Foreclosed homes list (Raleigh, Cary: sales, real estate, foreclosures)

[stephanie545]

Anybody know how to get a lisy of foreclosed homes for the Raleigh area? I am moving in a few months from NY and would like to see some lists.

[leighbhe]

Real estate agents can get the homes that are in foreclosure that are listed through the mls. You could hook up with a buyer's agent here and they can send you listings of the foreclosure homes in your price range.

Leigh

[MikeJaquish]

Stephanie,
You indicate in your other thread that this will be your first home.
Why would you want to start off with a foreclosure unit?
Unless you are working with strictly cash, have a lot of it to play with, and you have a good grounding in construction, you are taking on a lot of work and risk with the possiblity of little or no reward.

The foreclosure market is hot enough because of clueless cheese doodle munching couch potato wannabee house flippers that foreclosure prices are too high for the value offered, IMO.

But...if you still want, I can help you get a list.

[stephanie545]

Thanks for the advice, my friend actually recommended for me to look at foreclosures. With me being a little skeptical, I just wanted to get some feedback from some folks... Are you a realtor or involved in real estate?Maybe you could help me as I try to make my move.

[North_Raleigh_Guy]

I agree with Mike. I just bbought my very first home here and Raleigh and briefly entetained the idea of looking at foreclosures. But I quickly realized I would be getting into way more than I could handle. Although foreclosures happen in all price ranges I realized those foreclosuresin my modest range ($150-165K) came with a lot of baggage I did not want to deal with. Usually if the people didn't bother to pay their bills they also didn't bother to take care of the house and it would have taken substantial investment and a lot of elbow grease to make it move in ready. In addition to that most foreclosures seem to get bid up pretty much close to market value anywya becasue there are so many investors trying to flip the house. Also, what are the chances that a foreclosure house will become available in the exact area where you want to live (Close to your job, ect...). Good luck with your house hunting! I say find a good agent that will not pressure you and make sure they get you on an automated system so you get emails of all new listing every day that meet your criteria. Good homes in our mutual ranges although still around move very very fast. The home we bought was only on the market 1 day when we first viewed it. We made an offer the next day and it had already been shown to 6 other couples! Best of luck to you!

[MikeJaquish]

Originally Posted by stephanie545

Thanks for the advice, my friend actually recommended for me to look at foreclosures. With me being a little skeptical, I just wanted to get some feedback from some folks... Are you a realtor or involved in real estate?Maybe you could help me as I try to make my move.

Yes, I am a Realtor.
Contact info in my profile.

And I don't mean to say that it is impossible to find a bargain in foreclosures.
It's just that you have to realize that when a homeowner is in financial straits, if they cannot make the mortgage payment, they also can't afford maintenance or repairs either and the property deteriorates.
And some people destroy the house when they see they will lose it. Some people will put cigarettes out in the carpet or sheet vinyl floors, tear out fixtures, let water leak, and these repairs will run to thousands of dollars.

[VickiR]

I'd agree that once you begin your search for your new home, you'll discover that a foreclosure isn't as great a deal as you may think.

Having said that...if you are still interested, you can go to HUDs website and look up the homes in Wake County that are foreclosures. You'll still need a Realtor to get you into the homes and to place your bid online, but you can at least see what is available. How will you know if the home is priced below market value? Again...ask your agent!

Vicki

[tarp]

I can speak from experience because I bought a foreclosure home in Cary.

A good site for foreclosure listings is www.ReoTrans.com, which is a nationwide foreclosure listing service used by realtors.

The home I bought in Cary was valued at around $175k on Zillow.com and from looking at comparable properties in the area, when in good condition. This property was in BAD condition. I bought it because I fell in love with the location and the huge 0.6 acre wooded lot.

