One Quarter of Homebuyers Want Foreclosures
by JON PRIOR
November 12, 2009 11:23 AM CST
Low prices and foreclosure bargains motivate buyers to purchase a home more than any other reason, according to a survey from Move.com.
Of consumers wanting to buy a home, 25.3% of them want to purchase a foreclosure. Roughly 12% of homebuyers, or one out of eight, today plan to purchase a home as an investment property, up from 5.6% seven months ago.
The buyers split roughly down the middle on investing and residing in their real estate owned (REO) purchase. While 57.6% plan to live in the foreclosed home themselves, 42% of the buyers regard their acquisition as an investment, according to the survey. Roughly 13% of them plan to convert the foreclosure into a rental property, 11.3% of the buyers will fix them up for re-sale and 17.4% said that they would house a family member in the purchased REO until it can be sold for a profit.
There are opportunities to purchase foreclosures in Los Angeles County at bargain prices before they go into the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).