Anyone ever buy a foreclosure?

Rivers2k

Plecostomus
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Dec 27, 2011
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I am looking at buying a Fanie Mae Foreclosure. It is a really good deal but I am a little nervous. Mainly because I have never purchased through this route before. The house is going for 1/3rd the value of the home. It needs a little work mostly cosmetic and the wood floor is buckled. I currently own a multi family so I wont have to sell the place I am living now I am just going to have to rent it out so this frees up my time line. Just wondering if anyone has charted these waters before or if there are any experts on here. The house has been unoccupied for at least 1 month. It also has hot water heaters as a heat source. I have been told even though it is an old way of heating it is actually the best source of heat.
 

Rivers2k

Plecostomus
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Dec 27, 2011
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It actually looks like a brand new wood floor. I have not been able to closely inspect yet but looks like they didn't leave room for the floor to move. I wonder about flooding though it is close to a river but it is high up on a hill.

Is there any way to tell if a house has been flooded? I didn't see any water mark on the walls. But so far I have only been able to look through windows. I am waiting for the realtor to get me in.
 

vamptrev

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Apr 23, 2007
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Check on the basement floor and see if anything is rusting

I bought a foreclosure and everything went great but i am a carpenter and the little bit of work needed cost me a fraction of what it would cost to pay someone to do the work.

Also depending on your location sometimes the city will make you bring things up to code which can be a pain


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Rivers2k

Plecostomus
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Dec 27, 2011
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Check on the basement floor and see if anything is rusting

I bought a foreclosure and everything went great but i am a carpenter and the little bit of work needed cost me a fraction of what it would cost to pay someone to do the work.

Also depending on your location sometimes the city will make you bring things up to code which can be a pain

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Can you tell me how the foreclosure process went? I know I put in a bid and I have to put $1,000 up front to bid which I get back if they don't take my offer. If they accept that goes towards closing. But after that if they accept not sure what happens next.

BTW wish I was a carpenter, mechanic, plumber, electrician. Things are so cheap if you can do it yourself paying someone cost so much more. I am slowly learning with my current house. Replaced a shower, hot water heater, 2 leaky sink drains, replaced faulty outlet, fixed a whole in the dry wall, put in bathroom fan/vent, and put up a fence. Since I literally had no experience working on houses I am pretty proud of my self.
 

Zoodiver

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Aug 22, 2005
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I've seen them go both ways. Sometimes you can find a great deal and be ahead of the game. Low buying price means you have a little wiggle room to fix the little things that might need attention.
The other school of thought says b/c it was foreclosed, you can assume they didn't have the money to pay the monthly bills. If they couldn't pay the bills, some assume they were also not paying to keep up the place.

I would say it's well worth the cost of a quality home inspector to have someone take a good in depth look at the place.
 

Adamrhh

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Jul 6, 2010
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www.theratpub.com
BTW wish I was a carpenter, mechanic, plumber, electrician. Things are so cheap if you can do it yourself paying someone cost so much more. I am slowly learning with my current house. Replaced a shower, hot water heater, 2 leaky sink drains, replaced faulty outlet, fixed a whole in the dry wall, put in bathroom fan/vent, and put up a fence. Since I literally had no experience working on houses I am pretty proud of my self.
YouTube is your greatest friend xD
 

Rivers2k

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Dec 27, 2011
1,528
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NY
I've seen them go both ways. Sometimes you can find a great deal and be ahead of the game. Low buying price means you have a little wiggle room to fix the little things that might need attention.
The other school of thought says b/c it was foreclosed, you can assume they didn't have the money to pay the monthly bills. If they couldn't pay the bills, some assume they were also not paying to keep up the place.

I would say it's well worth the cost of a quality home inspector to have someone take a good in depth look at the place.
I plan on getting an inspector for sure. I also wonder what may have been the cause for foreclosure I am guess job loss or some sudden event. In my opinion they over paid for the house. The last price it sold at was about 25% above other houses in the market. They put work into the house. New looking deck only a year or two old by the look of it. New looking siding. They started putting shutters on the windows but didn't complete it. Even the yard and flower beds look well kept.
 

SumoNinja

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Jun 9, 2007
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my house is a foreclosure. only things I did is pavement in the back, filled a wading pool that could've been a nice thing in the summer or a pond, put up a chain linked fence and landscape the front

it was in decent condition. nothing major we had to do.
 
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