Ways To Get Out Of Debt

Basics in Bulk REO Investing

November 13th, 2009

With more foreclosures now than ever before, America’s weak real estate market seems to set new dismal records each month. But challenge always gives rise to opportunity, and opportunistic real estate investors are rising to the challenge.

The new opportunity is known as ‘Bulk REO Investing’ or ‘REO Package Investing’ and it’s a huge opportunity.

Take a just a minute to consider the basics of this highly profitable business.

Understanding the notion of Bulk REO’s requires understanding of the foreclosure process.

As a home owner misses a payment or two, the lender sends the predictable barage of threatening letters and warnings. Following a period of time determined by the lender, formal foreclosure proceedings begin. Between the formal beginning of the foreclosure process and the public auction is the ‘preforeclosure’ period.

When a defaulted property is placed up for auction, the foreclosure process is completed. If there are no buyers for the property at auction, the property is returned to the lender. The property then receives the designation of being an ‘REO’ or the more formal name, ‘Real Estate Owned’.

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’. The trade-off is that the buyer must purchase multiple REO properties in each transaction.

Qualified real estate investors are increasingly finding once-in-a-lifetime opportunities in these REO packages. Bulk REO Investors are most successful when they have a well-established source of funding for their REO packages. There are many sources of funding for these transasactions including: hard money and commercial financing, as well as non conventional sources such as hedge funds and private investors. Additionally, one man is becoming very well known in the field of bulk REO investing, and his name is Salvatore Bushemi of Dandrew Partners, a New-York based hedge fund.