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Yahoo Helping Investors Capitalize On Home Foreclosures

Friday, April 06, 2007

Apr. 5 - KGO (KGO) -- The recent flood of home foreclosures is creating hardships for a lot of people, and opportunities for others, and Yahoo is hoping to help investors capitalize on that.

With a click of the mouse, Yahoo allows anyone to pinpoint, by cities, or zip codes, the locations of foreclosed homes, some thousands of dollars below market price.

Yahoo's section also provides buying tips and other real estate trends.

Steve Shultz, Yahoo.com: "The primary experience is providing educational materials. So as long as they walk away learning something about the foreclosure market and they can make an informed decision. We are really happy."

While basic foreclosure information on the site is free, specific addresses of troubled properties require a subscription to Realty-Trac, which contributes articles to the section.

Real estate experts and consumer advocates estimate that 1.1 to 2.2 million homes will be lost in foreclosures during the next few years. But before you dive into the world of foreclosures, real estate experts say buyer beware.

Warren Winsness, Santa Clara Co. Assoc. of Realtors: "A person has to be very careful. There are high legal liabilities for not handling foreclosures properly. You really need to find a good real estate professional who understands how to work foreclosures because you can get yourself into a serious legal problem without doing it right."

Shishir Mathur, SJSU Urban & Regional Planning Dept.: "As far as an information tool or education tool it's useful."

San Jose State assistant professor Shishir Mathur believes Yahoo's new feature is perfect timing, because there's been a surge in foreclosures recently due to high risk, subprime loans.

But Matur says he tells his real estate and public finance students all the time, that information is the key especially when dealing with foreclosures.

Shishir Mathur, SJSU Urban & Regional Planning Dept.: "You have to be careful whether your rights include tenant eviction. Many times you may own the property and a tenant my just never leave. Yes."

Mathur adds getting the property appraised and inspected is a must.

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