[cecnj]

Many people have advised me not to seriously consider buying a foreclosed property in LV (or anywhere, for that matter). The chief reasons are lack of maintenance and vandalism/destruction.
The idea is that those being foreclosed upon may have been unable and/or unwilling to do necessary home maintenance as the home neared and then entered foreclosure. Or, that in anger and frustration, homeowners actually destroy aspects of the property (visible and hidden), as a way to get back at the bank.

If you have considered a foreclosed property---then decided against it, please explain.

If you went ahead and purchased one, I'd like to know if it turned out to be a good deal. I guess that means you need to have lived in it a while to be sure there are no problems.

Thanks.

[KellyJSmith]

Originally Posted by cecnj

Many people have advised me not to seriously consider buying a foreclosed property in LV (or anywhere, for that matter). The chief reasons are lack of maintenance and vandalism/destruction.
The idea is that those being foreclosed upon may have been unable and/or unwilling to do necessary home maintenance as the home neared and then entered foreclosure. Or, that in anger and frustration, homeowners actually destroy aspects of the property (visible and hidden), as a way to get back at the bank.

If you have considered a foreclosed property---then decided against it, please explain.

If you went ahead and purchased one, I'd like to know if it turned out to be a good deal. I guess that means you need to have lived in it a while to be sure there are no problems.

Thanks.

The biggest problems with foreclosures is the condition of the title.
It would do you well if you learned about deeds and did your own title searches.
Many foreclosures are sold with quit claim deeds or special warranty deeds.If that is the case you want to make sure the property will suit your purpose and is priced accordingly.
I have researched many foreclosures and purchased one.
I purchased it from Fannie Mae and found how crooked all they and all their agents are.
The property was priced right.1/3 of what the original owner had paid.
As far as foreclosures having any more problems than a non foreclosure.
I do not see the difference.
Some people hide problems when they sell a house.
People that get foreclosed on don't care if you find the property deficiencies and neither does the bank.
The foreclosure agents probably prefer you find the deficiencies so they can exaggerate them and scoop them up on the cheap for themselves or friends.
With those things being said it is first best to learn about deeds.
You will less likely end up force fitting yourself into buying something you will have a hard time selling later even if it does look pretty.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by cecnj

Many people have advised me not to seriously consider buying a foreclosed property in LV (or anywhere, for that matter). The chief reasons are lack of maintenance and vandalism/destruction.
The idea is that those being foreclosed upon may have been unable and/or unwilling to do necessary home maintenance as the home neared and then entered foreclosure. Or, that in anger and frustration, homeowners actually destroy aspects of the property (visible and hidden), as a way to get back at the bank.

If you have considered a foreclosed property---then decided against it, please explain.

If you went ahead and purchased one, I'd like to know if it turned out to be a good deal. I guess that means you need to have lived in it a while to be sure there are no problems.

Thanks.

Buy the house. Not its immediate history. In general foreclosures come in the same range as non-foreclosures. There are exceptions...ie totally trashed...but they are rare. The trashed houses generally sell well and at too high a price.

Stories of deliberate damage are around but it is very rare and easily detected. If someone puts cement down a drain it does not take a lot of work to determine it is plugged.

A number of the stories I have heard deal with bad construction and are often in new homes.

Get a good inspection to cover yourself and a home warranty. There is some increase in the failure rates in homes that have been unoccupied for a long time...but a good inspection and a home warranty compensates.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by KellyJSmith

The biggest problems with foreclosures is the condition of the title.
It would do you well if you learned about deeds and did your own title searches.
Many foreclosures are sold with quit claim deeds or special warranty deeds.If that is the case you want to make sure the property will suit your purpose and is priced accordingly.
I have researched many foreclosures and purchased one.
I purchased it from Fannie Mae and found how crooked all they and all their agents are.
The property was priced right.1/3 of what the original owner had paid.
As far as foreclosures having any more problems than a non foreclosure.
I do not see the difference.
Some people hide problems when they sell a house.
People that get foreclosed on don't care if you find the property deficiencies and neither does the bank.
The foreclosure agents probably prefer you find the deficiencies so they can exaggerate them and scoop them up on the cheap for themselves or friends.
With those things being said it is first best to learn about deeds.
You will less likely end up force fitting yourself into buying something you will have a hard time selling later even if it does look pretty.

