Steps 2 and 3 in finding a foreclosed property

STEP 2. Get Financing

Obtaining financing not only gives you an estimate of what you can afford, it also enables you to move quickly once you locate a property that interests you. When you approach a borrower/owner or a foreclosing lender about a property, secured financing will demonstrate that you are a serious buyer and are ready to buy quickly.

You can apply for financing with RealtyTrac’s financing partner. The application is free. Subscribers can click on the Get Financing tab on any member page after you log in or click on financing links on the Search Results or Property Details pages. You will be able to apply online or by phone.

STEP 3. Contact an Agent

If you’re a first-time homebuyer and you’ve never purchased a home, let alone a foreclosure property, it is beneficial to contact a local real estate agent who can guide you through the process of buying a foreclosure. If you work with an agent, make sure they know your priorities. Ask any potential agents if they have experience with foreclosures. Especially for first-time buyers, a good agent can be a comforting and helpful resource.

You can contact an agent using the RealtyTrac Agent Network. There is no cost to contact an agent, although you should ask the agent how much he or she charges for commission. Subscribers can click on the Contact An Agent tab on any member page after you log in or click on any corresponding links on the Search Results or Property Details pages.

The 1st step in finding a foreclosed property

STEP 1. Find a Property

Buying a home in foreclosure can begin with you logging into RealtyTrac and decide where you want to search for property. RealtyTrac allows you to search by county, city or zip code. We recommend starting with a broader search (like county or city) and narrowing the search later if necessary.

Decide the status of foreclosure for which you want to search. You choose the status under Property Status on the Property Search page.

1. Select Pre-Foreclosure for Default Notices or Lis Pendens.
2. Select Auction for Trustee Sales or Sheriff’s Sales.
3. Select Bank Owned or Government Owned for REOs (repossessions).

See Step 4 in this guide for more about the different property statuses.

The Advanced Property Search allows you to enter other search criteria, such as price range and number of bedrooms and bathrooms. We recommend that you leave all those other criteria at “no minimum” to “no maximum” when you first search to get the best results. We also recommend you don’t change the Recording Date Range when you first search.

If you use the Advanced Search, leave the search Sort by “Entered On” and the Basic Property Type as “Residential,” unless you are specifically looking for Commercial property.

If you want to receive daily e-mail alerts of new properties posted on RealtyTrac that match your search criteria, follow these instructions.

1. After you select your search criteria, type a name for the search in the Name This Search box.
2. Check the “Receive daily e-mail notifications of new listings that match this search” box.
3. Click the “Save My Search” link.
4. View and edit your daily alerts on the My RealtyTrac page under Saved Searches.

On the Search Results page, you can sort your results by date, address, price or number of bedrooms or bathrooms. You can also view the results on a map by clicking the “View Map” button at the top of the search results. Click “Get Details” on any property to see the detailed information for that property. On the property details page, you can click the “Save Listing to My RealtyTrac” link to save the property to the My RealtyTrac page.
Property Details

The Property Details page should always include the address of the property and the name of the owner, trustee or lender involved with the foreclosure, depending on the property status. Also included should be an estimate of the unpaid loan balance, which will appear either as the Balance, Opening Bid or First Loan Amount.

The Estimated Property Market Values provided are based on comparable sales. Click on Comparable Sales to view a report that includes up to 15 recently sold neighborhood properties and an analysis of property values in that neighborhood.

The Trans Date and Trans Value represent the date and purchase amount the last time the property changed ownership.

The Balance or Opening Bid provides a good estimate of the amount owed on the loan in foreclosure. The Default Amount (usually only relevant for Pre-Foreclosure properties) is the amount the owner/borrower is behind on payments. Click on Lien & Loan History to view a report that lists additional debts encumbering the property.

The Recorded date is the date when the document with the foreclosure information was recorded with county records. The Entered On date is the date RealtyTrac entered the foreclosure information on the website. You can also click on most of the field names on the Property Details page for a definition.

Some fields of information are missing simply because the field is not relevant to the status of foreclosure. For instance, you will never see a sale date on Pre-Foreclosure properties because the auction date has not been scheduled yet. When the sale date is set, the property will appear with Auction status.

Some fields of information are missing because they were not available from the recorded document that has the foreclosure information. This usually applies to property details such as photo, year built, bedrooms and bathrooms and square footage. RealtyTrac continues to search other data sources to find as much of this information as possible on each property.