract

It depends on which terms you mean. A bank is not going to do any repairs for example, or offer a long option period. The bank will require a contract addendum, and many of the clauses in this addendum override the terms in a standard TREC contract. Most banks don’t allow an option period at all, and this is spelled out in their addendum. Instead they allow 7 days for due dilligence.  So many of your favorite contract terms don’t fly with a bank.

It is still possible to find value in Austin foreclosure property, but you have to set your expectations correctly and have all of your proverbial ducks in a row before you find the right one.

Garreth Wilcock is a HUD Approved Realtor® who helps investers and home buyers identify and purchase foreclosed homes in Austin.