In 2007 the number of home foreclosures aspired to almost 300,000 that was an increase of close to 300% compared to the number of foreclosures in 2006. People have had to pack up and sell whatever the can and move on. Now do you think that the banks want sit on all of these empty houses? Empty houses mean more expenses? This means that these foreclosed properties are going to be on the market and that there will be substantial savings for buyers that want a great deal!
What happens to these empty houses? Banks and Lenders don’t want empty houses, these don’t produce money, but sure do spend a lot of money in upkeep and maintenance. This means that there are many houses back on the marked and many can be bought at great savings which also means that it’s a great opportunity for those that want an investment property.
There are many different types of property in Florida that are great buys now! There are all kinds of property to choose from. You have your pick of commercial real estate, land, homes, condominiums, etc.
So, what is wrong with these properties? Why are they so cheap? Why is all this property being foreclosed on? When someone buys a property or home, they usually finance most of that home and the financing comes from a bank or a lender. This lets people pay the seller for the property or home, and lets them pay a monthly payment to the bank. Some years ago people were choosing homes that were really out of their price range based on their income levels, and using other types of financing besides a fixed interest loans. These are variable interest loans or ARMS that start out with smaller payments, and over time the payments would increase. Unfortunately they did not expect the interest rates to go up so quickly. Now they have been stuck without being able to make their monthly payment.
Many people got into these types of loans expecting the economy to continue to grow, and interest rates to remain low. And this did not happen. Now, they are left with very expensive monthly payments and no way to cover those monthly payments.
They have no other option except to declare bankruptcy. The lender has no other choice, but to confiscate the property, but this lender doesn’t want to be saddled with the property. A property takes maintenance and that means more money out of pocket for the lender.
The lender needs to sell the property off quickly and will sell it directly or through an auction, which means that they will usually sell a property off at a discount and this discount can even be up to 20% off.
This is why there are a large number of real estate bargains in Florida, and why these properties are so great for real estate investors, or for people that are thinking of moving to Florida and starting a new life.