More Realtors Investing in Foreclosure Home Inventories

Time icon June 8th, 2009 by Autor Joseph Smith

Nationwide, realtors and brokers have been advising and helping others to take advantage of lower-priced units in foreclosure home lists.

Now many of them have been taking advantage of investment opportunities in foreclosure home inventories, and they have different preferences and strategies in making their investments work.

Carl Williams, a broker and CEO of Detroit-based Saturn Group, has bought two foreclosure homes earlier this year for only about $10,000 each. He made some repair work and then rented them out.

Another real estate agent, Mike Rosen, who is working with Fairfax, Virginia-based Frankly Real Estate, has bought a foreclosure home in February. He has just completed the renovation work and has listed the property for rental.

Rosen said that his February purchase was his second rental property in the same community. He plans to maintain them as rental houses for five years and then sell them to make a profit. He expects to break even or earn some money by renting them out.

Because of the expected further decline in home prices in Fairfax, Rosen is planning to buy his third foreclosure home.

Houston-based home inspector Frank Schulte-Ladbeck said that more and more realtors are requesting his home inspection services for homes bought for investment purposes.

Iverson Moore, a National Association of Realtors spokesperson, affirmed the rising number of realtors investing in lower-priced foreclosed homes.

Meanwhile, Bob Foust of Foust Team Real Estate in Fullerton, California, has been focusing on foreclosed condos. He said that the most important factor that he considers is location, such as Orange County, which will affect rental levels and the condo’s long term value.
He said the rentals can become sources of retirement money once the mortgage loans are paid off.

A realtor who initially bought a foreclosure home not for investment purposes but for his own use was Erion Shehaj, founder of Houston-based Signature Real Estate. But after having seen income opportunities in foreclosure properties, he joined other agents in acquiring foreclosed properties for investment.

Shehaj observed that rental properties in Houston are usually occupied within a month of being listed for rent.

One issue that sometimes crops up in discussions in the real estate business sector is whether investor agents can represent fairly their clients if they are also looking out for investment opportunities.

Nevertheless, realtors argue that their purchases of properties from foreclosure home inventories are contributing to the recovery of the housing market.

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