The foreclosure was listed for $158,000 I believe and was on the market for over 100 days. I looked at the house and it needed quite a bit of work. I offered $141k. Dealing with the seller, Centex Home Equity (now Nationstar Mortgage), was a huge hassle. They had all sorts of hoops to jump through such as filling out a mortgage application with them even though I had my own financing, going back and forth and waiting days for answers on negotiations. Of course, there were NO contingencies. Before I ratified the sales contract, I drove down there and fully inspected the property to see what I was getting myself into. They accepted my final offer of $146,625.00 plus $2,500.00 in closing costs paid by seller. My agent also gave me a rebate of half of their commission (1.5%), so the price I paid came out at about $142,000.00 in the end.

I had a general contractor give me an estimate to repair the place. Around $25,000.00 not including any appliances! The place was bare and only the dishwasher remained - no stove, no fridge, no washer/dryer.

Basically, if I had hired a contractor to do the work for me and then purchased the appliances, the price I paid for the house, once repairs are factored in, would not have been a good deal in any way whatsoever. It would have been very close to market value. Just to give you an idea of the types of repairs needed: new carpet throughout, new tile in bathrooms (vinyl flooring in bad shape), plumbing repairs in kitchen and bathrooms, 3 new windows, new patio door, wallpaper removal in kitchen and bathroom, extensive drywall repair (repairing bad joints, uneven walls), painting the entire house, painting the ceilings (which have popcorn on them, so they had to be sprayed, not rolled), fixing the front step wooden planks, replacing some light fixtures interior and exterior, putting in new baseboards and some new window casings, and some other misc. things.

I did almost all the work myself except the carpet install and the window installs and patio door install. Most of my money was spent on materials and the appliances. My total cost for renovations plus the new fridge, stove, and washer/dryer came out to just under $8000.00. This cost included some new tools and equipment I needed like an air compressor and nail guns, a miter saw, wet saw for cutting tiles, a paint sprayer, etc. These tools probably added up to about $800 or so, and I get to keep them for future jobs of course, so they probably don't count in the final cost. But let's just say the final cost was $8000.00. Also remember the cost of your time. This job was done over the course of about 6 or 7 weekends of hard work.

Factoring in the $8000 cost to me for repairs, I essentially got the property for around $150,000.00 so I saved $20,000 to $25,000 off the cost of a similar property in good shape (and now the property is actually better than "good" condition, since everything inside is fresh and new). That's $20,000 or so of pure "sweat equity".

I'm sure in some cases you can find a foreclosure where you don't need to work so hard to gain the sweat equity, but in most cases I'm willing to bet this is the case. Some of them may be in much better shape, but usually you will have to do hard work, but certainly doable assuming you have the ability to do the work and learn the skills. I came into this knowing how to paint and do some minor things like change fixtures and install sinks & faucets, and I learned by trial and error how to weld copper pipes, put down ceramic tile floors, install toilets, among many other things. I went through probably 20 gallons of paint and 10 gallons of joint compound. I think most foreclosures are going to be like this - in crappy condition and in need of some major "TLC".

Good luck!

[MikeJaquish]

Great post, Tarp!
The banks know the market value. They are not typically willing to sell at a price that allows the new owner to stay within ARV, After Repaired market Value, and do it right with extensive use of qualified, licensed, and insured contractors, pulling permits and the carrying costs of an uninhabitable home.
It's like the homeowner who offers a "carpet allowance" of $2000 because they have a $2000 quote. No margin for the risk and hassle to the new owner...
You gotta be hands on and driven to make it work. And there is a huge amount of financial and liability risk to the individual who takes on the project.

If you lack cash, and are not construction-savvy... Well, I get to see too many of botched and/or unfinished rehabs when the Buyer is trying to bail out, or after it is foreclosed again.
It ain't pretty.
I tell first-time buyers on a tight budget, "Foreclosures are for rich people." Then I have to explain myself.

Usually visiting a couple foreclosure "bargains" and experiencing the smell alone is convincing to the wannnabee.
"Flip this or that House" can't convey the fragrant aroma of a good neglected and/or abused foreclosure property.

Good job, tarp, and congratulations on your hard-earned sweat equity!

[tarp]

The beautiful thing is that in North Carolina there is the opportunity to find properties like this and earn sweat equity. In larger markets like the D.C. Metro area, wannabe investors quickly bid up the few foreclosures that make it to the market. These idiots probably lose money in the long run.