Indianapolis/Fishers Real Estate

What does it take to be an expert in buying or selling distressed properties?  This Fishers Real Estate Team has developed not only an expertise, but are witnessing some incredible deals and also some heart wrenching stories.

First let’s identify what a distressed property is.  They can be bank owned, or REO (Real Estate Owned) or Pre-Foreclosure/Short Sale.  They are properties that for one reason or another cannot be sold for their current market value or the amount owed on the properties.  They can happen due to an illness, due a mismanagement of funds, due to a bankruptcy, or for any number of reasons and they are happening more frequently around the Indianapolis Real Estate Market and in the Fishers Real Estate Market as well.  My team currently has a property in the Indianapolis market, two in Fishers and one in Noblesville under contract as a distressed property.  This Fishers Realtor also has one on the market currently in the Moorings that is a short sale. 

The upside of a distressed property is that you will probably get it for a good deal.  You will most certainly have equity at the closing table.  I recently wrote about the Top 10 Short Sales in Fishers and we actually bid on one of those; there were 8 offers and we did not get that one.  We subsequently bid on another one and are currently under contract with that one.  My buyer got the property for $50,000 less than the current assessed value.  We know how to find them and we know how to get to the closing table.  But, it is not without a lot of patience, time, and dialogue with the other agent and the banks involved.  In all distress properties, there is a bank involved.  There may be a seller, but there is a bank.  Banks are on their time tables and have their guidelines.  Banks require documentation from the seller as well as professional opinions on what the home is worth.  So, if you have to be in a home quickly, this is probably not the best choice for you.  But if you are buying it as an investment or can wait to close the transaction, this could be a great option for you. 

There may be some bright news on the horizon; House Bill 1359 does give us the following language:

Requires a creditor, a mortgage servicer or an agent of a creditor to acknowledge a written offer made in connection with a proposed short sale of property that is subject to a mortgage transaction that is at least 60 days delinquent. Provides that the acknowledgment must be provided not later than 10 business days after the date of the offer. Requires the creditor, servicer or agent to accept or reject the short sale offer not later than 30 business days after receipt of the offer. 

If they do not follow these guidelines; they are fined $2,000.  I am not sure that is enough to change their current behavior, but it is a step in the right direction.

Contact any member of our Fishers Real Estate Team and we’ll go over the process and see what inventory in the distressed properties are available.

 Cindy “in Indy” Marchant - Fishers Real Estate Agent
Keller Williams Realty Indy Metro NE
Fishers IN Real Estate Website
317-290-7775