We used to be suspicious of foreclosures. Didn’t like them. Didn’t recommend them. However, we are also aware that one of the truisms in life is that things sometimes change. For those who haven’t been paying attention, there have been lots of foreclosures lately. People are losing homes that are only a few years old, in good shape, and in need of only minor cosmetic repairs.
These sorts of properties meet all the standards we’ve always used for choosing income properties. Certain ones make very good sense the day you buy them. We realized they shouldn’t be penalized as low investment quality just because they had been foreclosed on. These are not your grandfather’s foreclosure. We’re talking quality – really good deals – almost ‘like new’ homes you can buy at deep discounts.
A recent report from RealtyTrac had some very interesting demographics regarding foreclosures. The 26 cities with the highest foreclosure rate in the nation for the first quarter of 2009 are all located in four states, which are the metro areas of California, Florida, Nevada, and Arizona. Las Vegas leads the pack with a rate of 4.5%. That’s seven times the national average, one out of every 22 homes.
Don’t worry. We haven’t recommended buying anything in these states for a while and nothing changes that. But foreclosures aren’t confined to the hard hit states. We’ve been uncovering excellent deals in places like Denver and Indianapolis, which are very good markets for us.
Keep an eye on www.JasonHartman.com for our next foreclosure event.
Flickr / taberandrew
