When I look at houses on Zillow, many times when it's a foreclosure

[raccoon]

When I look at houses on Zillow, many times when it's a foreclosure or pre-foreclosure, the picture is an aerial view.

How come?

[d_r]

1. it just defaults

when no one has entered a picture to the mls

[RandiFan1290]

2. It's a picture from Bing or Google maps. nt

[PoliticAverse]

3. Because people don't have incentive to upload pictures of their house when its in forclosure. n/t

[NewJeffCT]

4. It's often because

it's listed with an agency that specializes in foreclosed properties and they either can't get pictures in a timely fashion or can't be bothered. Since buying a foreclosed property can often take much longer than the normal home buying process, it is often not worth it for them to pay a professional photographer up front if they might not get the commission for the house sale for possibly 9-12-15 months or longer - a bank can often take a long time deciding if the offer on a foreclosed home is enough to cover what the original owner owed on their mortgage or mortgages. If the home was originally sold for $200,000 and has a mortgage for $180,000, does the bank take that $150,000 offer or do they wait longer to see if they can get $160,000 or more? If the loss is over a certain dollar amount or certain percentage, they might need approvals from management and others and that can add to the time.

[sinkingfeeling]

5. A lot of houses in foreclosure have been ill maintained, so

interiors aren't photographed. You buy a foreclosure 'as is'.

[we can do it]

6. Zillow sucks. More than half the time they really are not foreclosures.

Someone missed a payment or two. This has happened to a few people I know. It’s main purpose is to sell advertising to agents. They also continue to show homes that are no longer on market. So you waste time looking at things not available, while you could be searching for homes you could purchase. Also look at county sites for actual foreclosures- sheriff sales.