I am thinking about buying a foreclosure house...

B

Buffalo

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I want a place of my own and I figured it would be cheaper to buy a foreclosure house that need to be fixed up. Does anybody have experiences and would share with us about it? What are the pros and cons? Anything to watch out for? I know that I need to have the house checked for structure/mold/termites. What about HUD house? Tell me all! Thanks.
 
my mom doesn't like the idea about buying a foreclosure house. It is bad luck :roll:
 
My best friend in PA bought a foreclosed house in 2000. So far, it has been fine and their monthly payments are only $500!!!! I wish mine were that low!

I dont know how it went with inspections and all that but the bathroom was in such bad shape. They fixed it up and now it looks fine.
 
Just read the fine prints before buying a foreclosed home. Sometimes it includes the back taxes and Lawyer fees in the price of the foreclosed home.
 
Babyblue said:
Just read the fine prints before buying a foreclosed home. Sometimes it includes the back taxes and Lawyer fees in the price of the foreclosed home.
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Yikes, I didn't know that! Good thing I started this thread.

Edit: Do you mean it is already included in the price of the house or it is addition to the price of the house?
 
Buffalo said:
How is that?
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just a silly superstition from my mom like Final Destination. if I buy a foreclosure house, she thinks I will a life of bad fortunes.... which can lead to losing job and a house :giggle:
 
Buffalo said:
Yikes, I didn't know that! Good thing I started this thread.
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The Foreclosed home I bought I had to pay the attorney fees, and tax lien.

but it was well worth it because got 5 acres for 40,000
 
here's a funny thing too. My friend was going to buy this house and was in middle of process to finalize the deal. All of sudden - his great uncle passed away and his father viewed that house as a bad fortune so he refused to sign the paperwork as a co-signer so my friend lost the deal.

My friend was very angry cuz like me - he thought that superstition was just plain damn silly. he really liked it but the funny thing is..... the house (different one) he just bought a month ago... he loves it more. :hmm:

From the pictures he showed me - it's very lovely. I will be visiting him next week for labor day bbq party.
 
First of all, attorney fees of a bank is always include the closing cost, no differnce between foreclosed houses and normal purchase houses.
And DEPENDING on which state you live, my state requires that I get my own attorney, and I THINK it is very wise investment because my attorney did caught error on mortgage underwriter and defend my closing process.

Back taxes, this is very rare, UNLESS it is bought though sheriff or court process which usually cost just taxes itself, the rest it is free. Generally like that, usually house is in infested area where you won't want to buy it anyway.

Finally, back taxes STILL can happen though regular purchase of houses (Not foreclosured ones). How to defend that? Easy, get TITLE INSURANCE! Title Insurance purpose is to make sure there is no back taxes, and the cost, I think around 500 dollars. This is lifetime insurance which means if in 30 years and bam! County found a tax bill that has not bbeen paid... without title insurance, your STUCK with it plus penalty and interest. Title Insurance takes care of this.

I have been homeowner for 7 years of this foreclosed home.

DHB
Babyblue said:
Just read the fine prints before buying a foreclosed home. Sometimes it includes the back taxes and Lawyer fees in the price of the foreclosed home.
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I bought this topic up because I've been thinking of getting a foreclosed house in Michigan. I would like to educate myself more on buying a foreclosed house. I'm guessing that they're in worse shape than those that aren't foreclosed in most cases. I've many questions and would like to learn more about buying those types of houses.
 
Always be careful when buying a foreclosed home. More often than not, the previous owners are disgruntled enough to just completely wreck the place out of vindictiveness, and it can cost so much to make all the necessary repairs that you don't really save any money over buying a "regular" house for sale.
 
Lily7 said:
Always be careful when buying a foreclosed home. More often than not, the previous owners are disgruntled enough to just completely wreck the place out of vindictiveness, and it can cost so much to make all the necessary repairs that you don't really save any money over buying a "regular" house for sale.
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Ok, in general, should a person be worried that the previous owner will come over for revenge and destroy the house or steal stuffs from current owners?
 
dereksbicycles said:
Ok, in general, should a person be worried that the previous owner will come over for revenge and destroy the house or steal stuffs from current owners?
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I would have good security and get all the locks changed.

We looked at a foreclosure before we bought the house we live in now. It was amazingly cheap, but as Lily mentioned the foreclosed owners had done huge damages to the interior.

It would have taken so much energy to repair that we passed on the house.

But if it had been when we were a lot younger, I probably would have gone for it. Kind of like doubling your equity money if you could do the repairs yourself.
 
dereksbicycles said:
Ok, in general, should a person be worried that the previous owner will come over for revenge and destroy the house or steal stuffs from current owners?
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Eh, that's not so much a concern as is the initial damage, although it is a possibility. By the time they've actually moved out and had the house taken away they've moved on from the initial anger and vindictiveness that caused them to destroy the house while they were still in it or moving/being forced out. They probably won't bother with harassing you, especially since most people at least do have enough common sense to be mad at the banks, not the new owners.

Definitely change the locks though, everyone should ALWAYS do this whenever they buy a new home, no matter what kind it is - even brand spanking new homes freshly built. You just never know who has a key to the old set. It's cheap enough to change the locks that it's not worth the risk.
 
im in the middle of buying a house myself, not a foreclosure, but, i know the process. why not go for a short sale instead? it is cheaper then if it was regular, its just not dirt cheap because its usually not in bad condition like foreclosures. and the process is basically the same.
 
if you are already a contractor or more than willing to do the sweat equity, go for it. many forclosed homes are trashed. the plumbing can be missing. know what you may get into. there are a lot of books on the subject.
 
I will be celebrating 10 years of owning this foreclosed home later this month. Of course there was damages to my house but it was minimal and I got grants to fix it and I no have to pay back because I have lived more than 5 years which is part of requirement. Plus because this house was foreclosed, I get closing cost grants as well. These grants I don't have to pay back! I am now taking a huge advantage because there isn't any 3 bedroom apartment rent rate lower than my mortgage payments. I also have zero payments for any repairs I made back then. It is not because I am lucky, but because I was very carefully researched and open to any ideas which leads to this house that I owned. Thank god I decided not to make an offer on other house just before this one.

Did the previous owner harassed me? Not even ONCE! I know their last name, and I don't give damn about it.
 
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