Seizing an Opportunity: Housing Slump Whets Investors’ Appetite in Resale of Foreclosures

Most CEOs entered 2011 hoping the economy will soon fire on all cylinders. For one business chief, however, mortgage delinquencies and tight credit standards are a dream come true.

Sean Whalen is the CEO of Property23, an Orem-based startup that has successfully capitalized on the recent real estate meltdown, seeking out foreclosure properties across the country and prepping them for resale. Most of its clients are fellow investors who are hoping to rent or resell at double-digit profit when the recovery gathers steam. Since it was founded in 2008, the company has bought and sold no less than 4,000 properties and currently employs more than 100 people.

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Parade of Homes Hits Utah Valley

The Utah Valley Parade of Homes starts next Friday and goes through June 19, and anyone thinking of building or buying entry level to multi-million dollar homes in Utah County should be there.

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Foreclosures Creates Boon For Homebuyers

Eric Adams remembers well the surge of foreclosures that occurred when Utah's economy bottomed out in the 1980s.

Banks were pushing foreclosed properties onto the market in hopes of recouping their losses, glutting an already depressed market.

In some ways, Adams, a Realtor with ReMax Results in Provo, said the current mortgage crisis is far worse. In 25 years of doing foreclosure sales, he's never seen more foreclosed homes for sale.

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Utah Home, Condo Sales Up, Prices Down

A federal tax credit for home buyers helped push up sales of single-family homes in Salt Lake County 15.3 percent in the first quarter, compared with the same period last year, a new report shows.

Prices, however, are still falling.

The Salt Lake Board of Realtors reported that 1,716 home changed hands, up from 1,489 last year. The increase is a sign that the market, in a downturn since the summer of 2007, may be inching toward recovery. Sales of condominiums also were up from last year, by an even larger margin. In the first quarter, 350 condos in Salt Lake County were sold, up nearly 27 percent from the first quarter 2009.

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Inexpensive homes for sale, but there's a catch

Utah County is looking to get rid of 13 homes for pretty cheap -- the minimum bid for a house on one section of North County Boulevard in Highland is only $10,000.

But there is one big hitch: The successful bidder has to take the home with them, and has the expense of moving it.

County Public Works Director Richard Nielson says they need the homes gone to widen the road. It may not be cheap, but it could be cheaper than building a new house.

"If they've got some land that they can move the home to, I think they can probably save a significant amount of money to do this and have a nice home that's move-in ready, basically, once they get it on site," Nielson said.

It would also save the county demolition costs. They hope to sell at least two houses.

For a list of homes and for additional details, contact Don Nay at Utah County Public Works at (801) 851-8600 or CLICK HERE for more info. Bids are due by April 28.