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Sheriff's Sale in MN or WI: When someone fails to make timely mortgage payments, the bank will work with them for only so long. A Foreclosure notice is posted, with a SHERIFF'S SALE Date. When buying a property during a Sheriff's Foreclosure Sale, you must pay at least the loan balance plus any interest and other fees accumulated during the foreclosure process.  You must also be prepared to pay with cash in hand.  And on top of all that, you’ll receive the property 100% “as is”.  That could include existing liens and even current occupants that need to be evicted. 

What’s an REO?
REO stands for “Real Estate Owned”.  These are properties that have gone through foreclosure and are now completely owned by the bank or mortgage company.  This is not the same as a property up for foreclosure auction.  

A REO, by contrast, is a much “cleaner” and attractive transaction.  The REO property did not find a buyer during the Sheriff's Foreclosure auction.  The bank now owns it.  The bank will see to the removal of tax liens, evict occupants if needed and generally prepare for the issuance of a title insurance policy to the buyer at closing.  Do be aware that REO’s may be exempt from normal disclosure requirements.  In many states, for example, banks are exempt from giving a common Disclosure Statement, a document that normally requires sellers to tell you about any defects they are aware of.

St Paul / Minneapolis Minnesota MLS area

Is the Foreclosed Home a bargain?
In the Minneapolis St Paul area, it is commonly assumed that any foreclosure must be a bargain and an opportunity for easy money.  This simply isn’t true.  You have to be very careful about buying a foreclosed home if your intent is to make money off of it.  While it’s true that the bank is typically anxious to sell it quickly, they are also strongly motivated to get as much as they can for it.  When considering the value of a REO, you need to look closely at comparable sales in the neighborhood and be sure to take into account the time and cost of any repairs or remodeling needed to prepare the house for resale.  The bargains with money making potential exist, and many people do very well buying foreclosures.  But there are also many foreclosed homes (REO) that are not good buys and not likely to turn a profit. 

Ready to make an offer?
Most banks have a REO department that you Realtor will work with in buying a REO property Minneapolis, St Paul, Duluth, Rochester, Madison, Milwaukee, and all of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Typically the REO department will use a listing agent to get their REO properties listed on the local MLS.  Before making your offer, you’ll want to contact either the listing agent or REO department at the bank and find out as much as you can about what they know about the condition of the property and what their process is for receiving offers.  Since banks almost always sell REO properties “as is”, you’ll want to be sure and include an inspection contingency in your offer that gives you time to check for hidden damage and terminate the offer if you find it.  As with making any offer on real estate, you’ll make your offer more attractive if you can include documentation of your ability to pay, such as a pre-approval letter from a lender.  After you’ve made your offer, you can expect the bank to make a counter offer.  Then it will be up to you to decide whether to accept their counter, or offer a counter to the counter offer.  Realize, you’ll be dealing with a process that probably involves multiple people at the bank, and they don’t work evenings or weekends.  It’s not unusual for the process of offers and counter offers to take days or even weeks.

First Time Home Buyer Guide
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More MN and WI First Time Home Buyer Resources
There are other miscellaneous resources available to the first time home buyer that are found all over the internet, but the reality is that there is no substitute for a great first time home buyer experience than working with true professionals in the industry. The two main people that make it all come together are a real estate brokers that specialize in working with first time home buyers, and a mortgage loan officer that is experienced in first time buyers, and who has access to all the first time buyer programs, assistance, and grant programs available.

Luckily, you've landed on a web site that can handle both for you, and it all starts with a simple no obligation application. Get started right now from the comfort of your home by filling out our first time home buyer mortgage loan application. There are no obligations.