Tips For Bulk REO Investment Success

There are more foreclosures in the United States right now than we have ever experienced before. But smart real estate investors are turning these ‘lemons’ into ‘lemonade’ in an incredibly profitable new way.

‘Bulk REO Investing’ is the name of the new strategy, and it’s captured the attention of many well-heeled investors.

Foreclosures are at the heart of the Bulk REO business, so let’s consider the foreclosure process.

You can’t understand Bulk REO Investments without understanding the process of foreclosure.

As a home owner misses a payment or two, the lender sends the predictable barage of threatening letters and warnings. The lender directs the subsequent timing of the actual foreclosure proceedings. ‘Pre foreclosure’ is the name given to the time between implementation of the foreclosure proceedings and the public auction.

The defaulted property is ultimately auctioned, thus completing the foreclosure process. Ownership of the property is returned to the lender if the property is not sold at auction. The designation of ‘REO’ (Real Estate Owned) is then attached to the foreclosed property.

Lenders have no interest in owning property, and thus usually opt to list their REO properties with a local real estate broker in hopes of a retail sale. But as a consequence of the weak economy, lenders are frequently selling their REO properties far below their actual value. The trade-off is that the buyer must purchase multiple REO properties in each transaction.

Qualified real estate investors are increasingly finding once-in-a-lifetime opportunities in these REO packages. Bulk REO Investors are most successful when they have a well-established source of funding for their REO packages. There are many sources of funding for these transasactions including: hard money and commercial financing, as well as non conventional sources such as hedge funds and private investors. Additionally, one man is becoming very well known in the field of bulk REO investing, and his name is Salvatore Buscemi of Dandrew Partners, a hedge fund in New York.