Can You Tell the Listing is Bank Owned?

Typically when a buyer in real estate is ready to buy, looking on the MLS is quite a piece of cake.  Most, if not all homes are traditional sales which are privately owned.  But today’s real estate market is a bit different.  It’s tough as a buyer, seeing homes that are listed as bank owned foreclosures and short sales.

The varying situations of ownership are being seen quite often in real estate listings:

• Privately Owned – It was typically unusual for the mortgage company to have any say in the selling process since the sellers would have sufficient proceeds from the sale to pay off the mortgage and closing costs at the close of escrow, without asking the bank to accept less on the amount owed on the mortgage loan(s).
• Bank Owned Homes – These properties have gone through foreclosure auction and were purchased by the bank.  The bank is now the owner of the title and is selling the home.
• Short Sales – The homes are sold by the individual (they still have title) but they will need bank’s final approval on the sales price agreed since the bank or lender will be receiving less money than the full amount owed on the mortgage loan.

The best way to tell if the home is not a typical sale, is to review the description under Marketing Remarks.  Some times the listing agent will hint to the type of sale of the home.  Or, you could try using online lookup services like ziprealty.com which will note on the home if it is a foreclosure.  For short sales, take a look at the listing price and check out the price the owner paid for the house.  That will usually give you a hint on the type of sale it will be.

Via the MLS real estate agents will have access to additional information and can check tax records, ask a title company to do research or call the listing agent to obtain the information.