Process involved in buying a Wells Fargo Owned REO Home

Many savvy real estate investors and first time buyers are interested in buying a Wells Fargo REO property. Now may be the best time to do so, as there are lots of good REO property deals on the market currently. It’s a sad situation for home owners who lost homes, but at the same time, a great a opportunity for others looking to purchase a residential property for investment or occupancy. A good number of underpriced real estate properties among Wells Fargo REO.

Wells Fargo is one of the largest banks in US. It currently has a large supply of foreclosed homes that are part of its REO inventory. All the residential listings of foreclosed properties owned by Wells Fargo can be found on the website of their asset manager, Premiere Asset Services.

Other real estate websites such as RealtyTrac and Foreclosure.com also contain these listings of reo homes owned by Wells Fargo. PAS is based out of Frederick, MD., with regional branches in San Bernardino, CA. and Des Moines, Iowa.

The process involved in buying a Wells Fargo owned REO home is similar to buying any other seller-owned residential home listed on the market. The only noticeable difference is that it takes much longer to get an offer accepted and approved on a bank owned home.

Banks and their reo asset management companies, who handle all aspects of their repossessed property inventory, are known to be slow in their response and turnaround times. Getting the offer accepted along with signed documentation usually lead to delays. The rest of the REO purchase process, especially after the escrow stage, proceeds much like any other home purchase process. The bank or lender that is selling an REO property generally won’t do any needed repairs to fix any deficiencies on the listed property. They are always sold as “As-Is”, so the buyer must keep this always in mind when making an offer.

Due to the ever increasing number of foreclosed homes repossessed by Wells Fargo bank in recent times, their REO department and listing agents are getting bogged down. As a result, buyers and investors must be patient during the REO offer process. A number of unexpected and unforeseen issues may come up as the REO volumes continue to rise.

It’s quite common to find it increasingly difficult to get in touch with the assigned listing agent on a Wells Fargo owned reo home. Often during inspections, you or your agent may discover that the utilities haven’t been turned on. This can lead to costly rescheduling of re-inspections, and inevitably, frustration, due to the complacency of the Realtor or agent. Even in situations where the property reaches a closing table, the bank or the asset manager who owns the reo property may not sign all the required title and closing documents in a timely manner. This may lead to losing the financing or a rate lock.

The above mentioned issues are commonly encountered by buyers and investors involved in buying a property from Wells Fargo REO listings. It’s good to prepare oneself for these inevitabilities when engaged in a REO purchase process. There isn’t a whole lot once can do as banks are certainly not likely to improve their services in these times of excess REO inventory volumes.

In spite of all these issues during a REO purchase process, there is still a significant demand for REO properties owned by large banks such as Wells Fargo. The listing prices on these properties are usually lower, and also provide room for further significant price negotiation.

With an increasing number of residential real estate investors focusing on buying Wells Fargo reo homes, the days of single offers with no competing offers are becoming. These days multiple offers on Wells Fargo repossessed homes are getting quite common, especially on properties in good neighborhoods.

While sales price may be negotiated down, the banks are less flexible when it comes to negotiations regarding the specific fees they may or may not be willing to bear. It’s always advisable to engage the services of a buyer’s agent with experience in engaging with Wells Fargo reo department for a smooth and hassle-free transaction. Also once should start the offer process immediately after locating a good deal, especially on those foreclosed homes that offer good value. It’s also much easier to get a lower price on a Wells Fargo reo home if it sat on the market for quite some time, while never actually being under contract.