patrick.net

Many of you who frequent this site are light years ahead of me on this housing crisis. I need advice....but I ask for responses that are (a) understandable to a newbie and (b) constructive.

I have property that was purchased in 2007. I was a "virgin" property owner so unfortunately I didn't purchase something earlier in the 2000's and roll over some artificial profit into it as a down payment. I had a lot of trepidation buying in mid 07 as common sense warned me that prices were not realistic.

However, I let my emotions concerning getting my child into a "home" and a good elementary school override my fears that the housing market would crash. We took the plunge and purchased a home in WA for $454K that needed updating. Everything, in our price range, needed updating. Trust me, we drove our realtor batty driving to dozens upon dozens of homes...hoping in vain to hit a diamond in the rough. No such luck.

This was supposed to be our "starter" home. I will share that I am currently 44 yrs old, so I guess I got a late start. At this point, we want to move on. Moving on means most certainly taking a financial loss. Fortunately, we have paid it down enough that we already sort of swallowed our pain in that department. We owe less than it's worth but I have come to see that we grossly overpaid for the property in 07. I am willing to realize / actualize that loss if I can make a similar gain on the purchase end. We are looking for our long term home.

I was searching in a rural area of WA state for land to consider building on. I stumbled on a "short sale" home that has many of the features that I desire if I were to build. Problem is: I am realizing how risky a short sale can be in terms of liens against the property....risk that the "owners" strip the place of valuable built-in appliances or cabinetry, etc. Further, it seems to me that the price on this particular short sale is too high. It seems like the bank wants near market value for this property.

I was able to speak with a neighbor to the short sale property and he chronicled the offers that the bank has received. Bank of America is the lender and evidently they want their asking price. One buyer was not far off the list price yet they tried to squeeze more out of him (citing an appraisal) & this potential buyer responded by drastically reducing his offer. This was 3 months ago.

At this point, the property in question is has been listed 467 days. The "owners" completed Ch 7 bankruptcy in 5/09....so why is the world is this property not foreclosed? How can I check the status of the property? My realtor (a broker and owner of a 30 agent REMAX co) said "you have some time" so he knows something but doesn't disclose what stage in process they are. Ah! Frustrating. Why is this top secret info....? When are these owners OUT? When does this property go for auction? Etc. I can't tell if the realtor truly doesn't know what Bank of America will do with this or what? Let's face it: probably even Bank of America doesn't know what Bank of America is doing....but still...I can't understand

I can't seem to figure out where to go to get transparency in my search of foreclosure listings. I have tried looking at various oft used sites like Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, etc but I feel like I have 1/4 the picture. On the "foreclosure" listing sites, there is no detail on the property. I have not subscribed to any of the sites that you pay monthly. It seems like the consensus here is that these websites are not worth the price (?) Do you obtain the detailed interior photos, the actual street address, the liens and loans on the properties if you pay to subscribe?

Where in the world do you go to arm yourself with the information necessary to make a decision on a short sale or foreclosed property? I hate using the MLS because I just know that lots of distressed properties are out there. Please help!

#housing