Government Foreclosures - For Real Estate Investors

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Within the category of government foreclosures you can consider quite a many different sources.  These include VA foreclosures from the Department of Veterans Affairs, HUD foreclosures from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the General Services Administration, the Department of Treasury, the Small Business Administration, the Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Marshals Service, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and also Fannie Mae.  At last count there were about 37 different government departments through which you can locate foreclosure properties.  One site that has compiled listings from a few of these departments is www.homesales.gov.

The more commonly known government foreclosures are through HUD and VA and more information about those can be found on the following pages respectively:

• HUD foreclosures
• VA foreclosures

There are pros and cons with each so weigh up whether they are for you and also consider the following lesser known government foreclosures.

Another great source of government properties is the General Services Administration's Office of Property Disposal (https://propertydisposal.gsa.gov/).  It is their role to "dispose of" unneeded or underutilized federal property.  Such properties can vary greatly in value and can include: undeveloped land; office buildings; warehouses; commercial and industrial facilities; military holdings; and single- and multi-family residences.

The Treasury auctions off a wide range of residential and commercial property which has been seized through IRS-Criminal Investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Secret Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  Upcoming auctions are listed on their site (http://www.treas.gov/auctions/treasury/rp/) along with their Terms of Sale and everything else you'll need to bid.

The USDA has quite a sizable database of acquired properties and potential foreclosures on their site (http://www.resales.usda.gov/).  These include single family homes, multi-family housing, and commercial properties.

On the website of the US Marshals Service (http://www.usdoj.gov/marshals/assets/sales.htm) you will find a list of assets, including real estate, being auctioned by Bid4Assets (http://www.bid4assets.com/storefront/index.cfm?fuseaction=USMS&sfid=150).  They also list forfeited real estate with Fidelity National Asset Management Solutions (FNAMS).  And these properties are listed by state on the US Marshals Service website with more details available at www.fnams.com.

The FDIC has plenty of information about buying real estate assets from them on their site (http://www.fdic.gov/buying/owned/index.html).  Check out the FAQs.  They also have a searchable database of current properties available (http://www4.fdic.gov/DRRORE/).

You can also search for foreclosure properties with the government established corporation, Fannie Mae (http://www.fanniemae.com/reoSearchApplication/fanniemae/reoSearch.jsp).  While Fannie Mae is now a shareholder-owned company it still has a public mission of supporting America's housing needs and that's why it's included here.

It might surprise you just how many government departments own real estate that they need to dispose of.  In this day and age, such properties are normally listed on the website of the relevant department so go and check some others out and you could get a leg up on your investing competitors by discovering some hidden government foreclosures.

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