Foreclosures Aren’t Coming: Find Creative Ways to Invest Anyways

In 2021, houses in foreclosure hit low points. With less inventory in the foreclosure market, investors need to explore other options. It’s time to get creative.

It pays to keep an eye on foreclosure data as a real estate investor. While there was an uptick in foreclosures in September 2021 according to ATTOM Data, there’s not going to be a flood of foreclosures anytime soon. The ATTOM Data report revealed that, “despite the increased level of foreclosure activity in September, we’re still far below historically normal numbers.”

As of October 2021, the foreclosure inventory rate was 0.2 percent, down from 0.3 percent in October 2020, according to CoreLogic. And the 4,000 foreclosure starts from October are more than 90 percent below 2019 levels, according to National Mortgage Professional. Additionally, mortgage servicers are likely to pursue all possible options with sellers before starting the foreclosure process. These are good indicators that there won’t be a sharp uptick in the number of foreclosures nationwide.

For investors who purchase foreclosed properties, it’s clear that this source is drying up. That doesn’t mean you can’t find deals elsewhere, though. It’s a matter of being creative and working with what you have access to. Here’s what you need to know.

Find deals using Sundae

Foreclosures aren’t really an option now and the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is as competitive as ever for homeowners and investors. To generate more off-market leads, investors need to keep all options open.

Real estate investors looking to find deals have a lot of reasons to use Sundae’s investor marketplace as one of their main property pipelines. All signs point to 2022 as being just as competitive as 2021 when it comes to finding deals on investment properties, no matter what property investment avenue you use.

Finding properties online saves time driving from location to location. Sundae helps investors streamline their businesses, revolutionizing the way they find deals. Beyond having a constant flow of deals, there’s a variety of other benefits that give you an advantage over the competition.

There are three key areas (and more to come) where Sundae gives you a leg up: property insights, investor advisors, and digital resources. We consolidate each of these areas and make them easy for you to find– all in one place. Sundae’s benefits include the following:

Property insights

We compile a variety of information to give you insight into each property. Whenever possible, we provide things such as interior and exterior property photos, 3D tours, floor plans, disclosures, and home inspection and title reports.

Investor advisors

Sundae’s investor advisors offer a human touch and local expertise. With a team dedicated to your success as an investor, you have another resource to leverage. You’ll get personalized advice from local market experts who have real estate backgrounds. They’ll walk you through the process from start to finish so that you feel confident placing offers.

Digital resources

The investor blog updates regularly. It features everything from thought leadership and trends to educational articles that expand your knowledge. Expect regular blog posts that analyze the state of the market and offer information on various aspects of real estate investing.

We’ve also begun to build Quarterly reports, webinars, email updates, and monthly market updates to help keep you informed on industry trends and news.

Consider investing outside of your market

Another benefit of Sundae is that it offers you insider access to properties outside of your locality. What works in one location might not work in another. Sundae allows you to drill down the markets and properties that work best for your business investment goals. You’ll be able to find opportunities in markets outside of your hometown.

That may mean looking to new gateway cities, or metro areas that include Austin, Tampa Bay, Salt Lake City, and more. As less face time in the office becomes the norm and people leave larger, more expensive cities such as New York City, these new gateway cities are poised for continued growth in 2022. Look for areas within driving distance or close proximity to traditional gateway cities to thrive.

When you’re considering which new city you might want to invest in, keep three elements top of mind: affordability, growing job markets, and appeal to millennials and younger generations.

• Affordability is key when evaluating a new market. Prospective homeowners are keeping budget top of mind when choosing a new home, according to Realtor.com.
• Cities with growing job markets fare well as many industries — everything from hospitality to health care to construction — require in-person work. These on-site workers need housing, and robust economies need to be in place to support those who work-from-home.
• Driving much of this are millennials and younger, who tend to prefer renovated, turnkey homes. Flippers stand to benefit from this trend, along with buy-and-hold investors considering built-to-rent.

Be creative

The best real estate opportunities are the ones everyone else isn’t seeing. This means that your ability to be creative with spaces and renovations can allow you to win deals that get less attention. A few tricks to creatively envisioning an investment property include the following:

Spotting value that others don’t

The ability to see what could be in a property is a big asset in property investment. Scooping up an underpriced three-bedroom home that can easily be expanded with a fourth bedroom is one example of how to be creative and win big.

Adding an ADU to a property

With more and more municipalities relaxing ADU restrictions to alleviate the lack of affordable housing, you can add value with an ADU.

Choosing a condo

When everyone is going gaga over single-family homes, you can swoop in and catch the condo trend before other investors catch on.

You don’t need foreclosures to succeed

Just because foreclosures aren’t abundant doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities for real estate investors. Indeed, there are people still doing tons of flips and buying real estate for the long-term in this competitive market. As an investor, you need to train yourself to think creatively. Using Sundae’s investor marketplace can set you up for success.