Unstructured Finance

By Matthew Goldstein

Wanna buy a foreclosed home on a the cheap?  Well, Bank of America has got one for you. Or to be precise, the big U.S. lender has got 556 formerly owner-occupied homes it is trying to unload right now in a bulk deal.

As my colleague Jennifer Ablan and I reported yesterday, BofA, for the second-time in five months, is seeking bids for a bulk sale of foreclosed homes. This second round is much bigger than the first and could be a sign the bank is moving aggressively to sell foreclosed homes with institutional investors eyeing the market.

After our story ran, a source provided a nice overview of the bulk deal that  BofA has  sought bids on–apparently the deadline for putting in a bid was April 4. According to the bulk sale fact sheet, BofA is trying to find buyers for pools of foreclosed homes in 7 states: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada and Texas.

The opening bid for a buyer looking to scoop up all the homes was $68.8 million. But it appears, BofA also was willing to accept bids for the pool of homes in sale in each state.

The average beginning bid price for each home was $123,000.

The fact sheet provided by this source says nothing about the condition of the homes or street locations. Presumably a really motivated buyer got that information from the bank before entering a bid.

The bank continues to say it won’t comment on this and other bulk sales. But it appears, BofA is clearly determined to find a way to take advantage of the great gold rush in foreclosed homes that is taking shape all across the country.