Bulk REO Investment Basics

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.

‘Bulk REO Investing’ is the name of the new strategy, and it’s captured the attention of many well-heeled investors.

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

To understand Bulk REO investing is to understand the foreclosure process.

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. ‘Pre foreclosure’ is the name given to the time between implementation of the foreclosure proceedings and the public auction.

The defaulted property is ultimately auctioned, thus completing the foreclosure process. The lender regains ownership of the property if there are no buyers at auction. 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. But as a consequence of the weak economy, lenders are frequently selling their REO properties far below their actual value. However, the purchase of a ‘package’ (or group) or REO properties is the trade-off for receiving such great prices.

These REO packages represent the potential to acquire huge amounts of equity for savvy real estate investors. The most successful Bulk REO Investors will have a well-respected source of funding for their transactions. 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 hedge fund in New York.