REO Homes

The term REO is not the first part of a rock group. In today’s market REO is an acronym for Real Estate Owned. So when you hear the term REO Homes, it means that a financial institution owns the property, which is usually a bank.

What typically happens is that when a homeowner falls into default on a property it can go up for auction. When that happens there is a representative from the bank who is sent to bid on the property and they will attempt to buy it for what the bank or institution has lent on it. If they property should go for more than that amount then the lender will usually let it go since they have made back what they had in it and are out of the hole on the property. However, as is the case more often in this terrible market, the bank ends up being the winning bid on the unit an it becomes official bank property and the property then becomes one of the many REO homes on that the bank owns.

While these can usually be purchased somewhat under market value, with the large influx of property becoming REO homes in recent months and the dire condition of the financial and real estate market lately, the banks are more and more willing to allow the property to go just to free up the assets that the bank has tied up into the REO homes so it can be re-invested in another area which will make money for them.

The bank may figure the value of the many REO homes a little differently. They will look at how much they actually need to clear to cover the investment and not much else. Where a real estate company or agent will look over comparable units and figure out what a similar home in a comparable condition with similar features might go for in that area and then they try and figure out what the home is actually worth. The bank is only interested in unloading the property. They know what they need to make to clear it off the books and they know how long they have had it and how many others they have. They will often times look at that information and come up with a figure that is quite literally a fraction of the price that a real estate would ask for the same property.

The bank doesn’t have to worry about the agent commissions and other costs that might be associated so they can afford to cut and take losses that the agency would ever consider. For this reason looking into one of the REO homes might make perfect sense right now if you are looking to purchase a property at a good price.
REO Homes are available across the country and it is just a matter of contacting the institution and asking to look at the listings and then deciding on which one meets your needs and how much you are willing to lay out for that property.