In the western US the quality of the deed is not an issue. I am not aware of a sale where the deed type or quality was an issue.

[KellyJSmith]

Originally Posted by olecapt

In the western US the quality of the deed is not an issue. I am not aware of a sale where the deed type or quality was an issue.

Then you are lacking in the subject.
There is millions of dirty deeds.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by KellyJSmith

Then you are lacking in the subject.
There is millions of dirty deeds.

I am aware of a perhaps 10,000 transactions over the years. I am not aware of a single deal with deed problems.

You simply don't understand the western systems.

There are all sorts of screwball deeds around for various purposes. The do not get through escrow in a residential transaction.

[KellyJSmith]

Originally Posted by olecapt

I am aware of a perhaps 10,000 transactions over the years. I am not aware of a single deal with deed problems.

You simply don't understand the western systems.

There are all sorts of screwball deeds around for various purposes. The do not get through escrow in a residential transaction.

You contradict what you posted prior.
First you said no preblems then you said they don't get thru escrow.

My advice to poster was to learn about deeds so as not to even start a deal that is no good.
What were the issues with the deeds that brought money into escrow?
Because if the deed was no good to begin with the sale was more than likely misrepresented in the first place.
With foreclosure or REO properties I would go back thru the mortgage deeds and foreclosure deeds and see if they are in order.
I have found many not to be.
Every transaction should be treated as a cash transaction and dealt with accordingly.
Foreclosures and REO's are the sleaziest deals on the market.
And are surrounded by the sleaziest of asset managers ,brokers and lawyers.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by KellyJSmith

You contradict what you posted prior.
First you said no preblems then you said they don't get thru escrow.

My advice to poster was to learn about deeds so as not to even start a deal that is no good.
What were the issues with the deeds that brought money into escrow?
Because if the deed was no good to begin with the sale was more than likely misrepresented in the first place.
With foreclosure or REO properties I would go back thru the mortgage deeds and foreclosure deeds and see if they are in order.
I have found many not to be.
Every transaction should be treated as a cash transaction and dealt with accordingly.
Foreclosures and REO's are the sleaziest deals on the market.
And are surrounded by the sleaziest of asset managers ,brokers and lawyers.

Nonsense.

The buyer is quite unaware that these deeds even exist. Anybody can record a deed which is not worth the paper it is printed on and have no role in the transfer of the property.

The buyer gets a proper deed and a Title policy that insures it is a proper deed.

It is actually the Title Insurance that provides the value to the buyer.

That is why we use escrow and title insurance.

[Swigchow]

Originally Posted by cecnj

Many people have advised me not to seriously consider buying a foreclosed property in LV (or anywhere, for that matter). The chief reasons are lack of maintenance and vandalism/destruction.
The idea is that those being foreclosed upon may have been unable and/or unwilling to do necessary home maintenance as the home neared and then entered foreclosure. Or, that in anger and frustration, homeowners actually destroy aspects of the property (visible and hidden), as a way to get back at the bank.

If you have considered a foreclosed property---then decided against it, please explain.

If you went ahead and purchased one, I'd like to know if it turned out to be a good deal. I guess that means you need to have lived in it a while to be sure there are no problems.

Thanks.

So far so good. Have purchased foreclosures without much problems. Only one with all major appliances removed and required quite a bit of work, but fortunately mostly cleanup and cosmetic. No problems with titles....yet.

[Okey Dokie]

I bought a foreclosure. Six months into it, everything is fine so far. I was lucky because the original owners tried to short sale it for quite a while before it went into foreclosure so they kept it in excellent condition hoping for a sale. (Side note: they had a short sale contract - not from us - sitting on someone's desk at the bank waiting approval when it was foreclosed on. We bought it for slightly above the bank's asking price but $14,000 less than the short sale contract. Go figure.)

The only problem we had (and it was resolved in about 3 hours) was the foreclosing bank's initial reluctance to pay the HOA dues ($400) which had been due in March 2010. For some reason they thought the HOA should just write it off.

We looked at several foreclosures in our house hunting process. The worst one was missing a furnace and nearly all the light fixtures.

I agree with Olecapt that the condition of the title should not be a factor. That's what a title search and title insurance is for.