Does anyone know anything about buying a foreclosure

KarenB Posted: Nov 13, 2003 09:57 AM

Does anyone know anything about buying a foreclosure

My FI and I are frustrated w/the prices of houses. I own a co op which at some point we will sell and am looking for a single family house. Our budget for Nassau County is not very high, we want to stay around $325 in a nice neighborhood. Anyone ever buy a foreclosure.

Thanks.

Karen

MarcellaBella Posted: Nov 13, 2003 10:28 AM

Re: Does anyone know anything about buying a foreclosure

It's pretty hard to find them unless you know of someone who is going through the process or know of someone who works in a bank that handles foreclosures right before the houses are up for auction or resale.

I suggest you look in your local paper, or perhaps the local paper of the town(s) in which you are interested in purchasing in.

Be aware, however, that just b/c a house has a mortgage balance of 150,000 that doesn't necessarily mean that the house will be that much, the auctions usually turn into crazy bidding wars on the steps of hte courthouse.

Also be aware that you are getting the house 'as is' which means that just b/c you get a house for 150-250,000, that house may have not been kept up or perhaps even occupied for quite some time and may need alot of work..

Also, you need cash for these houses.

Good luck!

KarenB Posted: Nov 13, 2003 10:31 AM

Re: Does anyone know anything about buying a foreclosure

Thank you for the info. I'm going to keep working on my standby LOTTO.

MarcellaBella Posted: Nov 13, 2003 12:12 PM

Re: Does anyone know anything about buying a foreclosure

Good luck!!!

You should def start to look though.. You NEVER know.. some little old couple could be selling their house for peanuts on the day you go there! =)

ChristineC68 Posted: Nov 13, 2003 01:52 PM

Re: Does anyone know anything about buying a foreclosure

A friend of mine bought a house in foreclosure. She got a great deal and since it's already owned by the bank the from contract to closing was about a month.

But it had no light fixtures (lightbulbs were dangling from the ceiling) or appliances.

The plus side was they were able to get the appliances & fixtures they wanted right away without waiting for the finanical dust to settle after the purchase and moving.

Good luck searching!

joeslauren Posted: Nov 13, 2003 02:01 PM

Re: Does anyone know anything about buying a foreclosure

Another thing to consider when thinking about foreclosures is the possibility of the owners having liens on the houses that you could possibly be responsible for.

Buttafli1277 Posted: Nov 13, 2003 04:59 PM

Re: Does anyone know anything about buying a foreclosure

You have to watch out for foreclosures. Most of the time with foreclosures, you are not allowed to look at the inside of the house. You just get to look at the outside. Most of the time when people know they are going to lose their home they really don't care how it looks anymore and really don't take any care of it. You need to be CAREFUL!!!

yabbobay Posted: Nov 14, 2003 02:24 AM

Re: Does anyone know anything about buying a foreclosure

Posted by Buttafli1277

You have to watch out for foreclosures. Most of the time with foreclosures, you are not allowed to look at the inside of the house. You just get to look at the outside. Most of the time when people know they are going to lose their home they really don't care how it looks anymore and really don't take any care of it. You need to be CAREFUL!!!

on this note...some people have been known to put cement in the toilets and worse!!!

but I would hope that that is rare...

karen32 Posted: Nov 14, 2003 10:58 AM

Re: Does anyone know anything about buying a foreclosure

erica -

i was just about to post that!!!! i have heard of that a number of times - cement in the sink, toilet and down the shower - costs $$$$$$$ to fix!!

cooky11111 Posted: Nov 16, 2003 09:35 AM

Re: Does anyone know anything about buying a foreclosure

There is a Foreclosure list and I got it from a Real Estate Agency I believe it was Patchogue...but can't remember it was years ago. Some you can look inside and some you can't it depends on the situation. Some the owner still has it and they want to get rid of it ASAP not to lose everything so they put it on the list and sell it for real cheap. I bought one of those. Also they have the forclosure auction were they are on the steps of the town halls ant they auction them off. I took a forclosure class from a adult education night class.

Edited to say:

There are only a few Real Estate agencies that have this list and it cost about $10.