Bucks County Real Estate Web Resource

How to Buy a Bucks County Foreclosed Home

As a prospective homebuyer in Bucks County, you have many options in your search to find an affordable home. One of those options today is the purchase of a home that has been foreclosed in Bucks County and is currently owned by Fannie Mae.

We provide the following questions and answers to help you in your search.

With the strength in the Bucks County real estate market, the days of hoping to spend 30 cents on the dollar when buying a foreclosed home are not realistic anymore. Instead, you find a lot of the Bucks County foreclosed homes going for their market value, but still can find foreclosed homes receiving discounts of 10 – 30%. Therefore to be successful, you need to make sure your expectations are in order, otherwise you could be very disappointed.

You will find a wide selection of Bucks County homes, including single-family homes, Bucks County condominiums, and Bucks County town houses - located in a variety of neighborhoods throughout a community are available. The number, types, and the sales prices of housing may vary substantially. Many of these homes tend to come with needed repairs, because often times the result of not having money by the owner to pay for their mortgage also forced any needed repairs to be sidelined.

When it’s time to buy, you want to be sure that the condition of the property is accurately represented. If the property needs repair, be sure to identify the cost – in some cases the condition of the home and needed cost for repairs can prevent you from getting a loan on the property. This is why it is best to be "pre-qualified" for a mortgage, which a local Bucks County lender can assist you with.

You can find local Bucks County foreclosures by looking in the local Multiple Listing System (MLS) accessible by any real estate broker. You can search the Fannie Mae website for a list of foreclosures at fanniemae.com. Your best approach is using a local agent to identify all the foreclosed homes in your area.

Fannie Mae is a private, shareholder-owned company that works to make sure mortgage money is available for people in communities all across America. They don't lend money directly to home buyers, but by investing in the mortgages lenders create, Fannie Mae provides a constant source of mortgage funds.

If you find a Bucks County foreclosed home, the summarized process below will be followed. This example is with Fannie Mae. First, you present your offer to the listing broker who will present it to Fannie Mae for consideration. Fannie Mae will do one of three things in response to your offer. Through the listing broker, Fannie Mae may accept your offer, reject your offer, or make a "counter offer." This counter offer begins the process of negotiating for a selling price agreed to by both you and Fannie Mae.

When the sales price is agreed upon, you will sign a "purchase and sales agreement" and begin the process of obtaining mortgage financing to purchase the home.