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Tech-Savvy Foreclosures Seekers Flock to the Internet

Tech-Savvy Foreclosures Seekers Flock to the Internet

Octavio Nuiry, RealtyTrac Staff Writer

Two female foreclosure investors on opposite sides of the nation recently discovered a new and refreshing way to purchase foreclosure properties — online.

In Florida, Jennifer Crowley — a part-time foreclosure investor and stay-home mother — scrolled through potential foreclosure bargains on RealtyTrac’s online foreclosure marketplace from the comfort of her Tampa Bay, Fla. home.

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Suddenly, Crowley spotted a diamond in the rough.

“I saw an address in Port Richey that I knew,” said Crowley, adding that the foreclosure property was located on the coast within walking distance from the sun-drenched beaches of the Gulf of Mexico. It was listed as an online auction with the bidding at $140,000. “I ran over and looked in the window of the empty house. It had granite counter tops in the kitchen, a new roof and it really looked nice.”

Next, Crowley went home, got on her computer, wrote an offer online and submitted the purchase contract electronically.

“Seven days later, I owned the property,” said Crowley, who specializes in buying foreclosures in Florida, which has the second-highest foreclosure rate in the country. “I can sell it now for $285,000 and double my money.”

In California, Karen Krynen, another foreclosure seeker intrigued by the notion of house-hunting online, discovered what she calls her “forever house” via an online search for foreclosures. While browsing RealtyTrac, Krynen noticed a run-down house on a hill about five miles from her Whittier, Calif., home.

“The bank’s price was well below the market,” said Krynen, noting that the home commanded panoramic views of La Habra Heights. “It’s an area we never thought we could afford to live in.”

Nestled at the top of a tree-lined hill with a long private driveway, the bank-owned property sat on a massive 40,946 square foot lot. It was exactly what Krynen, and her general contractor husband, Jeffrey, were searching for.

The bank wanted $599,000. The Krynen’s offered $500,000 and the bank took it. Although the home was small with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, they figured they could build a larger home on the huge lot.

In the pre-cyberspace age, buyers were more likely to meet a seller face to face — either with an agent or without one — to hammer out a deal.

But now, more and more, tech-savvy homebuyers like Crowley and Krynen are window shopping for foreclosures by computer. If there’s any lingering doubt about how the Internet is transforming real estate, they are powerful proof of how the Web is re-programming the real estate landscape.

Democratizing Data — Clicking Once, Clicking Twice, Sold!
Are Crowley and Krynen pioneers? Maybe so. But in the new digital democracy, where the information superhighway is jammed with eyeballs, the widespread availability of real estate information on the Internet has lured more than 80 percent of house-hunters to the Internet, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sellers, likewise, are increasingly willing to make the leap of faith into cyberspace.

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