How To Buy A Forclosure

Small Arkansas communities bemoan loss of post offices as mail service works ...

PEACH ORCHARD, Ark. — This Clay County town was once a thriving farm community with more than 600 people, two grocery stores, a cafe and a school.

Gradually, the stores closed, the cafe went out of business and the school consolidated with Delaplaine, about 10 miles down Arkansas 90 from Peach Orchard. In 2006, even Delaplaine's school disappeared after a merger with the Greene County Tech School District in Paragould.

Now, Peach Orchard's 195 residents fear the last piece of the town's dwindling identity — the post office — may be on its way out as well.

The brick post office on Southwest Elm Street is one of 28 Arkansas post offices considered for closure as part of cost-cutting measures by the U.S. Postal Service.

Although a postal worker tacked a notice on the post office wall Thursday that said the Postal Service had made a final determination to close the Peach Orchard Post Office, postal officials say there's still an appeal process and the post office could remain open.

The Postal Service said it wants to close 2,000 post offices and mail-processing centers across the country by 2012 — from Bemidji, Minn., 100 miles from the Canadian border, to Lakeland, Fla.

"If this goes, there's not much left," said Donnie Steele, as he and his wife, Pat Steele, stopped at the Peach Orchard Post Office to check their mail. "We've just about folded up."

The pace is slow in Peach Orchard. Trains rattle down the Union Pacific Railroad tracks in the otherwise-still town. Across from the post office, the tan cinder-block City Hall is closed in the middle of the afternoon.

"It's quiet here," Pat Steele said.

But sometimes an event drums up conversation. In the summer of 2007, farmers found the third of three large crop circles in a nearby soybean field. Townsfolk speculated then whether the intricate pattern pressed into the crops was done by aliens or pranksters.

Now the talk centers on the post office closing.

On Friday, a postal worker displayed a four-page report outlining the federal government's reasons for closing the Peach Orchard Post Office. The report said the U.S Postal Service would save $47,396 a year by closing the town's post office.

The letter sounds ominous.

"The Postal Service has determined to close the Peach Orchard Post Office and provide delivery and retail service by rural route service ..." the letter begins.

But Leisa Tolliver-Gay, a spokesman for the Postal Service in Arkansas, said the message doesn't necessarily mean closure.

Where To Buy Foreclosed Properties | At McDonalds

Don’t you think today is the perfect time to buy a home? If you don’t have your own home yet, consider foreclosed properties as an option in buying an affordable home in today’s not so stable housing market condition.

Aside from driving around in low-, middle- and high-income neighborhoods to find foreclosures, you can inquire from mortgage banks, agents, and friends where you hope to live or invest in. Real estate agents who specializes in different types of foreclosures are a good source of information on where to find great foreclosure deals. You can also check newspaper ads and online real estate websites for foreclosure listings. As a matter of fact, you can find foreclosed properties in all types of neighborhoods. Just look around your neighborhood and you’ll find foreclosure signs.

Most real estate agents and Realtors recommend that the safest way to buy foreclosed properties is through buying bank-owned foreclosures. Fortunately, home buyers can buy foreclosures in one of the following phases:

Pre-foreclosure – In this purchase the homeowner still has control over the property. This purchase is know as a short sale so investors try to negotiate a deal to the homeowners who are delinquent on their loans. In the buyer’s part, this is purchase is already a discount since the price of the property is below the market value. But this first phase is still the grace period where the home owner still has at least six months to pay off the default amount.

Auction sale – In an auction sale, you are buying the home as is. Although the fact remains that you be bidding against lenders, this is another great way to find foreclosed homes. You’ll reap rewards on this purchase, but there are disadvantages that you should be aware of. The lender is not making any profit in this sale and there would be no money left for the homeowner. One disadvantage is not being able to conduct any home inspection.

Real estate-owned (REO) – This type of foreclosure offers the least value but with the most competition. In this sale, no one bids higher than the default amount so the lender acquired the distressed property. In return, the lender will have no option left but to sell it for profit. Since this is a lender-owned property, it is considered the easiest and the safest method in buying foreclosed properties.

Government-owned – These properties are literally under the authorization of the government to resale. The price might all be worth it but real estate agents suggest that a buyer should check and estimate all expense including the repairs to be made. However, buying government owned properties means a slower process with more paperwork. Buying foreclosures that are government-owned can amount to more paper work and a potentially slower process.

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