Pre Foreclosures on Zillow

Are pre foreclosures on Zillow for sale? Does anyone know how those work? There are 2 I'm interested in and my agent just says it can take some time with foreclosures and never reaches out to the bank, etc.
Should I even be wasting my time looking at these?

Pre Foreclosures on Zillow

First I wouldn't use Zillow as accurate info. They still have my house for sale on there. They do not update info.

Pre Foreclosures on Zillow

Zillow is a waste. Pre-foreclosures don't really mean you can make an offer and buy the house. It simply means the homeowner is behind in payments and a notice of foreclosure has been submitted - the homeowner can still make payments, or negotiate with the bank. So it doesn't mean the house will ever actually foreclose, and even then it can take a very long time to do so.

Re: Pre Foreclosures on Zillow

I hate these pre foreclosures on Zillow

the odds of them ever being on the market are slim to none

in NY it takes over 3 years to get foreclosed on - more like 5-7 years

there are about 1 million things that the home owner can do to stop a sale - don't waste your time looking

Re: Pre Foreclosures on Zillow

I agree. "Pre-foreclosure" is like being "pre-pregnant" in my book. It's not really a thing, you know?

If someone's behind on their mortgage payments and a lis pendens has been filed, they may just decide to live there until the bank forecloses, which takes years (because in NY we have judicial foreclosure). And as Beth said, the homeowner can halt the process (by filing bankruptcy, for example).

A seller who is behind on mortgage payments may decide to put their home on the market as a short sale, but even if a home is listed as a short sale, it's not something that the typical home buyer (who is looking for their primary residence) wants to get involved with. There are so many uncertainties for a buyer with a short sale process and so many factors that affect how it goes (seller's cooperation and ability to provide documentation, bank or banks involved, who is negotiating the short sale with the bank).

Also, short sales aren't the "great deals" people seem to think they are. Many banks want close to full market value (they do their own BPOs, or valuations of the property), and there can be a lot of hidden issues and challenges that the buyer of a short sale inherits or has to deal with (pertaining to home condition, title problems, missing C/Os... some short sales aren't mortgageable for some of these reasons).

So I would just focus your search on available homes on the market that are not short sales. (And I say this as an agent who has her own short sale listings and even has a law firm dedicated to negotiating with the banks on short sales!)

Pre Foreclosures on Zillow

I would check yourself to see if they're listed on mlsli.com. We bought a pre foreclosure (6 years ago though) and it only took a few months to close.

Pre Foreclosures on Zillow

Thank you all!