The weakness of the U.S. economy has given rise to the largest epidemic of foreclosures in American history. But challenge always gives rise to opportunity, and opportunistic real estate investors are rising to the challenge.
The real estate investing strategy du jour is called 'Bulk REO Investing' and is a real monster.
Take a just a minute to consider the basics of this highly profitable business.
You can't understand Bulk REO Investments without understanding the process of foreclosure.
When a home owner begins to miss payments on their mortgage, the lender begins to send late/overdue notices to the home owner. Following a period of time determined by the lender, formal foreclosure proceedings begin. The name for this period is 'preforeclosure'.
To complete the foreclosure process, the property is auction to the public. Ownership of the property is returned to the lender if the property is not sold at auction. The property then receives the designation of being an 'REO' or the more formal name, 'Real Estate Owned'.
Lenders usually try to unload their REO properties at close to retail price by listing their REO's with a real estate broker. Yet with increasing frequency, REO properties are being sold for pennies or dimes on the dollar. However, the purchase of a 'package' (or group) or REO properties is the trade-off for receiving such great prices.
There is huge profit potential in these REO packages for qualified real estate investors. The most successful Bulk REO Investors will have a well-respected source of funding for their transactions. 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 Bushemi of Dandrew Partners, a New-York based hedge fund.
