Would you buy a Foreclosure?

[bethie_73]

In this market would you purchase a short sale or foreclosure?<br>

[LarsMal]

As our permanent home? Yes. For investment purposes? Probably not.

We have our house on the market right now. We're not in a position to buy right now, but we have definitely had our eye on some short sale and forclosure properties. We would've jumped on a couple of them, but we just can't do that yet.

[SnuggleBuggles]

My feeling has always been that there are probably problems with homes that have been foreclosed on b/c if you can't pay your mortgage there could easily be deferred maintenance. I would only consider a foreclosure if we really got in depth inspections.

Odds that I would seek out a foreclosure are very low though.

Beth

[irie i]

It would depend on who the property was foreclosed from...I would be afraid of disgruntled former owners. I have heard too many scary stories...so I would do a lot of research, but probably would not purchase a foreclosed home.

[egoldber]

I would. Like any other house I would buy, that purchase would be conditional on inspection results. I would never buy ANY house without a home inspection.

[swrc00]

The first home I bought was a foreclosure. As long as you are able to get a home inspection, I would not hesitate. It was a great experience for me.

[hellokitty]

It depends on the condition of the home. I have heard that a lot of ticked off ppl will totally trash the house before they leave. Our real estate agent told us that one house that she knew of the owners were so pissed they basically flooded the house and left, and it all froze. b/c it was during the winter... yeah, can you image buying THAT house and dealing with that? I think the same homeowners also took off with fixtures in the home too... just ripped them out of the wall.

We have friends who bought a foreclosure house and the prior owners were ticked off and loosened the screws holding up the kitchen cabinets. Yup, so one day, the cabinets came falling down almost on top of her, and at the time she had a toddler at home with her too, she was lucky that nobody got hurt. She also has had to deal with neighbors who treated them like they were the bad guys (hasn't really gotten any better with the neighbors, even though it's been about 4 yrs), b/c they were the ones that bought the house that their friends used to live in. You just never know. We also know someone who got a foreclosure home and other than needing some minor repairs, it was a steal of a lifetime. So, it just really depends on things, including how crazy the prior owners were and whether they will try to do something to make it difficult or unsafe for the next owners.

[o_mom]

If the price was reasonable given the conditions and I had the time/ability to wait out the process, sure.

We looked at a few when we moved this summer. The problem we ran into was that a foreclosure can take 4-6 months to close because of the negotiation with the bank. Additionally, you can do an inspection and back out of the contract if you don't like the inspection, but the bank will not make any repairs. If it is still occupied, it can take even longer.

We would have had to rent (our house was sold and closing) which beyond the pain of moving twice, I could not find anyone that would rent a 3 BR apartment on less than a 12 mo lease. You can't have more than 2 people per BR, so we had to have a 3+ BR. I just did not need the stress that comes with such an unpredictable process, either. I about had an ulcer over putting in our fence and all the ups and downs of that.

ETA: As PPs have said, condition can vary. We looked at one that was bank owned. They had put quite a bit into fixing it - painted inside, staged the main areas, but they had the power turned off. Went down the basement and there was 2 ft of water standing as the sump pump was off. Another was completely trashed inside because the owner (still there) had 4-5 large parrots, at least 5 huge dogs (that we saw) and who knows what else living there.

[Fairy]

I'm a careful, careful, careful maybe. I've always been of the mind that *generally* (not always), buying used things and buying foreclosed things is buying other people's problems. However, there are, of course, always gems.

Foreclosures, however, have left a very bad taste in my mouth. Something happened while I was off-board that really affected me. The house four down from me forclosed, and it resulted in an eviction. It was so heinous, i don't want to even retell it. I actually had nightmares. But I have it detailed in text for another reason, so I'm pasting it here. This was extreme, totally understood on that. But the fact is that you really do have to be very careful in purchasing these homes. The buyers of this one are spending probably $100k easily to fix this house and make it simply livable.
====================

I'm in Shock over an Eviction on My Block
Hi Guys. I've been stewing since Monday on this and I just feel so terrible about it. Sunday night we drove by the hosue four doors down on the way home to see that a minivan was parked in the middle of the lawn with the back right up against the house's front door blocking entry. I live in an area where that kind of sight is absolutely anathema. It's not like I've never seen a car on a lawn before, but in this neighborhood, to have a car smack dab in the middle of your front lawn is a very odd sight. I knew this house had been foreclosed and what I had heard thru the subdivision gossip was that she and her daughters had been allowed to live there till they had a buyer.

Well, now Monday rolls around and there are three county sherrif's squad cars, someone is screaming her head off, and a ton of personal belongings are strewn on the lawn. It turns out ... this family was evicted. I have never seen a real live eviction, but now that I have, it is one terrible, tragic, ugly scene.

Alert - This is where I start to sob. Back out now if you need to. Go, I'll wait ...

The mother is bi-polar, no meds, so seriously mentally ill, there were pets -- alot of them -- of various species running free in the basement, defacating, peeing, eating whatever. The daugthters are 16 and 10 (I think), and their father is worse than the mother out of state out of the picture for years. Grandparents unknown, and the mom's sister lives nearby but fed up with her sister. The police have to force the mother and girls to pack their things, remove them from the house, and get out. It took 2 solid days 24 hours a day. In a rainstorm. There was poop and pee and blood (yes) on the walls and the floors, and it was completely uninhabitable. Those girls were living in squalor in a home that would cost half a million dollars if it were normal. It really does happen absolutely everywhere.

