Keys to Buying Foreclosed and Bargain Homes (Barron's Business Keys)

Rating:
Summary: Exploring Seldom-Used Paths to Home Ownership
Review: 'This book serves as a guide to finding and taking advantage of distress sale situations as well as other situations where there are opportunities to buy at below market price or with favorable financing.'

My banker told me a story recently that could serve as the set piece for this book. Because a loan had not been paid, the bank had foreclosed on a forty acre piece of property with a lovely home on it. No one bid at the auction, and the bank took the property for the amount outstanding to it, $95,000. In a private sale, the bank later sold the property for much more than that. You could have bought this property for $95,001 at the foreclosure auction because the bank would not have bid against you. The property was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Such opportunities arise almost every day. Yet few explore these avenues for purchasing because they do not know how to do so. This book is an excellent resource for giving you the knowledge to locate such bargains and pursue them.

On the other hand, although the book is written so as to be understandable by the first-time home buyer, it will be of most value to the experienced home purchaser who knows what she or he wants. If you want to pursue this direction as a first-time buyer, I suggest that you locate someone with experience in home-buying and pay them a fee to advise you. A local realtor may be willing to do this. Check out the realtor's reputation carefully first, and be sure to buy a property that the realtor gets no commission on nor has any other interest in.

There is also advice in here on how to buy homes for rental, as investments. I suggest that you read other books on that subject first. Although this book covers the basics in that area, you may want to work first with someone who does this for a living for a while to develop more expertise before trying it yourself. If you are good at this, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to become a real estate millionaire.

This is a good time for this activity because interest rates have risen and you will probably be able to refinance your property at lower interest rates in the future. Dropping interest rates will also increase the value of your property.

The book is divided into sections on determining whether or not you have found a bargain home, how to get the best price on a bargain home, where to find repossessed homes (like the one I described above), how and whether to buy a handyman's special (one that needs a lot of work that you would do yourself), how to buy at auction, and helpful negotiation and buying skills.

For a short book, it covers a remarkable number of subjects (49 chapters in 130 pages). The glossary will also be very helpful in adding to your understanding of the terms used in home buying. The appendices are also full of useful information.

This would be an excellent book for any homeowner thinking about purchasing another home to read. It would also make an excellent gift to one's grown children as they contemplate home ownership. As a parent, you could help them through the path involved here. It may not be a good idea to share this with one's married grown children, however. There are many emotional reasons for home ownership, and a spouse may not want a bargain -- preferring a dream house instead. You don't want saving money to become a source of friction in your child's marriage, do you?

Some may be bothered by the idea that they are taking advantage of someone else's misery in getting a bargain home. Another way to look at it is that by becoming another bidder, you are helping that person to get more for their property than they otherwise would. Most such sellers would be glad you did. If you sense that your actions will cause the seller emotional distress, you certainly do not have to bid on that property. There will be another one where the seller will be delighted to sell to you.

After you have read this book, think about what else you could buy in less expensive ways using some of these ideas. Used vacation time shares are an obvious possibility, as are all kinds of items bought through notes from banks (this may even include cars, pianos and other household items). Businesses can be bought this way, too. The savings are only as limited as your imagination! Also, can you think of how you could turn your skill in this area into a business that would provide you with great satisfaction and a nice income?

Rating:
Summary: A good read for those searching for discounted real estate.
Review: I got this book because I became disenchanted with attempting to purchase real estate through tax liens and was searching for a better way. What I have found by reading this book is that it is possible to purchase real estate at a discount if one is willing to do the leg work.
The authors do a good job defining bargain homes, dicussing strategies on getting the best price and locating repossessed homes. Also the book has a useful glossary, helpful checklist and locations of Hud and VA offices around the country.

Rating:
Summary: Over simplified and short
Review: I've read about 6 books on real estate bought from Amazon, and I have to say that this one is the most oversimplified. It is like reading one of those "pocket MBA" books, which just tells you terms and procedures. Don't expect to read this book and be able to transact "foreclosed and bargain homes". It is far from that! For instance, the chapters on how to identify and find a "bargain" home comes down to this: look it up at a bank, MLS, or internet. Heck! I could have told you that for free! Given that that is the most important step, I was really disappointed with this book. Don't waste your money...

