REO

Bid4Assets, Inc., an online real estate auction company based in Silver Spring, Maryland, says that more and more homebuyers are turning to Web-based auctions to find their American dream. The company announced on Thursday that it has successfully auctioned 60,000 real estate properties since its inception in 1999.

Cascade, Maryland-based Aspen Grove, Inc. announced the release of its online search portal for REO and short sale property listings on Wednesday. The new tool – Aspen iListing – can be applied to all properties within the company’s iAgent asset management system and is a free additional service for all iAgent users.

Denver, Colorado-based Integrated Asset Services, LLC (IAS), a provider of mortgage default management services and residential collateral valuation, has added a distressed appraisal feature to its iValue suite of automated valuation products.

Atlanta-based Morris|Hardwick|Schneider recently announced that it has expanded its national default services division through a merger with Phillip A. Norman P.C., a Valparaiso, Indiana based law firm.

ForeclosureRadar, a Web site company that tracks every California foreclosure and provides daily auction updates, has issued its monthly California Foreclosure Report for April 2009. In a reversal from the prior month, the company said, the Golden State’s foreclosure notices dropped while foreclosure sales and distressed property purchases by investors rose.

Redwood Real Estate Partners, Inc., a real estate investment company based in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, announced on Wednesday that it has launched a new investment fund with the goal of acquiring $500 million in distressed residential real estate assets.

The Ford Foundation has committed $50 million to a new nonprofit venture to help municipalities purchase banks’ foreclosed homes. According to the Wall Street Journal, the investment is one of the largest made by a foundation to help alleviate the effects of the housing crisis.

Southfield, Michigan’s Woodward Asset Capital, LLC has announced the launch of OfferSubmission.com, a proprietary web-based software program that allows mortgage asset owners to control the REO disposition process, while providing transparency for real estate agents and institutional sellers.

On Tuesday, RealtyTrac announced a strategic alliance with global real estate portal Enormo that will give Enormo’s international user base of potential homebuyers and investors unique access to RealtyTrac’s database of U.

Many might argue that a model home is the most effective visual tool for closing a sale. A newly created online company, Myvacanthouse.com, aims to help lenders – who may be holding thousands of foreclosed homes – resale the properties faster and protect these assets from vandalism by turning a vacant house into a model home.