How to Find Unlisted Foreclosed Homes Online
Although it might seem you only hear home foreclosure news during periods of economic recession, at any given time you'll find foreclosed homes on the market. Foreclosure means a homeowner who borrowed money from a financial institution to buy a house became unable to pay the bank back. The institution repossessed the property and put it up for sale to recover the cash it had lent the previous owner. Often those foreclosed units are not listed with a real estate agent. It takes some investigation for you to find them.
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Instructions
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Contact the banks in your area that offer mortgage loans to find out whether they list their foreclosed homes on the Internet. Banks with a nationwide presence, such as Wells Fargo and Bank of America, maintain online databases of the properties they repossess and put on the market (see Resources). You can also find online clearinghouses that collect information on foreclosed homes throughout the country and add it to their websites. You usually have to pay a subscription fee to access the details. Look for sites that have a free-trial offer. Check them out before giving any of them your credit card number. Foreclosure Listings and Bank Foreclosure Listings are two such businesses that give you one week to browse their databases for free.
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Contact the county assessor's office or the office of the county clerk where you are looking for repossessed homes. The clerk and recorder's office receives the Notice of Election and Demand for Foreclosure, a legal document that tells the office to make it public that a foreclosure process has begun on a residential or commercial property. Ask either office whether it keeps an online list of foreclosed houses in the county.
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Search foreclosed homes on the website of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). When a buyer defaults on a home loan insured by the Federal Housing Administration, HUD takes possession of the property and puts it on the market (See Resources).
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References
Resources
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