See What Properties Are In Foreclosure For Free

If you’re curious about which properties in Loudoun County (or other parts of Northern VA) are in the foreclosure process, check out ForeclosurePoint. The site offers a database of about 1.2 million properties with foreclosure filings in 35 states including Virginia. Registered users (free) can check out street addresses and dates of foreclosure filings of properties in Loudoun County and the rest of the area as well.

If you’d like more detailed information, you can upgrade to a "Premium Membership" which runs $79.95 per month. That’s quite a chunk of change, but the upgrade provides all foreclosure details and access to their VeriTrack™ feature that monitors and updates changes to property status, auction schedules, and opening bids.

Though ForeclosurePoint offers information on properties going through the foreclosure process, it does not list properties that are now bank-owned and for sale. If you’d like to receive a list of bank-owned properties currently for sale, email or call me and I’ll get that over to you.

Loudoun County Top 10 Best Places To Buy Foreclosures

Forbes recently named the Washington, DC metro area including Loudoun County one of the top 10 best places to buy foreclosed homes. Part of the criteria was whether there were hints of stabilization, which is evident in the latest Loudoun County inventory/supply and buyer demand numbers.

"Our goal was to differentiate inexpensive foreclosure markets from those that are undervalued, as cheap foreclosures in flimsy markets don’t necessarily make strong investments."

Here’s are some of the figures Forbes came up with for the area:

• Median home price: $366,583
• Foreclosure savings: $56,858
• Foreclosure rate: 1.16%
• Price change 2006-2007: 0.77%

To check out how they came up with the rankings, click here.

New Online Tool For Real Estate Investors

Just ran across a company called eRealInvestor that offers an online real estate investment analysis tool called "eRealAnalyzer." The company has already made headlines over at Inman News as well as the Wall Street Journal. In fact, the Wall Street Journal has integrated the eRealAnalyzer tool into its web site.

The analysis feature loads quickly and is easy to use. You enter basic information about the property and then choose "Agressive", "Moderate" and "Conservative" depending on your investment style. It will then provide you with an analysis of pre-tax monthly cash flow, equity, IRR, etc.

You can register and use the basic tool for free, but it’s either $9.95 per month or $59.95 per year for the full version of eRealAnalyzer. The full version allows you to enter and analyxe your own properties, view and print spreadsheets and save your work on MS Excel.

According to their site, eRealInvestor was created by real estate investors for real estate investors (it’s that whole "for the people, by the people" angle). They also claim to be primarily funded by a Harvard Business School professor, a Stubhub co-founder, an early Google employee, and several residential and commercial real estate investors.

Overall…easy to use, works well and a good tool for real estate investors.

Foreclosures, Bank-Owned Properties Make Up Almost Half of Sales In Loudoun

Buyers and investors in Loudoun County are buying up foreclosure/bank-owned and short-sale properties at a ferocious rate. Almost half (46 percent) of the properties currently under contract in Loudoun County are foreclosure/bank-owned and short-sale properties. In fact, 43 percent of the properties that have settled/closed since January 1st have been foreclosure/bank-owned or short-sale properties.

Here are the "under contract" numbers:

• 1018 - Total number of properties currently under contract in Loudoun County
• 476 - Number of dsitressed properties currently under contract

Here are the "settled"/"closed" numbers:

• 2063 - Total number of properties that have settled/closed in Loudoun County since January 1st
• 892 - Number of distressed properties that have settled/closed in Loudoun since January 1st

As you can see, foreclosure/bank-owned and short-sale properties make up almost half of the properties sold in Loudoun County this year. Buyers and investors in Loudoun County are buying up distressed properties at a very healthy rate. This has has been the case pretty much all year and is one reason why the ratio of distressed properties to total properties for sale in Loudoun County has remained steady all year.

Related Articles

Loudoun County Foreclosure/Bank-Owned and Short-Sale Property Sales Up 300 Percent

Loudoun County Foreclosure/Bank-Owned and Short-Sale Inventory and Buyer Demand Balance Each Other Out

A Must Read For Loudoun County Real Estate Investors

If you’re a real estate investor or home buyer looking for investment opportunities in Loudoun County, you should check out the post I wrote earlier today regarding Sterling Park over at LoudounScene.com. It talks about how prices in Sterling Park are at rock bottom compared to several years ago and how Loudoun County is campaigning to clean-up the area - a winning long-term real estate investment formula.

In addition, the FHA is lifting it’s 90-day waiting period on "flipped" properties meaning you have more immediate access to a greater buyer pool than before (click here to read more about that).

Attention Investors and Buyers - FHA Lifts Waiting Period On Flips

Attention all investors and buyers of "flipped"/rehabed properties - the FHA is lifting their 90-day waiting period requirement on resales. The FHA instituted this waiting period 5 years ago in order to deter fradualent/predatory home flipping.

Lenders are probably still going to have to do some rehab on many of the properties they foreclose on before turning them around to an FHA borrower. FHA has eased up a bit on requirements for minor repairs, but before you can sell a home to a borrower relying on an FHA loan guarantee program, it’s got to be "safe, secure and sound."

Here are some links that go over the requirements further:

• Appraisal and property requirements
• Repair conditions

Here’s an excerpt from the guidance the FHA gave lenders in a letter back in December 2005:

"Examples of minor property conditions that no longer require automatic repair for existing properties:

• Missing handrails
• Cracked or damaged exit doors that are otherwise operable
• Cracked window glass
• Defective paint surfaces in homes constructed post 1978
• Minor plumbing leaks (such as leaky faucets)"

Source: Inman

Loudoun County Foreclosure/Bank-Owned and Short-Sale Inventory and Buyer Demand Balance Each Other Out

Loudoun County has seen a huge increase in the number of foreclosure/bank-owned and short-sale properties that have hit the market so far this year compared to last year during the same period. But the increase in buyer demand so far this year has been at about the same percentage rate, if not higher as the increase in inventory.

Here are the numbers:

• The number of new foreclosure/bank-owned and short-sale properties that came on the market in 2008 YTD is up 64 percent from the same time period in 2007
• The number of foreclosure/bank-owned and short-sale properties that have sold* so far this year is up 70 percent from the same time period in 2007

*by contract date

The demand for these types of properties is keeping up with the rate of new ones coming on the market. This is good news because we need the inventory to be absorbed so the market can stabilize and start recovering.

Loudoun County Foreclosure/Bank-Owned and Short-Sale Property Sales Up 300 Percent

The number of foreclosure/bank-owned and short-sale property sales in Loudoun County in 2008 is up 300 percent over 2007.

• 1134 of the total sales in Loudoun County from January 1, 2008 through May 31, 2008 were foreclosure/bank-owned or short-sale properties
• 341 of the total sales in Loudoun County from January 1, 2007 through May 31, 2007 were foreclosure/bank-owned or short-sale properties

Leading the way in sales of foreclosure/bank-owned and short-sale properties is Sterling Park due to the abundance of those types of properties.

Huge Foreclosure Auction in DC and VA June 7, 8, 9

There is a huge foreclosure auction by Real Estate Disposition Corporation (REDC) and USHomeAuctions.com going on in DC and VA on June 7, 8 and 9. The auction will have hundreds of foreclosure properties located in the DC, MD and VA, including Loudoun County.

The auction on June 7 and 8 is being held in DC at the Washington Convention Center. The event on June 8 is being held in Richmond at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. You’re able to preview and inspect the properties today (June 1).

If you’re interested in going to the event and having professional guidance as to the fair market value and pricing strategy of any property up for auction, I am available to consult on an hourly basis. Contact me for more details.