Times they are a changin’

Foreclosures trigger several reactions – fear, foreboding, worry … and opportunity.

The Charlottesville/Central Virginia region is really not that bad, but as Scott commented last week,

This, of course, is why the MLS statistics are so lousy anyway – they don’t include foreclosure auctions and other data available in the land records. That is, they don’t really accurately reflect the real market.

The MLS shows at least six foreclosures, and I’ve requested that they put a checkbox for “foreclosure – Yes or NO.” If Realtors want to stay experts in the market, we need to adapt to the changing market. But there are other ways of searching – you just have to search the seller’s name for “Option One Mortgage” or “Countrywide” or any of the other banks that have taken over properties.

RealtyTrac doesn’t show any foreclosures – only auctions and unrepresented sellers, but Trulia does show a couple – and they get their data from RealtyTrac.

The HooK compiles property auctions every week, but the auctions typically are a few days away – very short notice for buyers and Realtors to do appropriate due diligence.

Unfortunately, there just is not a reliable source (that I am aware of) by which to search for and find foreclosures.

Either way, I expect we’ll see more as the months wear on.

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