It seems that in Minnesota (MN), BANK OWNED FORECLOSURE LISTINGS can be bought on the cheap! Traditionally, when a bank owned (REO) foreclosure listing goes to the market, the foreclosure asset manager will list the property with a brokerage, which in turn will put said property on the MLS. Thus, if buyers like to SEARCH THE MLS for Minneapolis/St. Paul/Twin Cities foreclosures, that listing will show up.  The asset managers will work with a real estate broker to market their foreclosure that way for 90-365 days.  If the foreclosure property cannot sell during that time with listing price reductions and/or rehab and updates to the foreclosure, then the bank/asset manager might turn to an auction company to sell their foreclosure.

We have a listing in Eagan, MN that is a Fannie Mae bank owned (REO) foreclosure. This Eagan Foreclosure Town Home was updated with new paint and carpet and listed on the MLS for $99,000. It was then reduced on the MLS to $93900, then to $77900. After 106 days on the market, the bank said  it’s auction time.  Fannie Mae selected Hudson and Marshall http://www.hudsonandmarshall.com to sell this property at thier FORECLOSURE AUCTION in Bloomington, MN @ the Sheridan on 2/5/2011.

We blogged about this Eagan, MN Foreclosure property back in November. Click on this link to see video of interior http://mnforeclosureproperties.com/185/.

Well, today this unit was “sold” for $21,500 ***subject to bank approval*** at the Bloomington, MN foreclosure auction. Who says their isn’t great deals out there! If you are a Minnesota Real Estate Investor, looking for deals the pump out POSTIVE CASH FLOW, it doesn’t get any better than this! This Eagan, MN foreclosure listing would likely generate $900/mo in rent, taxes are about $100/mo, HOA dues about $200/mo and mortgage payments on $21500 over 30 years @ 6% = $129/mo, also adding liability insurance $50/mo, you are sitting on a CASH FLOW Eagan, MN good investment property. RENT $900, less $479 in total expenses = $421 in positive cash flow per month or $5052 cash in your pocket every year! (and that’s not taking into account tax depreciation)! Also, don’t forget about appreciation! How much do you think this unit will be worth in 10 years? $90k? $150?

I know how to help you find these deals!  I have all the systems in place to teach you how to be a grade A landlord and how to mitigate renter headaches. If your looking to make some real $$$ via real estate investing, please contact me today @ 612-924-7140 jdschuster@cbburnet.com

If your thinking of buying a MN Minnesota Bank Owned, REO, Foreclosure in Minneapolis or St. Paul, one thing you should check on is to see if it is registered vacant with that city. If you are a foreclosure investor and your looking for Minneapolis or St. Paul homes to flip or rent out as investment property, you must do your due diligence. There are some bad agents out there that do not classify their Minneapolis Foreclosure Listings or St. Paul Foreclosure Listings as registered vacant (if in fact they are registered vacant).  They either don’t know Minneapolis Foreclosure/Vacant Building Rules and Fees and St. Paul Foreclosure/Vacant Building Rules and Fees. Below are links to The City of Minneapolis Vacant Building List and The City of St. Saint Paul Vacant Building List.

City of St. Paul Vacant Building list:http://www.stpaul.gov/index.aspx?NID=2272

City of Minneapolis Vacant Building list: http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/inspections/ch249list.asp (click thru link, then scroll down to “Current List of Buildings Registered As Vacant” and click on updated PDF of vacant Minneapolis properties)

If you want to know what the next step will be if you decied to purchase a Minneapolis or St. Saint Paul VACANT BUILDING PROPERTY then click on my previous blog http://mnforeclosureproperties.com/city-of-st-paul-minnesota-vacant-building-code-compliance-category-1-category-2-category-3-what-does-this-mean-if-i-buy-this-foreclosure-how-does-this-affect-saleability/

Know what your getting into… fees can run into the thousands when dealing with vacant building fees and Minneapolis or St. Paul Code Compliance Inspections. If your are thinking of buying a Minneapolis Foreclosure Listing or a St. Saint Paul Foreclosure Listing, contact an REO/Foreclosure Broker! John Schuster is Coldwell Banker Burnet’s #1 listing agent and sold 246 homes in 2010. For a free confidential meeting to discuss your Foreclosure Investment needs, please contact John @ 612-924-7140.