I didn't know these people at all because, as you can imagine, the mother is not social becuase she is ill. But she was there 18 years, so pre-dated everyone, and no one -- not one frakkin' person -- offered a stitch of help but me and my friend next door. The apathy makes me weep, and I can't talk about it or I won't be able to stop crying. I went to subway and bought five foot longs, and brought all the bottled water I had in the house (about 10 bottles). My friend donated a cooler and ice packs. I wanted to do more, but they can't stay in my house and I can't house their stuff, and she doesn't want help, anyway (the illness). But apparently they hadn't eaten and they slept in the car, as they were locked out of what is no longer their house. (Sob ... sob ...). And I just wanted to DO something. I wanted to fix it so bad, and I can't fix it. What can I do?! I can't make her better, I can't adopt her kids, I could maybe take her animals but no one will tell me where they went, and I feel just helpless. So, I took my pathetic subway over.

And she wasn't there. The new people were there filling their second commercial dumpster with the garbage and old abandoned stuff that the woman left. The things I saw them take out that were "abandoned" were heart-breaking. Baby toys, possibly photo albums, college-looking furniture, a mattress, light fixtures. It's awful. My heart is just breaking for these girls, the animals, and this terribly ill woman who may or may not ever be able to function. I'm not saying she gets a pass for letting it get to this awful point, cuz she does not get a pass. But I do recognize that is not malicious, either.

The new people were very cold and had an attitude. I understand their frustration, as apparently, the woman was given 4 months to get out thru the actual eviction proceedings, and she said, "I never thought they'd really make me go." It's the illness. I know. But this new woman didn't care and seethed hatred, and I couldn't take it. But oh my god. These poor girls were forced from the only home they have ever known their whole lives, their whole bedrooms, their security, in the span of hours while police officers stood over them becauase that's what they were ordered to do. They slept in their car that night. The new people have to rip up floor boards and gut the drywall, apparently. I'm kind of beside myself.

I'm babbling now, but the woman wasn't there when we came by with the food, and her car is in my next door neighbor's garage waiting for her to come get it, as the sister took them to her house in her van, so the sandwiches are at my friend's house waiting to be eaten. Not that she still needs them if she's got her sister, now. But I'm not upset that she hasn't come for her blasted sandwiches; I"m upset because I can't do anything more than have spent $30 on sandwiches that ultimately did nothing more than make me feel better that I tried. I can't ensure that the girls grow up ok or that the animals aren't dead somewhere. Dogs, cats, rabbits, iguana. All I can do is buy things that won't be used.

I drive five mintues out of my way so I don't pass the house that is literally four doors down. If I drive by it, I'll cry. I guess I could have put this in prayer requests, sorry. I'm not usually the type to ask, but if you can maybe think positive thoughts for these guys. I don't know if I made any sense. Thanks for listening.

I now have to go get my son from daycare and hug him.===================

I post this simply so that you know that some forclosure homes are very bad investments, indeed. Whether you wanna flip it or live in it, you must be very very careful. This particular house was sight-unseen at about 70% undervalue. As a result, they had to deal with the eviction process, and then they had to rent another house while this one was being gutted, mainly by themselves cuz they couldn't afford professionals after the expense. This is a heartbreaking story, and these buyers absolutely lost in this gamble. On the other hand, there is another forclosure the next block over where the house is in perfectly decent shape, no trauma there. So, these can be gold mines. But they can also be money pits of the worst magnitude.

As a post-script on the families, the original owners are apparently livign with the grandmother, the animals fate is unknown (I can't talk about it), and the new owners have found several things in pulling up carpet and knocking down walls that are disgusting and unmentionable. But the house is coming along as best it can.

[mommylamb]

We have friends who bought a foreclosure house and the prior owners were ticked off and loosened the screws holding up the kitchen cabinets. Yup, so one day, the cabinets came falling down almost on top of her, and at the time she had a toddler at home with her too, she was lucky that nobody got hurt. She also has had to deal with neighbors who treated them like they were the bad guys (hasn't really gotten any better with the neighbors, even though it's been about 4 yrs), b/c they were the ones that bought the house that their friends used to live in.

That's awful. And, you'd think that neighbors would be glad that someone bought it. A lot better than having an empty foreclosed house next door with no one there to mow the lawn, shovel the driveway, etc etc.

[kransden]

Since I live in the Phoenix metro area, the answer is "Heck Ya!". Most of them are very new homes. ITA with others though to do a careful inspection. My next door neighbors took the light fixtures, etc. but didn't ruin the house. Other people have ripped out cabinets etc. So here you could get a great deal, but like always - buyer beware.

[scrooks]

Our house was a foreclosure. We bought it in 2005 (before the forclosure boom). The bank owned it and we were able to tour and inspect it like any other house on the market, with the exception that the water and gas were not on. The house was only 7 years old and the bank claimed that it had been properly winterized but needless to say the day we took possetion and had the water turned on we had people stationed throughout the house to make sure there were no burst pipes leaking water. The people had taken all the appliances and light fixtures on the first floor, and the garage door openers so we had to replace all of that. And oddly enough some of the landscaping was gone (apparently some japanese maple trees). But in the end we have had no major issues and because we bought a foreclosure it was a bit cheaper and we don't feel we overpayed like we might have otherwise in 2005 at the height of the housing bubble.

[mamicka]

I would. Like any other house I would buy, that purchase would be conditional on inspection results. I would never buy ANY house without a home inspection.
:yeahthat:

[bethie_73]

Just curious how others felt. We are in the land of foreclosures here, and most of them (from what I see) are people who tried to do a flip (darn that TLC) and just couldn't do it.

We would buy one, but again it would be contingent on an inspection (not that the bank would do anything, but you do need to know what you are getting into). I did see one with a family living there, and I agree that it is heart breaking to see families that will need to leave their house.