Bank-Owned Sales. Bargain or Not?

[FW transplant]

Banks don't maintain foreclosed properties because it costs money. That's why they sell "as is." If the bank will agree, include in the sales contract that the property must pass all inspections. Otherwise, pass on the sale.

Keep in mind, too, that inspectors won't find every little thing wrong, and most inspectors don't guarantee their work. It better be an amazing deal, or it won't be a deal.

[bay]

we bought a REO. In the area we are looking, REO is very rare, especially the one in nice neighborhood. Therefore, there were 4 bids including us after it was on market first week and ended up much more than asking price. I would not say that we got the bargain, but it's a rare find for its location and size. It's the largest size we can find in our price range, plus the location and neighborhood is very good. The house next to us was on sale after we bought ours. The house is slightly smaller than ours and inside condition is old. We just chat with our new neightbor and found they paid the same as our sale price. I guess we just paid the fair market price for the house over there, but not getting deal because of REO.
For the condition of REO we bought, I know previous owner ripped off something (like new kitchen cabinet door and some closet doors) when it got forclosured. Since we are going to completely renovate the house, we don't really care the cosmetic stuffs. However, our mortgage bank did bargain for us. They asked seller bank to fix some inside including refinish the hardwood floor and take down wall paper before sent out the commitment letter.

[GoHokiesGo]

Originally Posted by Stripes17

Call me crazy, but I tend to steer clear of repo homes or foreclosures because I have this fear that somebody may come by to collect a debt or to settle a score of some type thinking the previous owner is still there.

I know these situations are probably very rare and may not even happen, but there'd be that thought in the back of my mind.

This is what Title insurance is for - it covers any previous debts or liens that were on the house. Now if you mean like a mob-boss or somebody coming by, well, I'd probably chose to avoid buying a house in that type of neighborhood.

My house was a REO/Foreclosure property that I bought last december. It was vacant for about two months, the neighbors told me that the previous people were renters in the house. It was in great shape, only thing that needed replacing was the garbage disposal (ie- $75 and every single thing worked in the house). It was stark and boring since everything was white, but the house was a great deal. We bought it well below market, and the next closest sales price I've seen to ours was $60k more than we paid, and some of the sales in our neighborhood have been foreclosures as well.

We looked at a lot of foreclosures when searching, in fact only a handful of the houses were not foreclosure properties. Quite a few were pretty trashed and needed a lot of work, but they were priced considerably less as well. Most of them were in pretty good shape though, no signs of plumbing, electrical, appliance issues. Now dealing with the Bank on the actual negotiating was a pain in the rear, but the property itself was great. I'm very happy with my purchase, and I'd buy another foreclosure in a heartbeat.

[california-jewel]

That depends on the price of the home, and work that most likely have to go into it. And short sales are not the easiest transactions, to deal with. Your buying as is. I have many realtor friends, who say that the wave of these properties, is going to be with us for a while. There are some great deals out there, in good areas, homes that require a little work, and some that require major overhauling. Why not take advantage of getting more home then you could a couple of years ago, if you are willing to put the work into a short sale, that is no body's business but yourr own. And i say HAPPY HOUSE HUNTING.