Buying A Home
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Looking into foreclosures
My husband and I are looking to get a deal. We need to buy a house, but we're only planning on living there for at MOST, 5 more years. So, we need a place that we can get at a great price, do some work to, and hopefully make a little money on re-sale, or at least come out even. I've heard from a friend that you don't always need to put money down when purchasing a foreclosure, which would be great! More money for reno. I live in a different state than her, so I'm wondering if this is true for Oregon residents (where we currently live). And also, is there any way to view a foreclosure online without going through a real estate agency?? We're in the very first stages of looking, and currently just want to see if there's anything out there that would even work. From what I've seen, I can only see aerial views of places, in which you don't even know which of the 5 houses showing is the right one.
Re: Looking into foreclosures
Hi there!
Some areas have different programs for first time buyers or other incentives. I am also in Michigan, and we have something called Rural Development loan that allows for 0% down, but they are a little harder to get because they have income level stipulations as well as more hoops to jump through to get it.
As for foreclosures, I would get in touch with a realtor. They will set you up on a email list that you will get every day with new listings. Zillow and Trulia are outdated by the time a listing comes on there. Foreclosures move fast, and in many instances on our search, a house already had an offer accepted by the 2nd day of its listing.
The site I think you are referring to is based off of Foreclosure.com. It is a service that you have to pay more and not something that I did. Those listings are pretty vague and can mean anything from the house is in "pre-foreclosure" to sold.... So again, talk to a realtor and get on that email list. That will be your most accurate source. Also, Realtor.com is a good site to cross reference because it because it shows the status of a listing.
Finally, last bit of advice, if your market is anything like Michigan's, be ready to move on something the day it comes on the market. Around here, we didn't have time to sleep on it. Eventually you will learn what you want, and can gauge a listing before you walk through it, so at that point you will have a good idea of what you want to do before you get there. If you are specifically looking for foreclosures and a deal, remember so is everyone else and their brother. Be prepared to get competitive.
Good luck! It will happen!
I would look at homepath dot com. It's a free listing of foreclosures. Also, look at regular realtor websites like realtor dot com or other local MLS listings.
I believe homepath properties have what's called "First look" which allows only those people interested in living in the home to bid in the first 15 days. After that, investors can bid on the property and typically investors will give cash offers. I've seen some foreclosures say "3% down" at the bottom or "Homepath Mortgage Financing approved". I would find a realtor that you are comfortable with and have him/her help you out.
Unsolicited advice: 5 years isn't a long time to live in a home... especially if you are renovating it! The cost of selling and getting a mortgage need to be figured out when you want to break even or make money. Also, renovations are expensive and time consuming. We bought an estate sale last year and have put about $35k in so far. We're putting about $25k in this year and will still need to spend another $25k + in the future to get the bathrooms and basement remodeled. This is doing 95% of the work ourselves (nothing structural, just updating and adding a detached garage) and we're still spending a ton of money and time.