No generation in American history has ever experienced the number of foreclosures and defaulted mortgages as is happening now. Yet well-funded investors in real estate are seizing upon this opening to profit from an profoundly profitable new opportunity.
‘Bulk REO Investing’ is the name of the new strategy, and it’s captured the attention of many well-heeled investors.
The basis of the Bulk REO business is foreclosures, so let’s analyze the foreclosure process now.
Understanding of the foreclosure process is central to understanding Bulk REO investing.
As a borrower becomes increasingly behind in his mortgage, the lender regularly calls and writes the borrower with default warnings and threats. The lender directs the subsequent timing of the actual foreclosure proceedings. The ‘pre-foreclosure’ time starts with filing of foreclosure paperwork and concludes at public auction.
The defaulted property is ultimately auctioned, thus completing the foreclosure process. If there are no buyers for the property at auction, the property is returned to the lender. The designation of ‘REO’ (Real Estate Owned) is then attached to the foreclosed property.
REO properties are usually listed for sale with local real estate agents. However, lenders are increasingly willing to take much less than their REO asset is actually worth. The trade-off is that the buyer must purchase multiple REO properties in each transaction.
There is huge profit potential in these REO packages for qualified real estate investors. Bulk REO Investors are most successful when they have a well-established source of funding for their REO packages. 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 Capital Partners, a New-York based hedge fund.
