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Getting Started As A Bulk REO Investor

Posted March 17th, 2010 by admin

No generation in American history has ever experienced the number of foreclosures and defaulted mortgages as is happening now. But smart real estate investors are turning these ‘lemons’ into ‘lemonade’ in an incredibly profitable new way.

The real estate investing strategy du jour is called ‘Bulk REO Investing‘ and is a real monster.

The basis of the Bulk REO business is foreclosures, so let’s analyze the foreclosure process now.

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. After a certain period, the lender will then formally begin foreclosure proceedings. The ‘pre-foreclosure’ time starts with filing of foreclosure paperwork and concludes at public auction.

Foreclosure is completed when the property is put up for auction. Ownership of the property is returned to the lender if the property is not sold at auction. The lender then categorizes the property as ‘Real Estate Owned’ - or ‘REO’ for short.

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. However, REO properties are now frequently sold for far less than their ‘book value’. Lenders are willing to do so in exchange for the buyer’s agreement to purchase a ‘package’ of REO’s rather than a single property.

There is huge profit potential in these REO packages for qualified real estate investors. Bulk REO Investors are most successful when they have a well-established source of funding for their REO packages. Some sources of funding for these transactions are: personal funds, hard money lenders, commercial lenders and non-conventional sources such as private investors and hedge funds. 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.

Tags: bulk reo, bulk reo investing, buyer mandate, reo packages, seller mandate