Buying a foreclosure in suburban Maryland

Buying foreclosures can be an interesting process. I have many buyers that are looking in that end of the market. They are almost always at the bottom end of pricing for the particular neighborhood and some banks are actually going in and fixing them up.

People wonder if they are getting a deal. You have to understand that when you buy a foreclosure, it is usually in a neighborhood that is inundated w them. So when you do buy and get a deal, the price is setting the market. If it is in a neighborhood of $250,000 townhouses and you get one for $220,000, after a short period of time the value of those townhouses will be $220,000 because you bought one at that price. Did you get a deal? Better than the people who bought at $250,000. Eventually the market will rebound and you will be happy, but initially no there are not really any incredible deals to be had.

The market has been so busy since Jan 15th that I have had 3 days off in that four month period. I write a lot of contracts for a lot of buyers. There is almost always more than one offer per house. Sometimes as many as 10 contracts on a listing. I have many buyers who have written 5-7 contracts and still don't have a house. In the lower price ranges it is very busy. With low interest rates and signs that the economy is starting to rebound, we expect it to continue for a while.