All of my buyer clients want a great deal. I can't blame them, and I work my hardest to get them a fair price. Like most people, my clients look online for properties and often in the beginning insist on buying a foreclosure or short sale to save oodles of money. Unfortunately the Internet, like TV, can be a bit misleading.
I'd say one out of every two buyer clients tells me something like this early in the process..."I was looking online and saw a $400,000 house for just $40,000. When can we go see it?" This is usually the part where I ask, "Were you looking on RealtyTrac?" and they answer with a surprised "yes".
While RealtyTrac.com may be good for reporting foreclosure data, the main issue I have with them is that a listed "sales price" is really just a defaulted loan amount or a lien. Most of these homes aren't even for sale! I have spoken with homeowners while helping them keep their homes and it's a shame that as soon as they fall behind on their mortgage there are people driving by their home, scoping out the "deal of a lifetime". It's stressful enough being behind on a mortgage and I'm sure you can imagine the additional stress this adds to the situation. How many of us know someone who has been down on their luck but is working with their lender to set up a plan to keep their home, only to have RealtyTrac mislead the public that they're ready to sell for a rock bottom price? To me this is an ethical issue but they're in the business of making money and charge a monthly membership of up to $49.Ironically, most of this information can be provided by a realtor at no charge. And, a realtor often ends up listing those homes that do become foreclosed because the bank hires them to do so. Using an agent costs you nothing and will end up saving you time and aggravation so it just makes sense to have a realtor on your side.
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