Did you buy a foreclosed house with a trashed kitchen? (Phoenix: 2009, foreclosures)

[Stone Creek Furniture]

I know some people have benefited by buying a foreclosed home here in Phoenix but a lot of times there is major internal damage.

[winkalit]

If you think about it, there is no difference between buying house with a gutted kitchen and buying a house with kitchen that hasn't been updated in 15 years. Also, some people don't appreciate upgrades done with materials from the big box stores.

If you want an estimate of how much it will cost to do a basic kitchen, take measurements and go to Lowe's and plan the kitchen. In this market it is tough to make improvements unless you have substantial reserves set aside or get the cost for repairs included in your loan.

Be careful, I bought my house thinking it would be better to design my own kitchen than live with a generic renovation done with low-end materials from Home Depot. Well, as it turns out I was only able to buy new appliances and resurface the floors. It will be 4-5 years before I can save the money to complete the job.

Needless to say, I am regretting my decision not to purchase a recently renovated property.

[altus2006]

Costco has kitchen cabinets that are very reasonable and appear to be good quality. You have to do your own measuring and installing, but if you need to user a carpenter services anyway, it might be one possibility.

altus2006

[blisterpeanuts]

Originally Posted by Stone Creek Furniture

I know some people have benefited by buying a foreclosed home here in Phoenix but a lot of times there is major internal damage.

If you have a kitchen that's in bad shape here's a cost effective way to get things back in order...

[self-serving obvious advertisement deleted]

Can you do anything with this?

[ninjagrrl]

I reported it hours ago, surprised to see it still here....

[blisterpeanuts]

Originally Posted by ninjagrrl

I reported it hours ago, surprised to see it still here....

C'mon, Ninjagrrl, I wanna see what he can do with this one!

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by blisterpeanuts

C'mon, Ninjagrrl, I wanna see what he can do with this one!

I buy and rehab houses to resell in the Gilbert & Mesa area and I would rip out the cabinets, put in all new cabinets and appliances, lighting fixtures, plus a new floor, and naturally paint the interior.

Don't know what the rest of the house looks like, but usually paint and carpet is required throughout. This kitchen is probably representative of the condition of the rest of the house, so there would be work needed in the bath rooms.

I would get the cabs either at Home Depot or Lowes or, when necessary, a reasonably priced cabinet maker that has custom sizes for hard to fit areas where the standard sizes won't work.

This is more work than most home buyers want to do. (I don't do the work, my vendors do it.) That's why rehab investors are in the business of getting these homes in top condition to sell to end users.

[roosevelt]

A big problem with budgets is that people just insist on granite counters and cherry wood cabinets. By the time they are finished, they have dumped $40,000 into a kitchen that was OK to begin with. When they sell the house the bad news hits, square footage matters the most.

[YAZ]

My goodness, Blisterpeanuts.

That's gonna take more than a weekend to fix....

[YAZ]

We looked at some foreclosures and decided to just purchase an older home that needed some TLC. Still a lot of work and cash, but we were able to move in immediately.

Even though the appliances are quite old, we can replace 'em one at a time.

The big ticket items have been replaced (AC/heater, water heater), let's hope everyhting else hangs on...