Outer Banks Foreclosures

Short Sales, Foreclosures and Bank Owned oh my!

Why is can seem at times like lions, tigers and bears there can be a good outcome when dealing with any of the three prevalent real estate transactions in today’s market.  This being said there is a number of great deals out there and should be in the short term.  RealtyTrac predicts there will be a record 1.2 million foreclosures in the US this year.

With short sales the real downside with this type of sale is you better have patience, some banks just haven’t streamlined the process that much.  For instance I had one that closed earlier in the year that my clients had under contract for eight months.  The important thing is they did eventually close and got a great deal. 

It gets a little dicier with a foreclosure where you might not really know the true condition of the property do to limited access.  Also once you think you have bought it in North Carolina there is an upset period in which you might not have got it.

The easiest of them all is the latter bank owned where while typically the home isn’t up any running pretty much what you see is what you get.  For instance I just closed on one of these where not only did the transaction go through smooth and quickly, the buyer’s bought one stellar home that would have sold for twice the price five years ago.

The recent moratorium on foreclosures will likely be a short term delay until the banks ensure their paperwork is in line.  

Housekeeping Notes

We are working out a few final technical details and should begin posting properties later this evening.  There is quite a bit of current Outer Banks foreclosure activity so please be patient.  We hope to have all of the properties listed and updated within two weeks.

We will also be including the foreclosures on the Currituck Beaches (The 4wd areas and Corolla). 

For those using our Maps, (a special thanks to Map-A-List - these folks are great and their product ROCKS!), firefox version 3.2 has some issues with the links on the property details.  For best results, I would suggest using Chrome, IE or Safari (all have been tested and work well).  You should be able to zoom in on the property, click the icon and you can follow the link to the detailed post about the foreclosed home or lot.  

For those of you that signed up for free email updates, your inbox should soon be receiving new and updated foreclosure listings. For those that signed up for email updates and didn't give us your email address, we are going to need a little help...  We do ask for you to provide your full contact information in order to get the updates.  

One last note, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.  The courthouse does not publish any of this information on line.  They are very busy and I am sure they don't want to try to match their paper records to our online system.   We will try to provide accurate and timely information.  If you are interested in a particular property or properties, please contact us so we can make sure you receive information in a timely manner.  

Matt Whelan and Ronnie Roach

Stages of Foreclosure - a brief explanation and timeline

We get many questions about the stages of foreclosures on the Outer Banks. Below is an explanation and sample time line of the foreclosure process.

• Filing Date - This is the start of the process and where the legal party (lender, homeowners association or government entity) file at the courthouse intent to proceed with a foreclosure.  We originally thought we would skip this stage because some owners would find a solution and it would not make it to the next stage.  Our intention now is to include this stage - if someone is interested in a buying a short sale (a reduced buyout before the foreclosure), this would be a great time to begin that process.  This also benefits the owner by bringing potential buyers to the property.
• Hearing Date - Filing Date + 4-6 weeks.  This is the date where the owner has the opportunity to plead their case as to why they might need an extension.  It could be a potential short sale, a potential regular sale, refinancing or a few other options.  The potential outcome:  1.  foreclosure dismissed  2. the hearing could be rescheduled for a future date or 3.  the foreclosure date could be set.
• Sale Date - Hearing Date + 21 days.  This is the date the property is sold on the courthouse steps.  I have attended sales where buyers flew in from out of state only to discover the process had been delayed a week at the last second.  If you would like additional information on Matt representing a buyer at the courthouse, please feel free to contact us and we will explain the process.  Potential Outcome:  1. Buyer buys back own property.  2.  Another party purchases property or 3.  Bank buys back property with no additional bidders.
• Bank Owned Options - Sale Date + 2 -6 weeks.  If the lender buys back the property - they will hire a Realtor to list the home and try to sell on the open market.  There are many factors involved - some are sold as is, some will have minor improvements.  Most of the information you see online for Outer Banks foreclosures are actually bank owned properties that have already gone through the foreclosure process. 

We intend on updating each listing with the stages listed above with estimated dates for each step of the process.  These dates are subject to change by the factors listed above.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.