Wine Country And Horses

Currently there are 404 active listings on the MLS for Sonoma County that are bank-owned foreclosed properties, also known as REO’s.  Many real estate investors and first time home buyers are seeking out real estate bargains here due to the large number available.  Investors had fled the county for a number of years due to rapid appreciation but the proliferation of bargain priced bank-owned (REO) properties and short sales have attracted them back.  As a realtor, I often am asked by clients where the best deals are, and sometimes they are surprised that not every type of property is a potential bargain, nor are they equally dispersed throughout Sonoma county.

As colleague Marian Bennett on the San Mateo coastal front says in her blog:

Bottom line:  There are foreclosure properties out there, and probably more coming through the remainder of ‘08.  Buying such a property requires research, patience, ready cash…and a bit of a stomach!  Support of your team may be helpful to some and crucial for others (be it contractor, accountant, real estate professional, loan consultant, or parents).

If you’re interested in starting your own online research, I just got this tip from Kevin Boer about foreclosureradar.com.  I’ll be tracking it along with where I currently have an account, Realtytrac, to look for San Mateo County trends.  My Realtytrac research has shown their properties to be pretty out of date so I may try to find another one to use as a comparison to foreclosureradar.  If you know of another good one, make a comment to share with everyone.

By the way, colleague Sam Benson at Real Estate 680 in Contra Costa county is opining on the same subject.