In the Minneapolis / St. Paul and suburbs, the typical process for a foreclosure goes something like this. Upon missing the first mortgage payment, the bank sends a nice, friendly letter reminding them of a missed payment. After another one or two missed payments, the letters get a little less friendly. After 4 or 5 missed payments, the bank starts the foreclosure process. A notice will be taped to the door with the sheriff’s sale date, and a notice will be published in the newspaper. This will usually be a month or two out.
At the sheriff’s sale, the bank usually will buy back the property. After the sheriff’s sale, the homeowner has 6 months to redeem the property (6 month redemption period). That means that the homeowner can pay back the bank and get the property back. If that doesn’t happen, at the end of the 6th month, the bank will do an eviction. Now, the bank owns the property outright and will usually put the home on the market within 2 or 3 months.
As you can see, the timeframe from when the owner misses the first payment to when the bank puts the house on the market is about 14-16 months. Each bank will vary on how long they take to start the sheriff’s sale, and how long it takes for them to get it on the market once they own the property.