After the Sheriff sale, it is not unlikely that the bank may take months before the house is released for sale. They may have to resolve a few second or third mortgages, or a couple liens before they can sell the property with clean title. The previous owner is out of the picture.
The REO Sales is run by a committee of executives in the bank. They make decisions, they don’t sell houses nor do appraisals. They hire a realtor to handle all that. Nowadays, a lot of REOs are sold through realtors. The banks may not be interested in direct negotiation with a buyer, unless they have special staff to handle it. You can always try calling them, one out of 10 banks might deal direct. Most of them will tell you that they do not have foreclosures.
Personally I use a buyer’s realtor. Yes, the bank has to pay the commision, and the asking price may be a few bucks higher, but I am a wholesale buyer, there is no way I could lose.
Just contacted a bank regarding an REO. Taken back by the bank via Sheriff’s Sale in August with a 6 month redemption period. The redemption period was up in February. Without even checking, the REO guy proceeds to tell me that he knows all the foreclosed properties in Michigan and the one I was inquiring about is not listed. Then he goes on to tell me that they want to get the most out of the property and will be sending a realtor out to evaluate the value…yada,yada,yada…Check back in about 6 months!
Is this guy kidding? It sounds like he wants to hand this one over to a friend, or am I mistaken. (20K for a 35K home) I know the redemption period is over but can the previous owner still redeem? I might have to work this deal thru a back door.