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Why does it matter? It is a rare for a foreclosed home to be in good condition, much less pristine condition. If it is as good as you say it is, you ought to jump on it.
I did. I already bought it. We're painting the inside to our liking right now. We'll be moving in next month.
A Deed in lieu of foreclosure is simply when a homeowner agrees to give the bank (or other lender/mortgagee) a Deed to the property, and the bank agrees to accept that Deed, instead of going through the foreclosure process.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KinhChau
I did. I already bought it. We're painting the inside to our liking right now. We'll be moving in next month.
Congrats. Unfortunately for the previous owners, their loss is your gain.
Congrats. Unfortunately for the previous owners, their loss is your gain.
They actually helped me more than they probably knew.
See, I got the house for about $50k less than the appraisal price. I was the 6th person to offer for the place. The other 5 offered then rescinded their offer. Why? Because the house couldn't pass FHA inspection. Why? No running water.
When I was told that it failed FHA inspection, instead of rescind my offer, I asked my agent to ask the seller's agent if I could go in and try to fix the problem. The seller's agent said it's ok and that she will not tell the bank that owned the house.
So, my agent and I went in. It took me 3 hours, but I finally found out the cause of the lack of running water. Aside from the main valve, there was another valve. It was quite hard to find. But once I turned the valve, everything was fine. Water pressure is quite nice, actually.
My guess is when the couple left the house, they turned off the water as their way of getting back at the bank. And every time someone made an offer and then rescinded their offer, the price went down. It went down 5 times before I found it.
In other words, by shutting off the water with their "secret" valve, they gave me a bigger discount on the house as well as made sure that it remained on the market until I found it.
Sometimes, all it takes is that extra step you are willing to take to get ahead in life. Had I not been determined to figure out why the hell it didn't have running water, I would not have gotten such a great deal. I particularly love the 2.5 car garage and the 6 car driveway.
See, I got the house for about $50k less than the appraisal price. I was the 6th person to offer for the place. The other 5 offered then rescinded their offer. Why? Because the house couldn't pass FHA inspection. Why? No running water.
When I was told that it failed FHA inspection, instead of rescind my offer, I asked my agent to ask the seller's agent if I could go in and try to fix the problem. The seller's agent said it's ok and that she will not tell the bank that owned the house.
So, my agent and I went in. It took me 3 hours, but I finally found out the cause of the lack of running water. Aside from the main valve, there was another valve. It was quite hard to find. But once I turned the valve, everything was fine. Water pressure is quite nice, actually.
Ha. That's actually kind of funny. You'd think the bank and/or the Seller's agent would have taken the time, or made the small expense, to find the source of the problem. The fact that they didn't certainly worked in your favor!
Ha. That's actually kind of funny. You'd think the bank and/or the Seller's agent would have taken the time, or made the small expense, to find the source of the problem. The fact that they didn't certainly worked in your favor!
My first approach was actually asking the bank to fix the problem. Their agent got back to us and told us the bank will not do any repair at all. They were quite firm in not performing any repair. It was take it or leave it deal.
My first approach was actually asking the bank to fix the problem. Their agent got back to us and told us the bank will not do any repair at all. They were quite firm in not performing any repair. It was take it or leave it deal.
They actually helped me more than they probably knew.
See, I got the house for about $50k less than the appraisal price. I was the 6th person to offer for the place. The other 5 offered then rescinded their offer. Why? Because the house couldn't pass FHA inspection. Why? No running water.
When I was told that it failed FHA inspection, instead of rescind my offer, I asked my agent to ask the seller's agent if I could go in and try to fix the problem. The seller's agent said it's ok and that she will not tell the bank that owned the house.
So, my agent and I went in. It took me 3 hours, but I finally found out the cause of the lack of running water. Aside from the main valve, there was another valve. It was quite hard to find. But once I turned the valve, everything was fine. Water pressure is quite nice, actually.
My guess is when the couple left the house, they turned off the water as their way of getting back at the bank. And every time someone made an offer and then rescinded their offer, the price went down. It went down 5 times before I found it.
