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RealtyBid.com, an online home auction company, says it has hit the ground running in 2010 by offering close to 1,000 REO properties to investors and homebuyers across the country during the month of January. As part of this effort, hundreds of properties have been added to the company's auction Web site in the past week.
[IMAGE]""As always, we have discount properties from around the country available on our website,"" said Mike Keracher, RealtyBid EVP. ""However, one specific lender we are working with has supplied us with dozens of Ohio, Utah, Wisconsin, and Missouri foreclosures to auction. This is a banner opportunity to buy homes in these states at unbelievable prices.""
As 2009 was a record year for foreclosures in the United States, RealtyBid's hope is to continue to turn these negative circumstances into a positive for homebuyers
[COLUMN_BREAK]and investors looking for discount properties, Keracher said. The company says its goal is to return these lender-owned, post-foreclosure properties back to private ownership at great values.
Tony Isbell, CEO and president of RealtyBid, said the company continued to break sales records in 2009, despite government moratoriums on foreclosures which kept the number of REO properties available to buyers almost stagnant in the second half of the year. In addition, He said RealtyBid has already seen increased activity in 2010 and is expecting that trend to continue throughout the year.
""We do not expect a tidal wave of properties but a continued increase in inventory as loan modification programs fall well short of expectations,"" Isbell said.
After failing to secure a permanent loan modification, Isbell said delinquent homeowners have two main options. At-risk homeowners can either attempt to complete a short sale on their property, which can be a cumbersome process, or they can hand over their keys and deed through a deed-in-lieu process, he explained. Isbell believes many frustrated homeowners will opt for the second options, which will translate into much larger REO volumes for lenders and for RealtyBid.
""Record traffic indicated that buyers have found RealtyBid.com and are waiting for our newest offerings each month,"" Isbell said. ""We fully expect to be able to supply more buying opportunities each month, as banks free up more and more of their post-foreclosure inventory to the RealtyBid.com online bidding system.""
