Bargain-priced Florida Foreclosure Homes for Sale are being snapped up by entrepreneurs and other professionals who have cash to invest. Others are taking advantage of opportunities arising from the rise in foreclosure homes such as restoration of homes, provision of interior design and handling of foreclosure cases.
One of these entrepreneurs is former business journalist Peter Zalewski, who said he has no qualms about buying foreclosed homes at bargain prices. Zalewski founded his business CondoVultures in 2006, just before the housing crisis began. Since then, he has employed 36 real estate agents to find bargains for clients.
Another investor buying foreclosures in Florida is Jeff Waters of Fort Lauderdale-based Giving Tree Development. But Waters is not only earning profits for himself; he also helps homeowners while doing so. He buys mortgage notes at discounted prices and then modifies the monthly payments so that the owners can afford to pay their loans and save their homes from foreclosure.
Waters co-founded Giving Tree after he lost his job when investment bank Bear Stearns collapsed. He said that his firm is still making profits even if they are restructuring the loans because the mortgage loans are acquired at deep discounts.
Ken Arnold, who founded Miami finance company Association Financial Services in 2006 when the housing crisis began, is another entrepreneur taking advantage of Florida foreclosure homes for sale, but in a way that helps homeowner and condo associations bear losses from foreclosed units.
Arnold and his firm provide loans to these associations to enable them to move on with their operations despite financial difficulties arising from vacant units and unpaid association dues.
Real estate analyst Jack McCabe said there are people who will make fortunes out of the foreclosure crisis because they have the foresight to adjust their investment decisions to capitalize on the crisis. He added that success will come to those who recognize opportunities in growing their businesses amid the housing crisis.
Other business operations taking advantage of opportunities amid the foreclosures are law firms that have converted their property litigation departments into units that concentrate on foreclosure cases, condo developers that have shifted to completing unfinished properties and contractors that restore condo units so they can be offered as rentals.
Professionals like accountants, interior designers, real estate consultants and lawn maintenance specialists have also modified their services so they can cater to foreclosure homes, which continue to rise in number throughout Florida.
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