Arizona, a state that benefited from the robust housing market of just a few years ago, is now one of the regions hit the hardest by a weak housing market and economy in the United States; looking for an Arizona foreclosure is not a hard task given this dynamic. In fact, one source listed two regions in Arizona, Phoenix and Scottsdale, in its top twenty five worst housing markets list of 2009. With this said, it is rather useful for people looking to purchase a foreclosed property in Arizona to know where they can find one. Useful information and property listings can be found from sources that list bank-owned properties, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the US Marshal Service, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) site.
On a starting note, thousands of foreclosed properties can be located for no fee on foreclosure listing sites. In fact, such websites are among the most comprehensive ways by which to locate foreclosures. Millions of such websites come up when the phrase foreclosed properties is typed into popular search engines. It is of critical importance to make clear that the banks which list foreclosures on these websites have a financial incentive to sell them quickly, as the properties are not assets to their bottom lines. The properties cost money to maintain, and costs are also associated with depreciation. Given this aspect, potential buyers of foreclosures need to be careful to make sure that the property they wish to buy from the bank, which has all of the motivation possible to want to make a quick sale, does not turn out to be a costly investment and headache years down the road.
In addition to bank listings on foreclosure sites, foreclosed properties in Arizona can be found on the websites of the US Department of Housing (HUD), Home steps, and Fannie Mae, all government-affiliated organizations that list many foreclosed properties on a daily basis. It is helpful to look at each one of these sources in depth.
For someone wishing to purchase a foreclosed home in Arizona, HUD lists what are called HUD properties. A person wishing to purchase a foreclosure that is a HUD property must be prepared to also be an occupant of the house, as HUD foreclosed properties in the initial stages are only made available as owner-occupiers. They are in time made available to the general public only when it becomes near impossible to get them off the market.
Foreclosures Arizona can also be located on Homesteps, an additional top source of foreclosures in Arizona. This organization is also associated with the US government, as it is a part of the government-affiliated Freddie Mac. Freddie Mac is a money lender sponsored by the US government. Homesteps is effortless to use, and it lists foreclosures that can readily be found based on the buyer’s specified attributes.
In addition to Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae is an another money lender that is sponsored by the US government. Like the Homesteps site, the Fannie Mae site has a user-friendly search engine that enables a person to specify the exact location in Arizona that he or she has an interest in moving to as well as other details like number of bedrooms and bathrooms, etc.
It is interesting to note that the mortgage-based agencies are not the only divisions of the US government that offer foreclosed properties for sale. The United States Dept. Of Agriculture, the US Marshall Service, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sites in fact all list many foreclosures that can be found in the state of Arizona. To start, the USDA does much more that what it is known for, namely dictating and executing food, trade, and agricultural policies in the US. In addition to its primary functions, the USDA also lists many foreclosed farms, other agricultural properties, and businesses on its website.
The United States Marshall Service executes the United States government’s Department of Justice Asset Forfeiture Program. Properties that are seized by law enforcement agencies in the effort to combat and address crime are listed on the US Marshall Service website. In fact, efforts to combat crime are funded by the revenues generated by the sales of foreclosed properties on the US Marshall website. Properties seized by the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and US Attorney General office can all be located through the US Marshall Service.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website lists properties that were seized due to unpaid taxes. Many of the homes on the website are offered for quick sale by auction. The IRS website is very detailed, and it contains many listings in Arizona.
Someone looking to purchase a foreclosed home in Arizona has no shortage of areas where they can conduct research. These sources include foreclosure listing sites; government-affiliated sites such as Homesteps, Fannie Mae, and the US Department of Housing (HUD); the US Department of Agriculture; the US Marshall website; and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website.