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why would you not use a realtor ? usually he/she gets paid by the seller. I find the real estate law, especially FC, very complicated and would happily work with a realtor, even if we would have to pay 1 or 2 %.
it especially makes sense to work with someone, who also has knowledge about construction. someone once said, always look for a realtor who had a pair of dirty boots and a good flashlight in the car. I think that's a wise recommendation.
in our case our realtor was visiting properties for us and took videos (we lived 10 hrs away), sent them to us and did the initial contact and prepared paperwork, before we even arrived in Asheville. that was very helpful for a speedy process. would not have been possible without his help.
I had no idea they could be done that quickly! Five days hardly seems enough time to get it inspected and check on the liens. Is there something I'm missing? Although I've moved 32 times in my life, this is the first time I'm considering buying a foreclosure, so I'm new to this game. May even try to do all the leg work myself without a realtor.
Mike
Most banking institutions list their foreclosures with Realtors or law firms, and they use list them with Realtors that are certified in foreclosures and short sales and with whom they have the smoothest results. Banks don't want to be in the real estate business, they are in the banking business.
How are you going to get the necessary comps and make an informed decision unless you have a buyer's agent working and negotiating for you? What if there are no foreclosures that meet your requirements? Are you going to settle on something that doesn't meet your needs just because it's a foreclosure? Also, very important in foreclosures or homes never occupied by the seller: you will not get a "seller's disclosure" because the bank is not required to do so. Some banks also will not negotiate with you until they have accepted your offer; and you cannot have a home inspection until after your offer is accepted.
Many buyers agents are certified in foreclosures and short sales, but they don't have to be to work for you. Queen of B had an excellent buyer's agent and is giving you good advice. There is no advantage for a buyer to not work with a buyer's agent; especially if you want a quick occupancy, you are relocating from out of state, and are new to the process. (All this assuming you have a job here.)
Last edited by QuilterChick; 12-31-2012 at 06:51 AM..
QoB and QC,
You are right, I will get a foreclosure specialist since this is my first time doing a foreclosure. I've done many real estate transactions without a realtor, but foreclosures are a different animal.
But you both skipped over my question: how can you get an inspection, liens checked and paid, title, etc., all within five days? I'm new to this process, and this is confusing me.
our realtor sent us the video, contacted the bank (seller) regarding the damage, he had already detected. So the bank asked a home inspector to list everything that needs to be done before the house will be ready to live in. right after the inspector submitted his (long) list, the bank started to work on some items right away (water issues to prevent more damage). we then looked at the house in person, decided on a price we were willing to pay (having this list in mind) and two days later the bank accepted our offer (sorry, I had called that step already closing, I just looked up the difference between closing, contract, settlement, accepting offers). mea culpa, not a native speaker and still need to learn so MANY terms.
so thanks for pointing that out !
we then sent another inspector and an engineer out (making sure there were no constructional issues) and since no more surprises were coming up, the closing was shortly after, about three weeks, which was (still) very fast.
well, the bank was ready to sell for months, and we both worked with the same bank, which also saved some time.
hope this brought some clarification. sorry about the confusion
when looking at foreclosures, just be aware, that some houses are in really bad shape. bad smells, holes in walls, mold (some were sitting empty for many, many months), dirty, stinky, trashy, very 'natural' yard ... not always but SOMETIMES you need a very good imagination and have to see the potential behind the ugly outside.
I am surprised banks don't put 1 or 2 k in to fix the most obvious stuff ... taking out trash for example or removing rotten carpet. but they very often just don't, they wait, lower the price until an investor comes who buys off an auction just by seeing the numbers. very often they have not even seen the house they bought.
just keep this in mind .
happy new year and may it be a lucky one for you !
Thanks for going into detail for me -- I'm starting to understand the process better now. I'm thinking if a house has been sitting empty for months, a bank might take 10-20% less than the asking price. Would you say that's possible?
I also don't understand why banks don't put a little money into them either, like taking out the trash and mowing. It could easily increase the price 5%, IMO.
Banks don't want to be in the real estate business, they are in the banking business.
Sure, but even more so, they're in the "making money" business. Any broker or even someone who knows a little about real estate will tell you that a few cosmetic touches (even just mowing the grass) will give you a good return on that investment.
Sure, but even more so, they're in the "making money" business. Any broker or even someone who knows a little about real estate will tell you that a few cosmetic touches (even just mowing the grass) will give you a good return on that investment.
Foreclosures are NOT an investment for banks. They are losing money on foreclosures. They are not going to spend one dime on "improving" foreclosures. With all due respect, I don't believe you are understanding the foreclosure mess.
Foreclosures are NOT an investment for banks. They are losing money on foreclosures. They are not going to spend one dime on "improving" foreclosures. With all due respect, I don't believe you are understanding the foreclosure mess.
It's pretty apparent that they're not going to spend money improving foreclosures, since they're not doing it now. Some of us agree that it would be beneficial to the banks if they spent "a little" money doing a few minor things. Difference of opinion, I guess.
I think the least the banks could do is prevent further damage to the properties.
I've heard of houses where the central air is turned off for months, and that can lead to major mold problems which impact health. If enough damage occurs, no one in their right mind will ever buy it.
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