Bank's price for a forecluse
Probably a newb question, but it's been running through my head alot.
When I am searching properties I pull up various sites to gain information on the property and one of those I use is zillow. Not for any specific reason, just because I have noticed different sites can have different advantages.
Anyways, when I pull up a foreclosed property on zillow it will say a brief history of the owner being in default, notice being given, then the bank taking possesion of the property.
When the bank takes possession, it will say something like:
12/30/15 - The lender, XYZ BANK, assumed this property for $90,100 during foreclosure proceedings and now owns it.
#1 - Now does that mean the bank is "out of pocket" $90,100 and/or that is what the previous owner had left on their mortgage?
#2 - Is that where I should start with my offers to buy the property?
#3 - Or is there a rule of thumb that applies here?
I fully understand that with other investors involved the price could go higher than my starting price/offer. I'm just trying to seeing what a fair and realistic starting point would be.
Because what I've seen is that the bank will have the same property listed for $160,000, when comps fully remodeled (by an investor) sell for $165,000. And the house needs an easy $20-30k.
So I've been thinking that this is the bank trying to maximize their income by overpricing it hoping to get a potential new owner to pay just under retail or catch a newbie investor in order to make some money back from deals they lost on.