Substitute Trustee Sale and Renting (Dallas: 2009, foreclosure, renters)

[Mrscaston]

Hello City-Data,

My husband and I are relocating to Dallas next month and we have found a house that we want to rent. In doing my tireless online research of this particular house, I have noticed that the house was listed in August 2009 for a substitute trustee sale. I also read that if the house did not sale during that time period that the owner of the home may have caught up on payments.

My question is since this house was up for auction just three months ago, should my husband and I invest in this house or should we look for other homes to rent? I fear renting the house and then the owner having financial issues again and we are stuck finding a new place to live.

[nsumner]

To be honest it is a risk that you take with a house that was in preforeclosure 3 months ago or one that was never in preforeclosure.

The owner's circumstances can change any day.

Naima

[Mrscaston]

Thank you nsumner, I think that's a fair assessment. I think I am a little leery because here in california if the owner was in preforeclosure then it's pretty certain they'll stick you with the short end of the stick. There seems to have been an epidemic out here of owners loosing their properties and the renters having to move due to that.

[nsumner]

Unfortunately Texas hasn't been immune to this phenomena. Probably less than CA though.

Naima

[Mrscaston]

I agree. So nsumner, do you think that this information is a negotiating tool? This owner has already said that the price of the home is negotiable. When people say that, what are their expectations for rent? Do you think it would be minus a few hundred dollars?

[nsumner]

It's rare that prices on rentals are negotiable because the rental market is pretty good. Only on executive homes that you would see some real negotiation ($3500+) It depends on how long it's been on the market, the location and what the terms are. It really is a shot in the dark now knowing the details.

Did you see pictures of the home? Please make sure you don't sign an agreement without looking at the home, they all can look good on pictures. If you have a good friend or a relative that you trust, they can visit it for you.

Naima

[Mrscaston]

Ok that's some good information. my husband actually saw the house last week. We didn't really give it any serious thought because it was 300 more than what we were willing to spend but our agent wanted us to see it anyway. I do have pictures and my husband actually toured the home so it seems pretty sound. It's in Panther Creek.

[nsumner]

The homes in Panther Creek priced up to 1500 rent within 7 days. Those priced up to 1800 take about 3 weeks, anything 2K or above will linger a little longer up to 60 days at times. The reason for that is because for 2K you can get something closer to 121 or to the tollway.

May be you are lucky and the owner may negotiate a lot. You have nothing to lose by offereing him what you can afford or want to pay.

[Mrscaston]

Oh that's good to know. The house is over 2k so we'll see. I will keep you all posted on the results. We'll know in the next week or two if we were able to negotiate.