 What is going to happen with Hennepin County, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Twin Cities REO – Bank Owned – Foreclosures in 2011, all reports sale that more foreclosures are coming….

Minnesota FOX 9 has a great report about MN Minnesota/St. Paul/Twin Cities 2011 Foreclosures:

Minnesota Foreclosures Bigger in 2011?: MyFoxTWINCITIES.com

http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/news/Minnesota-Foreclosures-Bigger-in-2011-jan-18-2011

This news piece on MN Minnesota Bank Owned REO Foreclosures spells out what we really need to fix this Foreclosure mess. We need buyers to buy these Twin Cities Minneapolis Saint Paul REO Foreclosures!  The problem can be getting financing for these types of properties.  Any first time buyer should find FREE DOWNPAYMENT CASH when financing their purchase of a bank owned foreclosure.  One of the best resources I have seen is: http://www.mndownpaymentassistance.com/ via the programs offered by Joy Bender, Lake Area Mortgage – buyers have been getting up to $8500 in down payment assistance. For more info, Joy can be reached via email @ jbender@lakeareamtg.com or (612)227-2065.

Here is an interesting scenario, you put in an offer on a bank owned, reo, foreclosure home, you offer is higher than any other offer, and you don’t get the home? This allegedly happened to a couple looking to purchase a Brooklyn Park, MN Minnesota twinhome. The Star Tribune reported that The Minneapolis Area Association or Realtors will be holding an ethics hearing on the matter. Realtors, agent, brokers are required to presents “any and all written offers” for real estate. The buyers for this Brooklyn Park, MN listing had brought the “highest and best offer” and found out that a lower bidder got it.

From The Star Tribune, 11/26/2010, 

Couple lose out on home; Realtors face ethics case

“From the moment Erica and Mike Lenzen saw a foreclosed twin home for sale in Brooklyn Park, they thought it should be theirs. They even put in a no-strings-attached offer $8,000 above the asking price. But the home was sold to someone else. The Lenzens got suspicious when they learned the house sold for $2,000 less than their offer. When Mike Lenzen tracked down the bank representative in charge of selling the property, she told him she had no record of receiving the couple’s offer. Despite all the regulation and disclosure, buying a home can be a secretive process. Buyers are largely at the mercy of what sellers and their agents tell them. It’s especially mysterious these days, as foreclosed homes flood the market and the banks that own them make sales decisions that sometimes defy explanation. Most buyers who lose out on a deal just move on. The Lenzens spent weeks investigating the transaction and scrutinizing documents. They are convinced their offer was withheld by the bank’s agents at EXIT Realty Metro. They’re not quite sure why, except that the winning bidder, an investor who plans to rent it out, had no agent, allowing EXIT Realty to earn a larger commission.”

http://www.startribune.com/local/north/110890349.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUac8HEaDiaMDCinchO7DU

If you are thinking of buying a foreclosure home, condo, townhome, twinhome or land, you need a good buyer’s agent to ensure your offer is presented and received and that you have all the info to put in the best offer. It is important to work with a Realtor/real estate agent that knows REO Foreclosure properties. Although there will be other listings in the Brooklyn Park area for these buyers and I am sure they search the MLS daily for new bank owned deals, they felt they were slighted in this deal and they want justice! Brooklyn Park borders on Brooklyn Center, Fridley, Champlin, New Hope and Maple Grove Minnesota. – John Schuster is the #1 Listing Agent with Coldwell Banker Burnet in 2010 and is a leader in Foreclosure/Bank Owned/REO properties and listings.

