Are foreclosures still the best buy in Real Estate?

Are they?  If you are thinking yes, is it something you are assuming because of what you have read about the real estate market?  I’m not saying you are wrong just trying to get you to think and keep an open mind for this blog.

As you already know the real estate market has really taken a huge hit over the last four years.  The foreclosures and short sales have a lot to do with that.  At first it seemed like the foreclosures were such incredible deals, why would you consider anything else?  That was then and this is now.  I have seen big shift in the Minneapolis & St. Paul metro area real estate market over the last year but especially in the last six months.  Whats the shift?  It is a pricing shift between the foreclosures and the regular residential homes that are for sale.  What I am seeing is the ga has now narrowed to the point that many of the regular listings not in foreclosure or short sale status are priced extremely well.

Knowing this should give you cause to take a moment and consider all of your options before you buy.  If a regular residential listing has been updated and move in ready and priced only 10% or so higher vs. a foreclosure that needs 20% or more in updates, you might find the foreclosure is not such a great deal.  Another upside to this is many home buyers seem to look only at foreclosures because they just assume they are the better deal.  Because of that you may find you can avoid getting into multiple offer situations.  Not to mention a lot of the sellers are motivated, they want to sell and are many times easier to deal with than the banks.

So before you jump on the foreclosure bandwagon take some time to consider all of your home buying options.  You might be really surprised by what you find that turns out to be the best deal in real estate right now.

Tom Sommers/Edina Realty