Over the past few years the state of North Carolina has been experiencing a rise in its foreclosure rate. It is said that up to August 2007, the state has witnessed a 69% increase in its foreclosure rate. Looking at the current status of foreclosure rate and with one is every 1,131 facing foreclosures; the number of North Carolina foreclosure homes is on a rise.
The rise in the inventory of North Carolina foreclosure homes is the result of the rise in the foreclosure rate and experts attribute it to heavy sub prime lending practice being carried out in the State. In fact the sub prime loans that originated in North Carolina in the year 2000 were 18% more as compared to the national average. The sub prime market provided loans to many residents of North Carolina who would other wise not have been able to obtain loan. However, today the situation in such that many homeowners are not able to repay backs their loan and a result of which they have to loose their homes to foreclosure.
There are a variety of North Carolina foreclosure homes that are available in the market today. Apart from numerous single-family houses, one can also find condos and townhouses in the category of North Carolina foreclosure homes. Besides Mecklenburg County, where around 8700 homes were foreclosed in the past four years or so, one can find a good concentration of North Carolina foreclosure homes in Gaston County and Alamance County as well. However, this certainly does not mean that one cannot find North Carolina foreclosure homes in other counties of the state. In fact a good listing service can certainly help buyers find North Carolina foreclosure home in the area of their choice.
North Carolina foreclosure homes can be bought at various stages of foreclosures. As per the foreclosure law in the state, around 90 days must pass from the time a homeowner receives a notice of default till the property gets sold off through an auction in the actual foreclosure process. Buyers interested in buying North Carolina foreclosure homes before the actual foreclosure stage can do so by directly contacting the homeowner. However, those who want to buy North Carolina foreclosure home during the actual foreclosure process, must bid in an auction. However it is always advisable to buy North Carolina foreclosure homes during these two stages, one must not wait till they become real estate owned. This is because during this stage, the price of the house is likely to be higher as compared to the previous two stages.