Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Hits and Misses in "Bargain" Real Estate

I've tried searching Yahoo! Real Estate for listings of foreclosed property available at dramatic discounts. The problem I've encountered is that many of the listings at the lowest end of the price range are simply too good to be true.

There are dozens of listings at any given time for properties priced at $5000 or less in the San Francisco Bay Area. I was intrigued until I showed the listings to a real estate professional. She cross-checked them with what's available on her master listing service and discovered that many of these bargain listings are in fact errors. Many of the lowest-priced properties are usually people's garages, mother-in-law rooms, or other odd pieces that absolutely cannot be sold separately from a primary listing. When something looks too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true.

I think Yahoo! Real Estate is a good tool for finding reasonably priced foreclosures, like stuff that's 20% off. I'll write more about foreclosures when I find some properties worth considering.