Pre-Foreclosure home listings on Zillow in Williamsburg VA
It seems that once a week I have a buyer contact me inquiring about a home listed in “pre-foreclosure” on Zillow. Most want to make an appointment to see them. They seem surprised when I inform them that the home is actually “NOT FOR SALE”
Just to clarify, a pre-foreclosure is a property with late mortgage payments, and the lender has issued a Notice of Default or a lis pendens . The homeowner/ borrower can still make payments and pay the loan amount due to stop a foreclosure. But, if payments are not made, the lender will move to foreclose.
Over the years I have seen many homes in the pre-foreclosure process that never get foreclosed on. Many times the mortgage gets paid up to date, or at least within the two most recent payments due, and the property emerges from the foreclosure process.
You can see from the list below there are currently 52 pre-foreclosure properties listed on Zillow in the Williamsburg VA area. None of which are for sale.
The problem is that listings do not start with Zillow. The source of all listing data begins with the local MLS. If the MLS does not have the listing, then the property is not for sale – not even a bank-owned home, because banks also list homes through the MLS. But buyers don’t always understand that, and so they waste a lot of time thinking about properties that are not on the market.
Clients looking to buy now should focus only on what’s available for sale today. We don’t see nearly the volume of foreclosed homes today as we did a few years back, and the banks no longer are flooding the market with foreclosures.
Out of the numerous pre-foreclosure listings seen online, only a small number of these will actually be listed in the MLS and available for purchase. ( this could take a year or two as an FYI )
Pss’t I’m a real estate agent
This website is authored by local resident and REALTOR, John Womeldorf. John is known around town as Mr. Williamsburg, for both his extensive knowledge of the Williamsburg/ Richmond/ Hampton Roads area and his expertise helping buyers and sellers in the local real estate market.
If you are a homeowner searching for someone innovative to sell your home I would love to share my thoughts on marketing. You can read some of the stories I have written about the homes I have sold here.
Additionally, I have helped hundreds of folks find their dream home/ community and would love to help you find yours in the Williamsburg, Yorktown, New Kent, VA Beach, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Isle of Wight, Poquoson and Richmond VA area.
I look forward to serving your real estate needs!
Best,
