Foreclosed Home Pictures (Phoenix, Gilbert, Queen Creek: bank owned, apartments, foreclosures)

[kerplunk]

I do not live in Phoenix (currently living in the arctic--haha), but I am looking to buy a foreclosed house in Phoenix as a long-term investment and a place to stay when I visit Phoenix during the cold winters of where I live now. Depending upon whether or not I get accepted into ASU's business school, I may just move there altogether.

Anyway, what I am wondering is: Every picture I have seen of Phoenix houses (foreclosed or not, actually) are pictures of empty houses... they are dark and kind of scary looking. Everything just looks dead. It almost gives me the impression as though the realtor went there and took pictures as fast as he or she could and then left. They don't even turn on lights or anything. Is that really the situation down there? Are Phoenix communities just mini ghost towns? What are some lively areas of Phoenix where a lot of people actually live?

[thegirlinaz]

Banks own the foreclosed homes and they are not going to stage it or fix it up.. which is probably why pictures aren't all that great. They just want to sell the home as-is and as soon as possible without putting any money in it to make it nicer. Also, some of the pictures with no lights on are probably because the electricity was shut off at the house since no one is paying for it. I live in Gilbert and don't exactly go to Phoenix very much, but I wouldn't call it a 'mini ghost town' over there.

[sablebaby]

I don't think realtors put much effort in selling the bank owned homes, not exactly sure why. Some realtors don't take good pics of non- bank owned either. No, we are not a ghost town here! We have over 4 million people in the metro phoenix area!

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by kerplunk

I do not live in Phoenix (currently living in the arctic--haha), but I am looking to buy a foreclosed house in Phoenix as a long-term investment and a place to stay when I visit Phoenix during the cold winters of where I live now. Depending upon whether or not I get accepted into ASU's business school, I may just move there altogether.

Anyway, what I am wondering is: Every picture I have seen of Phoenix houses (foreclosed or not, actually) are pictures of empty houses... they are dark and kind of scary looking. Everything just looks dead. It almost gives me the impression as though the realtor went there and took pictures as fast as he or she could and then left. They don't even turn on lights or anything. Is that really the situation down there? Are Phoenix communities just mini ghost towns? What are some lively areas of Phoenix where a lot of people actually live?

Ahhh, didn't have enough fun with your Mexican violence/kidnapping troll last week? No one lives in Phoenix anymore. They all were kidnapped or murdered.

[kerplunk]

Originally Posted by thegirlinaz

Banks own the foreclosed homes and they are not going to stage it or fix it up.. which is probably why pictures aren't all that great. They just want to sell the home as-is and as soon as possible without putting any money in it to make it nicer. Also, some of the pictures with no lights on are probably because the electricity was shut off at the house since no one is paying for it. I live in Gilbert and don't exactly go to Phoenix very much, but I wouldn't call it a 'mini ghost town' over there.

That makes a lot of sense, actually. I assumed the electricity part already. I guess I am just looking at the wrong houses. I have also heard some odd things about a lot of vacant apartments, which is another reason I made this thread.

Originally Posted by sablebaby

I don't think realtors put much effort in selling the bank owned homes, not exactly sure why. Some realtors don't take good pics of non- bank owned either. No, we are not a ghost town here! We have over 4 million people in the metro phoenix area!

I'm sure banks are harder to deal with, thank you for your reply. It just seems that every house I look at looks like the people who lived there just took everything and ran. I'll assume it is just that it is because there are many foreclosed homes in the mix. Thank you.

[aiwei]

You are better off to rent somewhere while you are here and look for a place in person, instead of relying on pictures. Even if a house looks great on paper or in photos, does not say much about the neighborhood it is located. Plus, we found a lot of homes sit very close to or right by/under high tension power lines in the east valley and we only were able to avoid them because we saw them in person. Not sure if it's the case in Phx and west of Phx.

[d2snow]

Originally Posted by sablebaby

I don't think realtors put much effort in selling the bank owned homes, not exactly sure why.

Probably because when it comes to the closing, at the last minute they always try to stiff the agents out of their commission. At that late stage, there's really not much an agent can do but go along (or just kill the deal.)

Some realtors pay for clean-ups out of their own pocket just to be able to market the house. Obviously some are in better condition than others. Seems to me that the west side of town is worse than other areas since whole neighborhoods are affected. A lot of times the vandals get in there and just rip out everything they can!

[altus2006]

Originally Posted by d2snow

Probably because when it comes to the closing, at the last minute they always try to stiff the agents out of their commission. At that late stage, there's really not much an agent can do but go along (or just kill the deal.)

Some realtors pay for clean-ups out of their own pocket just to be able to market the house. Obviously some are in better condition than others. Seems to me that the west side of town is worse than other areas since whole neighborhoods are affected. A lot of times the vandals get in there and just rip out everything they can!

If an agent has a signed listing contract with a bank, he is not going to get stiffed with the commission.

When we were looking at foreclosures, the vast majority of Realtors who had just been handed a bank listing were ignorant about the inside of the house because they did not take the time to get off their butt and view the property.

With the money Realtors make on listing these homes, they need to spend a little money to clean them up, get the yard in shape and do other things to make the property saleable. If they don't want to work to market the listing, they should let another agent in the office service the bank properties.

altus2006

[altus2006]

Originally Posted by kerplunk

I do not live in Phoenix (currently living in the arctic--haha), but I am looking to buy a foreclosed house in Phoenix as a long-term investment and a place to stay when I visit Phoenix during the cold winters of where I live now. Depending upon whether or not I get accepted into ASU's business school, I may just move there altogether.

Anyway, what I am wondering is: Every picture I have seen of Phoenix houses (foreclosed or not, actually) are pictures of empty houses... they are dark and kind of scary looking. Everything just looks dead. It almost gives me the impression as though the realtor went there and took pictures as fast as he or she could and then left. They don't even turn on lights or anything. Is that really the situation down there? Are Phoenix communities just mini ghost towns? What are some lively areas of Phoenix where a lot of people actually live?

Our experience was that the pictures of the houses were much more glamorous than the actual way the property looked when we viewed it.

Most of the foreclosed properties are in horrific shape and will require tons of $$$ to rehab them. It will remain that way until laws are passed to lock up former homeowners who trashed the properties when they were foreclosed.

Ignore what you see online, these pics and write ups are useless.

altus2006

[Foreverking]

Yes, there is nobody left in Phoenix, just remnants of the nuclear blast. If you go out oat night, you will be eaten by the zombies from Queen Creek. Beware, beware....hey whats that sound, what the!!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah