Is now a safe time to buy foreclosures?


Dennis Norman St Louis

Dennis Norman

According to a report just released by RealtyTrac® foreclosures increased in the third quarter of 2010, although with a slowing rate of increase.  There were 930,437 foreclosure filings in the third quarter, up almost 4 percent from the 2nd quarter but up only 1 percent from the year before.  One in every 139 housing units in the U.S. received a foreclosure filing during 3rd quarter.

During the month of September alone, there were foreclosure filings reported on 347,420 U.S. properties, an increase of nearly 3 percent from the previous month and an increase of 1 percent from September 2009. A record total of 102,134 bank repossessions were reported in September, the first time bank repossessions have surpassed the 100,000 mark in a single month.Opportunities to make “deals” on foreclosures abound…but is now the time to buy?

Unless you have been in a cave for the past couple of weeks (and not reading this blog I might add ) you are probably aware of all the lawsuits that have been filed against lenders with borrowers claiming lenders were violating their rights by short-cutting, or cheating in, the foreclosure process.  This has led to most of the larger lenders taking action to stop new foreclosures while they investigage the matter.  So, with all this going on, is now a safe time to buy a foreclosure?  I think Rick Sharga, the Senior Vice President of RealtyTrac, does a good job of addressing this issue in the video below.

Video: Is it safe to buy a foreclosure?

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