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In 2009, banks more than doubled the number of New York City properties unloaded from their REO inventories.  1,027 repossessed properties located in the five boroughs of New York City were sold by banks to private buyers or investor groups in 2009. That’s a 131% increase from the 444 properties the banks sold from their REO inventories in 2008.

Several investors have emerged as the most active buyers of REO properties in 2008 and 2009.  They managed to resell most of the REO’s they bought in the past two years, with seven-figure profits.

10852 Union Hall Street

One of the top REO buyers, Ambassador Investors Group Inc.,  bought 14 repossessed properties in 2008 and 16 in 2009.  This corporation managed to resell all of the properties bought in 2008 and 10 of the properties bought in 2009, for a total price difference of $4,379,030.

The properties in question were all single- or two-family dwellings in Queens, almost half of them from the Jamaica neighborhood. The most profitable property was a two-family dwelling on Union Hall Street, in Jamaica, bought for $180,000 in December 2008 and resold in April 2009 for $445,000.

Alonim Equities Inc. was another of the most active REO buyers. Records show it bought 6 repossessed properties in 2008 and 20 in 2009. It seems they have managed to resell 18 of these properties so far, for a total price difference of $3,321,500.

As in the case of Ambassador Investors Group Inc., all of the properties were single and two-family dwellings in Queens, except for one Brooklyn property.

Individual buyers have also been involved in buying REO’s at a huge discount from their previous selling price. For example the repossessed unit 4S at 220 Riverside Boulevard was bought in November 2009 for $530,000. The previous buyer paid $860,000 in January 2006.

Banks have sold properties in the past two year for prices ranging between $25,000 to $880,000. The most expensive repossessed property to be sold in the past two years was a single family home in Little Neck, Queens.  The Bank of New York sold the property located on 52-11 Leith Place for $880,000. The former owner paid for the house $1,075,000 back in December 2004.

The least expensive repossessed property to be sold in the past two years was a two-family dwelling located at 994 Linden Boulevard. Atlantis Group Holdings LLC bought the property for $25,000 in March, 2009.

5211 Leith Place, Queens

220 Riverside Boulevard, Manhattan

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