In other words, by shutting off the water with their "secret" valve, they gave me a bigger discount on the house as well as made sure that it remained on the market until I found it.
Sometimes, all it takes is that extra step you are willing to take to get ahead in life. Had I not been determined to figure out why the hell it didn't have running water, I would not have gotten such a great deal. I particularly love the 2.5 car garage and the 6 car driveway.
It sounds to me that the previous owners left the house in good shape because they are that kind of people... They were apparently fixing the place up with all the improvements they made that you've found - and when they lost their job, they honorably left the home in that condition that it was in.
They turned off the water in both places so the lines wouldn't freeze - not to 'get even' with the bank.
Anybody that has anything to do with real estate would know to do as you did and find the valve. Yes, it benefited you, but that's just because they were being proactive and making sure those pipes didn't freeze.
Now if you tell me you live in South Florida... then I may be mistaken...
It sounds to me that the previous owners left the house in good shape because they are that kind of people... They were apparently fixing the place up with all the improvements they made that you've found - and when they lost their job, they honorably left the home in that condition that it was in.
They turned off the water in both places so the lines wouldn't freeze - not to 'get even' with the bank.
Anybody that has anything to do with real estate would know to do as you did and find the valve. Yes, it benefited you, but that's just because they were being proactive and making sure those pipes didn't freeze.
Now if you tell me you live in South Florida... then I may be mistaken...
Nope, my boyfriend and I are freezing our butts off here in Chicagoland. But we are planning to move to Florida or California once he finishes business school and gets a good job and reputation going. I recently graduated from college and is making about $60k, so in 5 years or so we should have enough experiences in our fields to find good jobs and enough savings to make the move. Even if we have another ice age, no one would notice a difference with this damn cold.
You are quite right that I shouldn't have assumed they closed off both the main valve and the "secret" valve to get even with the bank. They left the house in good shape, so why assume they wanted to get back at the bank? My mistake. Still, the "secret" valve is completely unnecessary and in a place that is hard to get to inside the wall. I would not have found it had I not tried to trace the pipe from the main valve inside the wall. It just seems to serve absolutely no function other than make it difficult for the next owner.
Through my search, I ran into some houses that made me want to cry. See, I grew up being taught to respect the home, because it was at some point someone's palace. I firmly believe that if you take care of your home, it will take care of you.
Some of the houses I ran into were absolutely horrendous. The people who lost their homes to foreclosure made sure that whoever picks them up have enough money to do major repairs and renovations. I'm talking about holes in the walls, urine stains everywhere, scraped up floors, broken windows, etc. At these places, I could almost hear the previous owners' echoing voices "if I can't have it, no one can".
I have double valves in my home too. The valve is closed to drain the water in the Winter as the general area is a vacation resort with a lot of vacation homes. the valve got a lot of use prior to me purchasing the home. When this valve went out it had a constant drip that froze up and froze the valve, cracking it. The plumber put in another valve up the line when he replaced the one that went out. This gave the house a back up to keep the pipe from freezing due to a valve failure in the Winter.
And the last owners of your house may have kept the house maintained but the items--roof, siding, etc. may have not been paid off and the debt could have been cleared with the foreclosure. When I bought my home the heater was not paid for and during HUD's ownership the heater bill was cancelled. The heater company actually broke into the home and stole back their heater after my inspection, so I bought the home without a heater. I called a local heater company to buy one and they had the one they stole from the home--I recognized it immediately as I had looked it over to see if it worked, etc. I bought a new one from a different company They said that they took what was theirs as HUD did not pay for it but cancelled their lien on the house. However, I did not want to do business with them, or buy a used heater for a new price--their loss was not my fault, they damaged me by taking it after my inspection as I did not know it was gone when I settled.
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They said that they took what was theirs as HUD did not pay for it but cancelled their lien on the house. However, I did not want to do business with them, or buy a used heater for a new price--their loss was not my fault, they damaged me by taking it after my inspection as I did not know it was gone when I settled.
