Wife and I found a home that has been foreclosed. We are sick of renting and want to take advantage of the buyer market. Who here has time for me to PM and ask a few questions and ask advice?
Basically this home is foreclosed and Century 21 is trying to sell it. They are asking $99,900 for it. I have investigated and the home was deserted last May. It is currently owned by Freddie Mac which is a federal gov. based mortgage company. I'm trying to determine if I will be able to negotiate the price. I'm tempted to low ball like $65,000 for it. It's sound and not destroyed like a lot of foreclosed homes are.
I imagine they're quite negotiable. A foreclosed home in my old neighborhood listed for 550,000 and was sold for 400,000. House was eaily worth 800k, 1mil in a good market. The bank is just trying to recover as much of the debt as possible at this point. However, I wouldn't go as low as 65,000. Try 85 or 90? Thats likely where you'll end up anyway. Depending on how you and your wife's credit is that'll be much lower a month than you're likely to be paying for rent.
Our rent is cheap...$330. However no central heat and air and it's a small house. Always hot/cold in that house. Only heat/air we have is the one big in wall unit. It SUCKS. However if we upgraded to a nicer house to rent the price is the same as buying one right now. Financing just flat out sucks right now.
I'm wondering how long it takes before an offer is answered. I said 65 but the wife and I discussed 75 as a first offer. However I heard that when an offer is made the bank/mortgage company takes FOREVER to respond than if the asking price was just met. I just am not sure if that statement is true or not.
Without a terrible amount of experience in the matter i would have to say that would make sense. I imagine the closer your offer is to the asking price the quicker they'll act. On second thought, try offering like 80. Its a nice middle ground between the asking price and your initial idea.
Yeah, they take FOREVERRRRRRRRRRRR. Most of the time, depending on the location/condition/market value... they will come back with the asking price
Yeah I figured they probably would. This home is listed well below appraisal now. I hate working finances.
my sister made an offer on a house in charlotte 2 months ago and is still waiting to here back from the bank.
I tried low-balling on a foreclosed house when I was looking. All the houses in the neighborhood were selling for around $140,000 and were in excellent condition. The foreclosure house they were asking $130,000 but the place was trashed. The entire kitchen needed to be redone, new cabinet doors, countertop and floor, all the walls needed painting, carpet replaced in the living room, bathroom fixtures replaced, etc... I guess-timated that it would cost at least $20,000 just to bring it to the standard that the rest of the neighborhood was, so I made an offer on the house of $115,000. The problem with low-balling a bank is that if the offer is too low, they will just throw it out and you will never hear back from them. If you low-ball a seller, they will come back with a counter offer. If you are close to the bottom line the bank wants for the property, they will come back with a counter offer, but if you severely low-ball (offering $65K on an asking price of 90K) then most likely the bank won't take you seriously. Good luck finding a home to buy. Here in Atlanta, every rental place offers a Move In Special, and they knock anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a full month or two of rent off for the first year. Then when that year is up, they tell you if you want to stay there, the rent will go up $100 per month. I couldn't afford an extra $100 a month, so I ended up having to move every year, just to get a Move In Special again. It is nice not having to move each year. Boy do I miss $300 rent payments. I paid $325 in Harrisburg before moving here. I lived in that apartment for 3 years, and they raised the rent on me $5 a year. I was able to handle that with no problems.
It's nice and a great price. It'll be our first home that will be 'ours'. Other than painting the interior walls nothing structural has to be done. It'll just be a tad 'tight' for a year but then my car gets paid off and that opens it wide open for me then. Ideally I'd like to pay off my credit cards first but the house may be gone then....however there are plenty others....just a hard decision that the wife and I have to make.
I am closing on a foreclosure at the end of this month. I suggest getting a good real estate agent on your side like I have. I would be happy to recommend my agent if you are interested. The house I am buying sold for 350k in 2005 and 150k last year. I lowballed on my first offer and it was rejected, then I came back and offered what they wanted and the accepted it within a few days. I bought it for 80k, but it's a nicer house than I ever expected to own; hardwoods, 9ft ceilings, all tile, granite countertops, and really nice cabinets. I would have never got this house if it wasn't for my agent, he stayed on top of it until it was done. Also I am getting a FHA 203k loan, so I pay 80k and get 20k to invest in the house, HVAC system, and other repairs or improvements so basically I am paying 100k for the house, but it has everything the way I want it. Good luck with yours.
Oh and don't forget you'll get the first time home buyer tax credit, 10% the value I think of the house, so on a 100k its 10k. Sweet deal
have you gotten pre-approved yet?? there are 1600+ foreclosed homes in gwinnett county alone being auctioned off....Plenty to choose from...if I had the $ i'd buy a 2nd property!! best of luck to you and the wife
is there a web listing for these homes? i.e. what is the best way for a non-agent to find forclosed homes online? tia
If its bank owned get a realtor, and make sure you select a realtor from a larger company. This way she will push her list of who she knows to make something happen. If you don't then plan on waiting a long long time. People working at the banks could care less right now that they are all loosing a ton of money in forclosed homes.
Ya he's right! Without an agent its hard 2 get the bank 2 hear u! You can also get great deals on builder owned new homes! They are usually desperate to sale and take huge amounts off just 2 get the homes sold! O and if u need decor advice im ur guy! Lol
Good luck, I second what everyone said about getting an agent. I had a really experienced Keller Williams agent who'd be in the business for 15 years and it really was a good education on how to buy a home. Brian and I bought about three years before the market peaked and we got a good enough deal on our home that after the bubble burst my house is now worth exactly what I paid for it back in 2004. My agent told me no matter when or where I'm buying, ALWAYS get your own agent. Using the listing agent or a builder's agent is like sharing the same lawyer at a trial. When you have an agent it's their job to look out for you and your interests versus an agent that works for the owner or bank.
Yeah my uncle is an agent and I talked with him yesterday. I think that he will take care of me and make sure all is well.
If your uncle can find out how much the bank needs from it that will help you a lot. One issue with these houses is that the bank wants to minimize it's loses so if it needs 95k for it, they may not be too willing to go very far below that if at all. Sometimes they are very firm on their prices so they can try and recoup what they have invested.