A foreclosed home is a home which has been repossessed by the lender. The most common reason for a foreclosure is due to default of payment by the homeowner. When the homeowner is unable to make their monthly payments the bank will place the homeowner in default. The foreclosure process generally takes between 6 months to 1 year from the time of the first default payment. The lender usually gives the homeowner a chance to catch up on their payments before they begin the foreclosure process. If the homeowners are not able to repay their debt to the lender and they elect not to sell the home on a pre-foreclosure sale, the lender will foreclose on the home.

After the lender has foreclosed on the home and the original homeowners have moved out, the lender will hire a local Charleston real estate agent to sell the home as a foreclosed home. Because lenders are in the banking business and not the real estate business, they usually try to sell the home as quickly as possible. For this reason, foreclosed homes most often are listed at a discount price.

Read more about foreclosed homes here.