Matt Carreras' Real Estate Blog

When it comes to home-hunting, looking for foreclosures has become a hot trend over the past couple of years. A lot of that has to do with the mortgage industry crisis that has gotten so much publicity and called attention to the fact that many banks have thousands and thousands of foreclosed homes to sell. There are now even programs on channels like HGTV with buyers hunting for foreclosure deals.

The reality however is that while the public's interest in foreclosures has remained high, the number of bank-owned homes on the market has gone down steadily over the past 9 months or so. Early in 2009, about 1 out of 3 home sales in the Houston area involved bank-owned properties, and lately that number has dropped closer to 1 out of 6. What this means though is that there is a lot more competition for fewer of these properties and you need to be smart to find a deal and buy it. With that in mind, here are some tips on foreclosure hunting:

Tip 1: Be prepared to act quickly. Have your financing ready to go and have your agent explain all the typical contract details with bank-owned homes BEFORE you find one you like. This way you can make an offer quickly.

Tip 2: Do your homework on estimating market value. The key to remember is that just because it's a foreclosure, doesn't mean it's necessarily a good deal. Have your agent show you comparable sales so you can make an informed decision.

Tip 3: Above all, do everything you can to "beat the herd" of buyers out there to the real deals. With so much competition, the good foreclosures are often snatched up by buyers within days of when they hit the market.

To help you with this, I can set you up with free access to a daily report of all the bank-owned foreclosure properties in any area and in any price range you like. It's free, but it could end up saving you thousands of dollars on your next home. Just click this paragraph to get access.

Happy hunting!

If you plan to put your house on the market, then one thing you can count on is the buyer hiring a licensed inspector to thoroughly inspect your house. These are commonly referred to as "structural and mechanical inspections." Note that they are not referred to as "paint and carpet inspections" and I say that because inspectors are generally not looking for cosmetic issues. Yet, most homesellers worry most about cosmetics and spend much less time thinking about the structural and mechanical integrity of the home. In my experience, nothing will make a home buyer run in the other direction faster than an inspection report filled with problems, however small they may seem to be.

I do a variety of things to prepare my sellers for the inspection, including going over common pitfalls that we see come up. Here are two of the common ones that can easily "spook" a potential buyer: an AC system that doesn't seem to be cooling properly and mysterious water stains on the ceiling. Often what will happen is the inspector will note that these issues exist but they won't diagnose them, leaving the buyer with doubts and fears about whether it's a $25, $250 or $2,500 issue. Believe me when I tell you that most buyers will assume the worst.

To help homesellers deal with this issue before their home is listed, I provide them a free report called "Things You Need to Know to Pass Your Home Inspection." In addition to the two common pitfalls described above, there are 9 others you should be aware of. You can get this report and start doing your homework by clicking this paragraph and browsing over at my main website CarrerasTeam.com.