Buying A Home
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Purchasing a foreclosure??

Looking for any help when purchasing a foreclosure. We are currently interested
in one that Real Estate has not yet put up for sale and it seems like a long
process.  

Anybody had any experience purchasing one, questions to ask, is it a long process, things to watch for??

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks

Re: Purchasing a foreclosure??

  • A foreclosure in our neighborhood hood sat vacant over a year before going on the market.

    We looked at a few while house hunting. They are usually priced to sell so unless it sits for a while, price negotiations are pretty minimal. Also typically sold as is so if it needs a new furnace, roof, etc, they likely won't except a lower offer because of the needed repairs or fix something.
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  • We avoided them, sure the house tends to be cheaper, but you have no chance to "offer" It's priced as is, meaning if it needs a new roof it comes out of your pocket. It's also a really long process. We weren't willing to wait, so I personally don't have any experience with a foreclosure, but I've heard enough horror stories.
  • If you do start looking at them, I would get a very thorough home inspection.  I'm not sure if it is still the case, but I remember reading stories where the former owners would do things like pouring concrete down the pipes when they were thrown out.
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  • We bought a foreclosure. It sat for a while on the market because the bank wanted way to much. When it reached a good price for us, we put an offer on it. There were some negotiations, but it is an "as is" house. Meaning they will not fix anything or give any credits after an inspection. From the time we put the offer in to the time we closed was 5 weeks. Not a long process at all.

    Recommend getting a good home inspection. In a lot of foreclosed homes, there is no power nor water. So you will have to have those turned on for the home inspection.

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  • We bought a foreclosure in December. 

    We started looking August then found our house in September via a real estate agency that only dealt with foreclosures. 

    Our house had sat empty for 5 YEARS. It went on the market early September and we started the bid war with 6 other people in October. When it was all said and done, we were in the house by Dec. 28th. So, that part went fairly quickly but if you are looking at a house that just went into foreclosure it could be quite some time before it hits the market.
  • I bought a foreclosure three years ago and it was a great experience.  It took slightly longer than if I had bought it from the average seller, but nothing crazy.  The bank was actually quite prompt in getting back to my agent in regards to the offer and counter offer.

    I initially offered their asking price (because it was way undervalued) plus 6% closing.  They came back at 3% closing.  I then countered back raising the house price above their list price and stuck to the 6% closing.  Essentially, it was the same amount of money as their counter, but I could bring less to the closing table.  They accepted that.

    They flat out refused to repair anything though, and I think that is typical of foreclosures.  And there was $6K of work I needed to do right away to make the house liveable.  Work needed is also typical of foreclosures, lol.  But, hey, I bought the house for $45K below the appraisal value, so it was well worth it to me!

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