If you want to buy an overview or basics book on home buying I sugget the "Unofficial Guide to Buying a Home" which is much more detailed and straightforward about buying a home. And it covers in better details what are the pitfalls of buying a bargain home.

Rating:
Summary: Concise and easy to read
Review: This book is wonderful for the novice trying to learn about the business of investing in real estate. There is not a wasted word in this book and each chapter is only 2-3 pages long so it can be read inbetween commericals during a movie. I read over half the book during one movie.

There are helpful checklists and nuggets of suggestions that should help anyone wanting to buy a house or an investment such as Exhibit 1 showing how prices tend to change according to the season and the General Checklist to apply to any property you are considering buying. There are addresses for all the Hud offices in the US. There are tables to calculate mortgage payments based on the interest rate and there is an excellent explaination of the foreclosure process.

This a nugget of a book written in an extrememly readable and digestable manner. It may be a little too basic for experienced real estate investors but it is perfect for those just starting to learn the subject. I wish I had this book when I bought my first house and anyone facing foreclosure could benefit from reading it as well to understand the process.

Rating:
Summary: Keys to Buying Foreclosed & Bargain Homes
Review: This book was extremely disappointing. It is too high level and superficial to provide any actionable information. It provides the same level of detail I'd expect from a magazine article, not a book.

Rating:
Summary: Concise and easy to read
Review: Written by two Ph.D.s (one a CPA and MAI appraiser), this book adequately covers the various avenues to buying foreclosed property. However, the treatment is general, often in the manner of a textbook, resulting in a mediocre treatment of what can be a very interesting subject. This book may provide a description of the landscape, but it really doesn't tell a first time purchaser how to navigate it. Nor does it provide a lot of insight into the acquisition of properties at "bargain" prices. The chapter "Investment Analysis" is about 2 1/2 pages, and budgets get about a half paragraph. One paragraph in the book deals with whether it is okay for a buyer to work with more than one broker, but there is minimal emphasis on the fact that most realtors represent the interests of the seller, rather than the buyer. I am sure that these guys know a lot and have seen a lot of interesting inspirational stories. However, they are not in this book. The book would have been better if more detailed examples, perhaps from the authors' experience, illustrating the various processes were included. There is also a lot more that can be learned about the various foreclosure acquisition avenues that is not included. The previous reviewer displays much more passion for this book than do the authors. A beginning purchaser would do well to supplement his knowledge with other books, similar to Craig Hall's The Real Estate Turnaround, or William Nickerson's book (now out of print), and books on negotiation by others such as Nierenberg.

Rating:
Summary: Lacking passion and soul, a textbook coverage.
Review: Written by two Ph.D.s (one a CPA and MAI appraiser), this book adequately covers the various avenues to buying foreclosed property. However, the treatment is general, often in the manner of a textbook, resulting in a mediocre treatment of what can be a very interesting subject. This book may provide a description of the landscape, but it really doesn't tell a first time purchaser how to navigate it. Nor does it provide a lot of insight into the acquisition of properties at "bargain" prices. The chapter "Investment Analysis" is about 2 1/2 pages, and budgets get about a half paragraph. One paragraph in the book deals with whether it is okay for a buyer to work with more than one broker, but there is minimal emphasis on the fact that most realtors represent the interests of the seller, rather than the buyer. I am sure that these guys know a lot and have seen a lot of interesting inspirational stories. However, they are not in this book. The book would have been better if more detailed examples, perhaps from the authors' experience, illustrating the various processes were included. There is also a lot more that can be learned about the various foreclosure acquisition avenues that is not included. The previous reviewer displays much more passion for this book than do the authors. A beginning purchaser would do well to supplement his knowledge with other books, similar to Craig Hall's The Real Estate Turnaround, or William Nickerson's book (now out of print), and books on negotiation by others such as Nierenberg.