Expert: Dick Dennis - 8/13/2006

Question
My husband and I are looking to purchase a foreclosed or abandoned home in NYC (preferrably Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan or Staten Island).  We are having a hard time finding out where to look for the list of city acquired properties and how to go about viewing them and eventually buying them.

Answer
Since you haven't asked me a question, I will tell you what I would do here in California. If I expect the property is going to be repossessed by the county/state for lack of paying taxes, then I keep my eye open in the legal section of the newspapers. They print them about two times a year. I then follow the directions they give to submit my offer.

Or, I go to banks or other lenders to find out what they have that they have repossessed. I ask for the "real estate owned" department head. He/she will probably tell me what properties are available.

In most cases these days, banks and lenders have their favorite Realtor to handle the sale of their REOs. Or, you canlook in the papers again in the legal section for properties that have been in default for payments. That is the first indication of people having trouble with their payments.

You can let me know which direction you want to go. I wish you well.

Dick Dennis              dixiedee13@aol.com