Thursday
March 11, 2010 

 

Many first time buyers, anxious to take advantage of the $8000 tax credit that is quickly expiring in just 50 days, call our company wanting to look at foreclosures. The idea is that a buyer will be able to pick up a foreclosure at a lower price than a ‘conventional’ sale. However, once they get inside the property, they begin to understand why a foreclosure is priced so much lower than other properties.

 

Most properties that have been taken back by the banks have been sitting empty for quite some time. It is amazing how many bad things can happen to a property that has been sitting empty for awhile! And that is before taking into consideration the vandalism done by the vacating owner. Sometimes the vandalism is purely malicious – because the homeowner is upset about losing their home. At other times, it is economic. The fixtures are being sold for whatever money they can muster. 

 

One property I looked at recently, the owner had removed the heating system and punctured a hole in the water main coming into the building. When I went down into the basement, there was a fountain of water coming up from the floor and a resultant moutain of ice sitting in the middle of the basement. With warm weather approaching, mold will most certainly begin to grow where  previously there was ice.

Broken Water Main

Missing Furnace

  

Ice From Broken Water Main

 

Occasionally, we will come across a property that is in relatively good condition. With the downturn in the real estate market, many contractors have found themselves out of work. A home completely rehabbed by a contractor who just couldn’t bear to vandalize the work he himself did will often be a great bargain for a first time homebuyer. But those properties are the exception, not the rule. And you have to kiss a lot of frogs before finding your prince.

Bottom line:  most first time homebuyers are not equipped to handle the repairs required in purchasing a foreclosed home. They will do better to look at an estate sale or perhaps a situation where the seller – for personal reasons – must sell quickly. There are many reasons why a seller may need to sell quickly – either a job transfer, a divorce, a marriage, a pregnancy or some other change in their life’s circumstances.

For more information on purchasing properties at “wholesale”, download my free report now >>>>>

“To Your Success!”
mary!

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