Is it a good idea to buy foreclosure property?
Question:
Answer:
You never no because there is a disclosure so it doesn't give information on the house that you may need. You wouldn't want to buy a house and then end up having to fix a bunch of things wrong with it. You would be putting your money into things that are unexpected.
Only if you know what you're doing and know what to look for.
Becareful that you don't end up buying something that will have a catalogue of problems that will end up costing more to put right than the market value of the property to begin with.
It can be. You have to be careful that you check to see how many back taxes are owed on the property. Be sure you do your homework. It's also a good idea to use a real estate agent. If you don't want to use one, at least have a good real estate attorney look over the deal for you. It'll be the best money you ever spent. I'm speaking from experience here...I bought a good place that was foreclosed on.
Yes, sometimes you could get a real good deal on some of them, but you first have to make sure that you know what you are buying.
depends on what you want to foreclose
If you get it cheep, but you are buying as is with no legal recourse if their are major problems.
Whether the house is in foreclosure or on the open market, you have to do your due diligence on the properties condition, reason for sale, known defects, etc.
Not every house in foreclosure is going to be run down and in disrepair but of course, they are going to be priced closer to fair market value than one that is in need of repair. In either case, you will seldom get into one for less than what the lender is owed. It happens but it is rare and usually only when the lender was reimbursed for the difference by insurance.
As far as being a good idea. I bought my first house at a HUD auction in 1989. I paid $30,000. for it. It needed only cosmetic repairs which I did myself over the 12 years that we lived there. I refinanced it a couple of times. The only major remodel was new carpeting, a new roof in 1994 and a new AC in 1998. I sold it in 2001 for $125,000. After paying off the $50K refi loan, I netted the $75K but in actuality with the two refi loans you could add another $20K that went into my pocket and not the house! So I really made $95,000 in 12 years without any monetary investment on my part. The $30K was 100% financed. Not to mention the tax write offs which would put it way over $100K.
I would say it was a good deal.
YES!
Do your homework. If you know someone that has done a foreclosure ask if they will help you for the first time. This is the best way.
There are also several free books that you can checkout at your local library on the topic.
If your in CA here is a great website that has a whole information packet on this:
More Related Questions & Answers...