Comments on: I Asked This Q? Before, It Was @2am E.t Maybe Now I Get More Responses Is This Foreclosure Home A Good Deal?

By: satarnag

satarnag — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 03:48:11 +0000

Sounds like a great deal but before you get in over your head get a home inspection. The bank will not make improvements to the house but it might save you hundreds of thousands of dollars in the long run. Home inspections only cost a couple hundred dollars and can catch serious problems that might not be seen to the naked eye. If the owners could not afford the mortgage they could not afford routine maintenance, but If you are interested a forclosure can be a good option for some people.

By: tskelton

tskelton — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 02:54:34 +0000

I help people buy and sell foreclosures. You need to sit down with a local real estate agent (or someone who knows home values in your area) because 200k to 500k is a huge gap. Find out how much this home is worth now and how much it will be worth fixed up. You need a home inspection as well to see what’s wrong and how much it will cost to fix. The number one issue I face when I encounter a leak is mold.
Once you have all the info, then you can determine how much the home is truly worth to determine whether it is a good deal at 137k. Remember, prices mean nothing and not all foreclosures are great deals.
Good luck!
Regards…

By: i love my kids

i love my kids — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 22:37:13 +0000

When you get the loan for the house get 20 to 25K more so you will have the money to “upgrade”. Normally, water damage from upstairs contains itself in the sheet rock and sub flooring. Unless it is a long standing leak it usually does not involve floor joist or electrical. If your electrical checks out, then the flooring and ceiling is all you need concern for.
IF you have central air and heat (if not it would be easy to install) then you really do not need ceiling fans at this time. As for carpet, Lowes has specials on carpet (one room or a whole house–installation is free). Installing the toilets you can do yourself. Id say with the market as it is- it is a pretty good deal. Be sure you shop around for a lender that can give you a deal with a fixed rate mortgage at a low interest rate. Don’t just take the first deal you come to. Get one quote and go to another and if necessary, use the lower quote of the 2 to get the best deal from the other guys.
Dr. Tommy Skelton
(information from my wife-real estate appraiser)

By: i love my kids

i love my kids — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:36:03 +0000

I bought my house a foreclosed house, and I never regretted anything. By the way, we are neighboring states, I live in South Carolina!! Anyways, we paid 80,000 for it and everyone else was buying and selling in that neighborhood for about 160,000. We got a steal! I know that alot of people have already answered this but I would like to add to it. I agree with the guy that said you will need an agent to help you. You will, you will need their access to MLS to see what similar homes to that one are selling for. Also if the house is on http://www.hud.gov some of their homes are 203K eligible which means that you can add in the repairs into mortgage instead of having a mortgage and a home improvement loan. You can have one. I would def get a home inspector and a few contractors to look at it, to see how much it will cost you. If you aren’t married I would have a male there with you. Contractor’s love to screw over women that they think are “stupid”. It sounds great!! I would to know the link so I could look at it. ( I am an SC Realtor). I think that you will be ok, 2 acres of land, and that big of a house, as long as it isn’t in terrible shape, should be a good deal. Cosmetics are very easy to fix, and you would have probably done the repairs that you are going to do anyways. I wish you the best of luck and I hope that you get a great deal with some equity in the house as soon as you walk in the door!!