| REO, REO properties, REO banks - what is all the | | | | through the foreclosure process. Properties referred to |
| buzz about? On the Internet, we see these terms | | | | as Real Estate Owned are completely foreclosed and |
| bounced back and forth like tennis balls, but no one | | | | have been taken through the public auction process |
| seems to be able to slow down long enough to explain | | | | without producing an offer that the mortgagor - usually |
| what they mean. Well, I know about the subject and | | | | a bank - was able to accept. At this point, the REO |
| have some time to talk. If you'd like, we can take a | | | | property is bank owned, and banks that own these |
| couple of minutes and sort through it all together. | | | | properties are referred to REO banks. The property is |
| Real estate foreclosure is a long and complicated | | | | listed on the bank's books as a "non-producing asset." |
| process that takes months to complete if it goes | | | | Lending institutions don't care much for non-producing |
| through the entire legal procedure. Possibly this is | | | | assets, as we can imagine. That is why this is the very |
| because, in fact, none of the parties involved actually | | | | last step in the foreclosure process. The REO banks |
| wants to settle things this way. Anyway, we will skip | | | | hope it won't ever get to this point. The lender is in |
| through most of the procedure to the end, which is | | | | business to earn interest on money loaned out, not to |
| when we need to know what REO banks are all | | | | be a landlord or speculate in possibly dubious real |
| about. | | | | estate ventures. Many times, REO banks are not |
| When we see the term "REO" used in this context our | | | | interested in making a profit on these properties, which |
| brains should think of the three upper case letters R, E | | | | may be part of the mystery surrounding what "REO" |
| and O. The term is actually an anagram that stands | | | | means. Under the right circumstances, the whole |
| for the phrase, "Real Estate Owned." This term is | | | | situation described here can represent an opportunity |
| applied to a portion of the real properties that go | | | | for a third party to make a substantial profit. |