Foreclosures for Sale at Reduced Prices in Northern Colorado

Lower-priced foreclosures for sale in Northern Colorado are being bought by investors who have been turning them into rental homes for college students, couples and small families.

According to local investors, the growing pace of foreclosures in Northern Colorado, particularly Weld County, has put plenty of foreclosed single family houses into the market and has pushed down home prices.

A nationwide foreclosure report released this week showed that foreclosure postings in Colorado in the third quarter increased compared to both the previous quarter and the same quarter last year.

More than 16,200 households in Colorado received default or foreclosure notices from July to September and nearly 4,800 units entered lists of bank owned repossessed homes. With a foreclosure rate of one in 131 residential units, Colorado ranked 9th among states with the highest rates, next to 8th-placer Michigan and 7th-placer Georgia.

Colorado's foreclosure rate rose by more than 11 percent from the April to June quarter and by more than 12 percent from the July to September quarter last year.

One local investor who has temporarily slowed down in his commercial real estate development efforts to go into residential investment is Windsor-based Martin Lind, who has just purchased four residential foreclosures for sale for $950,000 in downtown Greeley.

Lind explained that he and his business need to adjust to the times, grab viable investment opportunities and diversify. He said that buying the four residential properties was his first entry into the residential market. After playing in the commercial real estate market for years, his personnel now are adjusting and learning the fundamentals of the residential market.

James Woody is another investor snapping up home foreclosures for his rental portfolio. Over the past 12 months, he has purchased 33 foreclosed homes to add to his portfolio of more than 200 rental units, which are mostly rented out to college students.

Woody said he wants to buy some more foreclosures because of the attractive prices, but banks have tightened their lending and he has reached his limit.

According to the Everitt Real Estate Center of the Colorado State University, all major Northern Colorado housing markets experienced house price declines over the first six months of 2009 largely because of the low prices of repos for sale. The price declines ranged from 3.2 percent in Boulder County, to 10 percent in Weld County and to more than 13 percent in the tri-cities of Firestone, Frederick and Dacono.

Related Posts:

• Foreclosed Home Listings in Sacramento Grew in 3rd Quarter
• Foreclosed House Auction in Santa Cruz Sold Over 700 Homes
• Why a Repo Property for Sale in Florida Is Good Investment
• Sales of Houses Repossessions Surged 60 Percent in Colorado
• Bank Owned Repossessed Homes in HSBC Books Dropping