Where Are the Foreclosure Deals?

This is a question I get asked regularly. With foreclosures at an all time high nationwide, vulture funds are springing up like daisies in the spring trying to snap up bank discounted foreclosure values. San Miguel County and the Telluride region are not seeing a big volume of foreclosures coming through the pipeline yet. The questions are being asked: Are the banks waiting to start foreclosing on non-performing loans? Is the market here different than the rest of the nation? Etc., Etc. First, we need to put foreclosures into perspective; foreclosures nationwide represent only slightly less than one percent of all residential real estate. The Telluride region is not a very big real estate market compared to the markets where there is a lot of foreclosure carnage like the Phoenix area, Las Vegas, California, south Florida, etc. and our market is fairly diverse in product.

The 21 properties on the County Trustee’s January 14, 2009 single page foreclosure list represent many different facets of our real estate market. Neighbors are watching if a property in the area is coming up for sale and like the two West Meadows parcels that were up for public sale, were purchased by a neighbor who saw good value, before the parcels were offered on the Court House steps. The reality seems to be many of the properties being foreclosed on are not premier properties, and savvy investors can probably find better value for more premier properties if they are willing to spend the time to research and work with a knowledgeable broker. Whether it is investment or development property, or that dream house or parcel that just a few years ago was priced out of reach, right now there is value and opportunity out there that we have not seen in quite some time. Sellers are depressed and downtrodden by the constant barrage of bad economic news.

But as the old market saying goes, sell when others are buying and buy when others are selling. The best advice I have for sellers, if you have to sell, is be realistic in your pricing. It does not matter what you were offered two years ago, or what the neighbor sold for; you have to meet market pricing. If you don’t have to sell, pull your property from the market and come back to the game another day when conditions are better. Sellers and brokers are fooling themselves listing overpriced properties. There is no dreamer’s buying in this market, just realistic buyers looking for good value. Cash is king and buyers know it. My advice to buyers is look for value, do not get too emotional about a single property. If the seller of your first choice does not want to come down to your price, move on to the next property. This will be a lot of work for your real estate broker, but he or she should not be afraid of hard work in this market. Good hunting!