After the S&L credit crisis in the late ’80’s, banks had REO departments that dealt directly with buyers. It was huge to have a friend or family member working in a bank’s REO dept because the bank was only looking to cover the principal balance on bad mortgages. The cliche banks used then was that we do not want to own RE, we only finance RE.
The banks learned from that mistake of leaving so much money on the table. Now, they use realtors as a buffer between buyers and themselves and if they are lucky enough to find a buyer willing to pay more than the mortgage number, they pay the foreclosed owner the difference. I was recently in Naples, FL and went to a foreclosure open house where the agent had a stack of 1500 listings for bank-owned properties. Figuring I’d cut out the middleman, I called banks directly to speak with anyone responsible for REO’s. Every time I was directed to a realtor.
Go to one foreclosure open house and tell the realtor you’re looking to buy foreclosed. I’d almost guarantee the realtor will show you more listings than you could visit on a Sunday. The process, even with a realtor, to buy a foreclosure can be extremely frustrating. Most times the realtor knows just as much about where you stand as you do.