Bay Area

[lickmill]

Does redfin list all foreclosure and REO properties? Should I look at a different site if I am looking for foreclosure properties ?

[Glenn]

You should also look at RealtyTrac, which charges a fee (~$30 per month) to show you foreclosure properties up for auction. Redfin displays bank-owned properties (REO) listed in the MLS as well as on banks' websites (sometimes banks display homes for sale on their own sites before marketing them via an agent in the MLS and Redfin scrapes that inventory). Redfin also displays short sales where the home-owner is selling a property for more than he owes the bank. Redfin does not display properties in between, where the home-owner has lost the property but before the bank takes possession -- first a trustee will try to auction it on behalf of the bank for the amount owed on the mortgage. Participating in auctions is generally for expert investors with plenty of cash on hand. This inventory is expensive to maintain, and changes very frequently; we don't have the money to buy the inventory and display it for free, and neither does anyone else (though some show free teaser content, without displaying the address of precise location of the foreclosure properties). Enter RealtyTrac...

This link may help... 

http://www.redfin.com/help/search/the-most-homes-for-sale 

[raring]

Unless you are going to buy at auction - which is risky - Realty Trac is a waste. They keep lisitngs up way after the property is sold, showing them as on the market.. There info seems to me pretty chronically inaccurate therefore. For most people waiting until a foreclosure is with a realtor makes sense, because then you have a clear title.

[cageydog]

Late reply.  I acknowledge that RealtyTrac is better than anyone else at listing foreclosures, but they do miss a lot of them.  If you check the legal ad sections of your local newspapers and compare the foreclosure ads with those listed on RealtyTrac, you will find a notable discrepency.  There is still only one way to make sure you know about all the sales, getting the ads yourself from the newspapers.

[danix]

Realtytrac is $45/mo and their interface is horrible, as is their search.  Any data inaccuracies are chalked up to bad reporting, with no other help offered.

I'm paying them but not happy about it.

While we're on the subject of short sales, why is it that Ziprealty can display "short sale" or "foreclosure" or "REO" on their listings, but Redfin cannot?

[LazyGuy]

As mentioned, RealtyTrac (and maybe Foreclosures.com if they aren't the same company) are the best for auction listings, but you have to pay a fee. 

Two alternatives are  ForeclosureAuctionInfo.com  which requires absolutely no sign-up, and  USA-foreclosures  which requires an email address to view details (for every county change it seems).  They don't come close to the volume of info from RealtyTrac, but they do provide full addresses and auction information for free.

[luckydogz]

foreclosures.com just listed in feb 2009 in zillow a reo i bought back in aug 2008 - ha - i would be curious to hear whether anybody has had any success in the sf bay area with foreclosures.com

[lobeliarama]

Good grief, I would not even try the auction angle at this point.

That being said, your bank probably has a list of properties in foreclosure as long as your arm.  I know people who've just gone to their bank and asked for a list and then talked to their agent about seeing some if any of those.

One of the problems of the current situation is that there are more homes to list than can be kept up with.

I just slogged through with using listings at realtor.com and redfin.com, and then found a whole lot of additional properties in those neighborhoods where I was looking at listings I'd seen online.  Which is how I came to have my agent in the first place.  I called her about a property I saw that caught my eye, and we hit it off.

I wouldn't pay money to go through this process again, re: paid listings; it wouldn't be unlike paying someone to kick me.