Checking for a Potential Bargain
How much is owed on the property and if the owner has any other liens against the property. This is all public information and you can research on your own with the county recorder or you can use RealtyTrac’s property reports and tools to help. This process should not take more than a day or two, because you don’t want to delay long before contacting the owner in default.
Subscribers usually have access to the estimated market value based on comparable sales as well as the estimated loan balance, called either the Balance or Opening Bid on the Property Details screen. You can also look at the Trans Date (date purchased) and Trans Value (purchase amount) to estimate the loan balance.
RealtyTrac has several reports available on each property to help you research the potential bargain. You can purchase a Legal and Vesting report or Transaction History report to check for other loans the owner may have taken out and for a history of ownership. If you want to dig further into the valuation, you can order a Comparable Sales report. For a comprehensive valuation report that includes comparable sales and a list of mortgages or trust deeds on the property, you can order a Complete Valuation report. You can order any of these reports at the Property Reports Center on RealtyTrac.
Subscribers also have access to the RealtyTrac Xamine tool, which allows them to input the information from the reports to calculate the potential profit. Basically, Xamine takes the estimated market value of the home and subtracts any outstanding loan balances and estimated repair costs to calculate the potential bargain available.
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