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Real Estate Investing is a tough business right now.   While the business of buying and holding real estate as a long term investment remains a legitimate and viable strategy for wealth building, profit is no longer guaranteed as it once appeared to be.  

With that in mind, the astute real estate investor will consider some specific real estate investment concepts to complement the “tried and true” strategy of long-term buy-and-hold investment houses:  

*  Internet Marketing – The internet continues to grow at an astounding rate and its value as a marketing medium grows even faster.  With the expanding influence of social networking and the ability of “normal” internet users to directly interact with each other, the internet has become a center of social persuasion and an extremely viable medium for “getting the word out” about products and services available to average people.  The benefits aren’t reserved for large businesses, either.  While the internet has become increasingly competitive in recent years, it’s still imminently accessible as a marketing medium even for solo entrepreneurs with a modicum of determination and education.  

*  Bulk REO – the prevalence of foreclosures in our economy has put mortgage lenders into a difficult position.  With large pools of foreclosed properties on their books, it is no longer efficient for these lenders to sell their foreclosed properties one-by-one through real estate brokers.  As such, mortgage lenders are increasingly opting to sell their foreclosures in “packages” to well-funded investors, at steeply discounted prices.  Bulk REO investing is a rapidly emerging trend and will continue to be a significant tool for real estate acquisition and disposition until such time as the current foreclosure crisis abates and the foreclosure rate regresses to more normal historical levels.  

It’s a different world in the real estate investment business.   It would be very, very simple to think that the foreclosure crisis has caused the door of opportunity to be slammed entirely shut.   Yet that’s simply not the case.   When one observes the state of the real estate market, it is undeniable that fundamentals matter more than ever.   For example, the selection of the local real estate market is of greater importance than ever, considering the huge disparity that exists among the thousands of real estate markets across the United States.   Additionally, the role of regulatory compliance is greater than ever given the activist nature of the current presidential administration.  

Without a doubt, there are very major challenges in today’s real estate investing market.   But with some persistence, determination and creativity, there is still plenty of opportunity.

The weakness of the U.S. economy has given rise to the largest epidemic of foreclosures in American history. However, opportunistic real estate investment professionals are turning the recession into great profits with a bit of creativity.

‘Bulk REO Investing’ is the name of the new strategy, and it’s captured the attention of many well-heeled investors.

Consider with me, if you will, the fundamentals of the Bulk REO business.

To understand investing in Bulk REO, you have to understand the foreclosure process.

A home owner who misses one or more mortgage payments is faced with an ever-increasing volume of threatening correspondence from their lender. Following a period of time determined by the lender, formal foreclosure proceedings begin. Between the formal beginning of the foreclosure process and the public auction is the ‘preforeclosure’ period.

Foreclosure is completed when the defaulted property is auctioned. If there are no buyers for the property at auction, the property is returned to the lender. The designation of ‘REO’ (Real Estate Owned) is then attached to the foreclosed property.

REO properties are usually listed for sale with local real estate agents. Yet with increasing frequency, REO properties are being sold for pennies or dimes on the dollar. But the price of receiving such great pricing is the need to purchase multiple REO properties (a ‘package’) rather than individual properties.

The REO investment packages available today have provided a way to profitably capitalize on the U.S. recession. The most successful Bulk REO Investors will have a well-respected source of funding for their transactions. Some sources of funding for these transactions are: personal funds, hard money lenders, commercial lenders and non-conventional sources such as private investors and hedge funds. Additionally, one man is becoming very well known in the field of bulk REO investing, and his name is Salvatore Buscemi of Dandrew Partners, a hedge fund in New York.