The Rise Of The Bulk REO Business
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.
That opportunity is called Bulk REO Investing, and the potential is huge. Take a just a minute to consider the basics of this highly profitable business.
As a borrower becomes increasingly behind in his mortgage, the lender regularly calls and writes the borrower with default warnings and threats. The formal process of foreclosure begins at the lender’s discretion. The name for this period is ‘preforeclosure’.
When a defaulted property is placed up for auction, the foreclosure process is completed. The lender regains ownership of the property if there are no buyers at auction. The lender then categorizes the property as ‘Real Estate Owned’ – or ‘REO’ for short.
Local real estate agents are usually used to resale REO properties at retail price to the general public. But as a consequence of the weak economy, lenders are frequently selling their REO properties far below their actual value. But the price of receiving such great pricing is the need to purchase multiple REO properties (a ‘package’) rather than individual properties.
Qualified real estate investors are increasingly finding once-in-a-lifetime opportunities in these REO packages. The most successful Bulk REO Investors will have a well-respected source of funding for their transactions. Some sources of funding for these transactions are: personal funds, hard money lenders, commercial lenders and non-conventional sources such as private investors and hedge funds.
Note – One of the nation’s leading experts on bulk reo investing is hedge fund manager Salvatore Buscemi. Sal Buscemi recognized the irrationality of the real estate boom of the late 1990′s and early 2000′s and capitalized on this by forming his very well-regarded hedge fund, Dandrew Capital Partners.