Bank Owned Listings in San Francisco

These pdf links will take you to lists of all foreclosed condos, all foreclosed houses, all foreclosed residential income property and all foreclosed buildings for sale in the San Francisco MLS right now. Please call me if you would like more information on any of these, and I’ll send you photos and more detailed information than you will get from the MLS.

How banks negotiate on foreclosed properties seems to vary region-by-region in the the San Francisco Bay Area. In San Leandro, I understand that with a decent downpayment (20%) you can get something at a substantially reduced price. Then in Concord, I hear of first-time buyers getting bank-owned homes with little down and an FHA loan. But here are five things you should know when considering a bid on a bank-owned property inside San Francisco:

1. Don’t let a too-high listing price deter you from making an offer. While most banks follow their listing agent’s counsel about price, some banks set the listing prices themselves. So even if a price seems unreasonable to you, you should go ahead and make an offer.

2. You may need lots of patience. Many of these lenders are slow as molasses about responding. The offers they receive have to wind through layers of bureaucracy in a Bank that’s located out of state.

3.  When a property is well-priced, you may have to overbid. Because some banks are so slow, they receive multiple offers on a home before they get around to accepting, countering or rejecting an offer. I’ve often called a listing agent and been told that my buyer shouldn’t bother coming in with an offer unless they can go above a certain price threshhold.
 
4. You should get pre-approved before writing an offer. Banks won’t accept your offer unless they know you are capable of closing. Often the lender will even make you go through the pre-approval process with them, or an approved broker. This does not, however, mean you have to use the bank they require you to get pre-approved with for your financing.

5. Terms are sometimes more important than price. A strong offer with a large down payment often beats out a higher price with a lower down payment. Preference is also often given to owner-occupants.

New bank-owned listings come on the market at a rate of about 10 a week. If you would like regular updates on what comes up in San Francisco, email me and I’ll get you on a distribution list.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 26th, 2009 at 6:46 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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One Response to “Foreclosed Properties in San Francisco”

1. Jonathan Says:
   February 27th, 2009 at 9:47 am

   That Page Street listing is just a hop, skip and a jump from my house. I would want any of your potential clients to know this — there is a very lovely and *VERY LOUD* church right next door. It’s one of those Baptist churches with the drums and piano and choir and electric guitar and all that. And the services are really long. And since the parishioners all drive, that means double-parking on the street.

   So if anyone ever expresses interest in that place, tell them to do a walk-by on either Tuesday night or Sunday morning.

   ….I’m just sayin’ !!!!

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