Bank Foreclosures and Short Sales: The Best Thing to Ever Happen to Minneapolis Duplex Owners

It’s not news that there are a rash of foreclosures and short sales in the real estate market. Some of this is due to fraud. Some due to spikes in interest rates in adjustable mortgages forcing monthly payments into the stratosphere.

But what might be news is that many foreclosures and short sales are the result of normally responsible people either going to refinance or sell their homes and discovering due to the plethora of foreclosures on the market, their home can no longer appraise for what they bought it for.

If you’re a homeowner and have to move, what do you do? Odds are you opt for a short sale. Or, if things are really dire, a foreclosure.

But here’s what the national media isn’t saying. Once you have a short sale on your credit report, you can’t buy another home for anywhere from three to five years. Foreclosure? Try seven years minimum. Not pretty either way.

What does this have to do with the Minneapolis and St Paul duplex markets?

Well, where are those short sale and foreclosure folks going to live? They’re going to need to rent. As many of them as there are, demand for rentals should soar, which due to that old supply and demand law, will force metro rents to increase. Of course, that means more money in landlords’ pockets.

Makes it seem like a pretty good time to buy rental property; whether a duplex, house or apartment building, doesn’t it?