Q3 Minneasota REO Foreclosure stats are out and MN Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul) Hennepin County, Ramsey County, Dakota County, Carver County, Washington County, Anoka County and Scott County bank owned properties are on the rise. 

St. Paul’s Pioneer Press stated:

“Foreclosures in Minnesota are on the rise again, climbing more than 23 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, with the metro area driving the upward trend. Statewide, foreclosures in the third quarter hit the second-highest level on record at 7,254. The only quarter with a higher level was the third quarter of 2008, when the state reached 7,349 foreclosures, according to Friday’s report from HousingLink, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit that studies housing issues.”

Full article http://www.twincities.com/business/ci_16533752?nclick_check=1

This could spell trouble for the Twin Cities real estate marketplace.  Real estate prices might not start to see an upswing for years to come and Bank Owned REO Foreclosures continue to pull down on home, townhome and condo values!  The upside? If you are a real estate investor looking for Single Family Homes, Duplexes, Triplexes, Fourplexes and other multifamily properties can get a sweet deal!  If you looking for CASH FLOW investment properties, you can actually find them now! If you are a home buyer (and do not need to sell a home to buy a home) there may never be a better time to buy! 

If you are looking for Fannie Mae or Freddie Mae (GSE) bank owned REO foreclosure, they have direct access via:

http://www.homepath.com/state/mn.html

http://www.homesteps.com/hm01_1featuresearch.htm

or if you like to search the MLS for Minneapolis, St. Paul, Twin Cities foreclosures, you can search the broker reciprocity Twin Cities Housing database via: http://mnforeclosureproperties.com/hnav/search-foreclosures/

or if you would like a custom search set up, please contact John Schuster, Coldwell Banker Burnet @ jdschuster@cbburnet.com 612-924-7140 www.johnschustergroup.com www.TwinCitiesListed.com www.TwinCitiesCondoShop.com 3033 Excelsior Blvd #100, Minneapolis, MN 55416

City of St Paul, MN Code Compliance Report Category 1, category 2, category 3 THINGS BUYERS MUST KNOW

Are you thinking of buying a vacant home or property in St. Paul, Minnesota (MN)? Have you checked to see if this foreclosure / bank owned home is on the City of St. Paul VACANT BUILDING list?  If you haven’t your going to wish you had.  Linked above is a PDF explaining the difference between CATEGORY 1 – CATEGORY 2 – CATEGORY 3 vacant buildings.  Let’s just say category 1 is not so bad,  category 3 may require a bulldozer!  Check out this story from the Star Tribune about this issue http://www.startribune.com/opinion/editorials/39751872.html?elr=KArksc8P:Pc:UthPacyPE7iUiacyKUnciaec8O7EyUr

The city says – we want our housing supply cleaned up!  With the ever growing supply of vacant buildings on the City of St. Paul’s hands, they decided to to take a troubled situation and take a long vision approach.  The fact is, if a home sits vacant and uncared for for too long it moves up the ladder from vacant – category 1 (no problem, just do an ordinary Truth – In – Housing report) http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/index.asp?NID=1085

But, once it goes to category 2 or 3 -  Buyer be very aware!  That simple Ikea flip might turn into a hellish nightmare! Although some neighborhoods are fighting back! Dayton’s Bluff and the Hillcrest area have been holding tours of vacant homes to help get them sold! Check of this story from Fox 9 – KMSP http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/news/St_Paul_Vacant_House_Tour_Entices_Buyers_with_Strong_Community_Low_Prices

The real deal is that you need a qualified, foreclosure knowledgeable Realtor to help you purchase bank owned / vacant homes in the City of ST. Paul.  John Schuster with Coldwell Banker Burnet is one of the Top Agents in St Paul  and Minneapolis area.  He sold over 100 homes in 2008 and he knows how to work with the banks to get you a fabulous deal.  If you should be thinking of purchasing a foreclosure anywhere in the Twin Cities area contact John Schuster @ jdschuster@cbburnet.com 612-924-7140