Agent Introduces Bus Tours to Make Foreclosure Hunting Easier

November 16th, 2009 | Tags: Foreclosure

Agents are using bus to make tours over foreclosure houses

Todd Shirley and Victor Hernandez of Skyline Properties and Ballard Realty are real estate agents. Taking the cue from their peers in California and Florida they have introduced bus tours to make foreclosure hunting easier for potential buyers.

Foreclosures have been increasing and so too a demand for buying foreclosed units. Twice a month the enterprising duo take around investors, developers and enthusiastic buyers on bus tours through Seattle to view the homes up for sale. The tour is free. The pair talks to their clients about the condition of the market and give handouts detailing the condition of each house. Sometimes doughnuts and bottled water are also offered.

Shirley has long been helping the investors and hunters to make the best deals from foreclosed units. With demand having shot up the idea of bus tours popped up. It seemed to make more sense than taking out the buyers in groups of three or four.

From the third quarter of 2008 to the third quarter of this year foreclosure activity has shot up by 37.8% in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue region according to RealtyTrac.

Hernandez has experience as a contractor knowing all about the real estate market. The duo shares their expertise with the potential buyers keeping in view remodeling with an eye on the environment.

In the middle of last October there were a dozen on board their bus tour named Property Dog, viewing houses that were poles apart in all respects from a impeccable house boat to a gutted one of 1906. There is hardly anything glamorous about the tour – the showpieces are vacant, cold and dirty. Many have had their utilities shut off and the pipes emptied to stop freezing. The agents take the clients down to the dingy basements with flashlights and warnings. Shirley reminds them “Keep in mind that these homes have typically been empty for a minimum of 180 days due to the length of the foreclosure process.”

But despite the trimmings the homes generate interest among the various types of potential buyers on board the bus. Two factors run common to all the units – low price and bank ownership.

Shirley calculates that something below 2% in the Puget Sound region is included in this group but the variety keeps on widening with nearly all the neighbourhoods having something to offer within the price range.

Hernandez noted that some of the houses are ideal for conversion to use of solar power partly because of being located atop hills and the particular home’s location.

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