The "I Bought a Riverside Co Foreclosure" Thread (San Diego: cul-de-sac, for sale)

[Katzy]

Hi,

I thought it would be fun to start a thread for all the people who have bought a foreclosure in Riverside Co. I'm always hearing how people are afraid to buy one as they think it'll be a huge headache, and the house will be trashed (true in some cases).

So let's hear your story!

Here's mine...

We bought a foreclosure in Menifee in July. Our realtor took us to about 15 homes and we fell in love with this one. Some of them were in pretty bad shape with too much work to be done that we were comfortable with. Many had strange holes in the walls, and almost all had the same strange stains on the carpets. Others were totally fine, like the one we bought.

I don't think whoever bought this house originally ever made a single payment, and it must've been a rental as there is no paint on the walls, and it was left in wonderful condition. It just needed a good cleaning as it had sat empty for however long (a year? dunno).

There is no backyard. It looks like a desert, but we've been working on clearing it out, and we'll put in a pool.

The front yard looked bad when we first looked at the home. After we signed the offer the bank turned the water on in the front (I think as it looked a little better when we moved in), and suprisingly it has really come back. From the street you would never tell how horrid it looked a few months ago.

The process was really easy - we closed in 32 days, and was a smooth process overall.

I did just get a bill for trash not paid from 2007 (from the county - some sort of new bill was passed where the charges will be put on property taxes - Waste Mgmt is trying to get money from the banks or something I guess), so I just submitted a copy of our deed showing we did not own the property then, so hopefully that will get cleared up soon.

Right now there are 2 other foreclosures on our 14 home cul-de-sac. There were at least 4 others since February or so, and they are moved into. I worry about the other homes as they appear to be original owners. I hope they all stay as they all seem really nice.

Hugs,
Erin

[RIWF]

Hi Katzy

How many bedrooms does the house have and what did you pay? I'm not being nosey, just interested to see what's available on the foreclosure marker in that part of LA.

Enjoy your house
RIWF

[Katzy]

3,100 sf house
7,900 sf yard
4 bed / 3 bath
3 car garage
$290K plus bank paid all closing costs, which were about $9K I think.

[Katzy]

In addition, before the usual suspects come in to say that it's not a good time to buy and the prices will go down more...

I know they will continue to drop. But it was perfect timing for us, and the monthly cost is less than our apartment in San Diego, we love the house, and we are totally comfortable with it.

Have a great day!
Hugs,
Erin

[chuck22b]

Congratulations Katzy! And thanks for sharing your story!

-chuck22b

[RIWF]

Hi Katzy

Thanks for the information.

Cheers
Ron

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by Katzy

In addition, before the usual suspects come in to say that it's not a good time to buy and the prices will go down more...

I know they will continue to drop. But it was perfect timing for us, and the monthly cost is less than our apartment in San Diego, we love the house, and we are totally comfortable with it.

Have a great day!
Hugs,
Erin

As long as you are happy where you are living and can afford it-----------who gives a flying fig what anybody else thinks?

[Katzy]

Originally Posted by ArizonaBear

As long as you are happy where you are living and can afford it-----------who gives a flying fig what anybody else thinks?

You're totally right!

[evolutionrules]

3200 sq ft, 5 bedroom, 3 bath in Winchester for $295,000 built in 2004. Sat empty for 2 years. Similar story. House was left in good shape. They even left all the owner manuals for all the appliances in a cupboard. We cleaned and fixed the yard and all is well. We looked at about 30 houses and most were in pretty good shape. Some were trashed. Here are some things we learned in the process: we stopped getting excited about granite, stainless steel etc. What really matters (to us) is the house, the property, the number of rooms etc. Everything else can be done later. You can't very easily add a bedroom or an extra 500 sq feet. But... blinds and new backyards are expensive. If you can find the right house with everything done then great but i still don't think it's worth an extra $50,000. overall it was positive and relatively easy. We have a house to raise our 2 young kids in and a low mortgage payment for the next 30 years.

[SoCal Bottom Rider]

I am looking to buy a Riverside foreclosure next year. It will be a rental. I have been following IE cities and Riverside has been the one dropping the fastest and most drastically. I plan on buying when the price is just under 200k. Positive cash flow. My brother in law purchased a nice 3000sq ft home in the 92509 area in 2006 for a bit over 400k. Now there is a home for sale on the same block at 249k.