Anyone ever bought and fixed up a foreclosure? - Page 2

[Kristine233]

Originally Posted by mar123

Someone who has actually done this may know better, but I don't think you can make the offer contigent upon inspection with a foreclosure. You need to look at it, have someone look at it for you and then put in the offer. They accept or decline- the home is as is. You are dealing with a bank, not a seller in this case.

I think it depends. Ours was "as is" and we knew we could run in to some big issues but DH had been in construction for years and kinda knew what to look for too.

[Paigekitten]

We bought our house as a foreclosure last year. Our offer was contingent on the home inspection, and the bank paid for a new water heater, electrical work, repairing of rotted roofing/porch, and termite extermination. There is a LOT more work to be done too. Sometimes I find it overwhelming, like right now the fridge is sitting in the middle of the kitchen because a mouse chewed through the water line to the ice maker and soaked through the walls and subfloor. We've ripped out two walls and part of the kitchen floor because they were rotting/moldy from this. When I am not overwhelmed, I find it really exciting. Like tonight, since we were working in the wall anyway, DH put in an electrical outlet in the hallway exactly where I want it. : )

I think the most exciting thing for me is that we OWN our home, and I get to stay home with the kids. For us, dust and dirt and late nights ripping up tile are worth it, plus SOMEDAY I will have a cute house.

[liberal_chick]

Thanks for all your posts!

We put in an offer, but the bank that owns the property is located in Germany (which I find strange and random ) and they are reviewing all offers at once before deciding who they'll select. They are asking $59,900 for the house and we offered $45K. Dh spoke to the listing agent yesterday and they said that most of the offers that have come through so far have been really low-ball. So we won't know anything until the 17th.

We made the offer contingent on inspection and financing. Dh is also having independent specialists go through this week (electrician, plumber, general contractor, and HVAC). The electrician said he thought the electrical looked pretty good and told dh he thought it would take about $3K to do everything it needed in that department (which includes new light switches, face places, and light fixtures). I thought that was good.

So, here's hoping!

[JamieCatheryn]

We bought our house with a good deal of work to do, though it was mostly cosmetic (floors, walls, a little electric, appliances). Stay away from foundation problems and mold and such, anything less than that isn't so bad to deal with and you can personalize the place.

[seeing_stars]

I haven't read responses, but we did this earlier this year with an FHA 203k loan. We had to get bids from contractors, fill out some extra paperwork, sign agreements that the work would get done, etc. The contractor was given half of the money at closing and the other half upon completion and inspection. Our repairs were around 26k, but our house was priced well over 50k below what it is worth now with the remodel done. The work took 2 weeks and was finished before we moved in. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

THEY SAY THAT BANKS DON'T USUALLY MAKE REPAIRS IN FORCLOSURES, BUT THE BANK FIXED OUT ac UNIT, DID TERMITE TREATMENT (oops, sorry about the weird caps), provided 3.5% in closing costs and a 2 year home warranty.
(Freddie Mac property)

[liberal_chick]

Can you tell me a bit about the process of doing the 203K loan? That is the type we are looking at doing.

Is closing time about the same (every closing we've done has taken about a month)? Is there more paperwork? That kind of stuff...

[VisionaryMom]

Ours wasn't a foreclosure, but we did buy a house that needed work. In fact, the people we bought it from were selling because it was more than they could handle once they got into it.

I will say that I absolutely love our house and yard. But there are days when I want to cry because of what we got into.

First, we've done all of the work ourselves, so we're living & working in the house, and I probably wouldn't do that again.

Second, we've found lots more wrong with the house as time has passed, and that's drastically increased the money we've put into the house.

With that said, we've learned a lot. We are considering buying & rehabbing properties as rentals, but the projects can take a huge physical/financial/emotional toll.

[AAK]

I've done it and for us it was great. We did most the work ourselves and most was done before we moved in (the upstairs was complete before we moved in and we worked on the basement while we lived there).

In our house there was a lot of water damage (intentional damage--not from defect) so we removed and replaced lots of sheetrock, gutted the kitchen and bathrooms, removed popcorn ceiling, remove a wall to open up the kitchen, painted, replace all flooring. After we moved in (and waited for spring) we replaced the windows, some siding, painted the exterior, replanted the grass, removed some outbuildings that were a hazard, installed a fence, and did some basic landscaping. We spent about 20,000 on it. We sold the house a few years later for 65000 more than we paid for it. (And this was before the big real estate boom).

It was a great learning experience and I don't regret it at all. I do recommend that you bring someone knowledgeable with you to look at it so you have a realistic idea of what needs to be done.

Amy

[HeatherAtHome]

Originally Posted by Paigekitten

I think the most exciting thing for me is that we OWN our home, and I get to stay home with the kids. For us, dust and dirt and late nights ripping up tile are worth it, plus SOMEDAY I will have a cute house.

Agree!

Originally Posted by VisionaryMom

Ours wasn't a foreclosure, but we did buy a house that needed work. In fact, the people we bought it from were selling because it was more than they could handle once they got into it.

I will say that I absolutely love our house and yard. But there are days when I want to cry because of what we got into.

Same here. Our house wasn't a foreclosure but the owner was getting older and didn't have the time, money or ability to keep up with it.

I hardly ever want to cry about it though... there was just this one time when we were living without water for two months and were filling jugs at the nieghbours. I was trying to pour water, tipped over this giant jug causing a lake of water to flood across the floor SOAKING a stack of flooring materials. I had to move the stack of flooring and a washer and dryer that was sitting in the middle of the kitchen in order to clean it all up. That was the only time I lost it.

Overall it's been great. We made an offer contingent on inspection and mortgage approval. Most of the problems with the house were visible but the inspector was really helpful and gave us some tips on easy fix its and gov't programs that we could benefit from. Personally, I was ready to knock a couple thousand off the offer after hearing all the details from the inspector but DH didn't dare. Even with all the work, we still got a pretty GREAT deal considering the area. We're 5 mins from DH's work/town, 10 mins from the 'city' but out in the country with hardly a neighbour in site (except the ones right next door but they're nice). Houses go for quite a bit more around here. And apparently we have great gardening soil!

Good luck with the new house! I remember when we were looking we had our hearts broken many times... but looking back I'm fine with it because I love THIS house so much. If you don't get this one, I hope you find something even better.

[Katie T]

Originally Posted by Kristine233

Ours was a forclosure. It sat empty for nearly 3 years when we cam eaccross it. We picked it up for a mere $57k. (4 level, 5 bedroom home) It was a sound house with only minor issues (besides the roof, which we still need to do) but livable. We've put only a couple thousand in it and it was last apraised at $92k. We have done even more work to it since then (the entire kitchen!) and know we could get over $100k if we wanted now. We don't plan on moving anytime soon though!

The process has been both emotional and tiring and we are no where near done. But it has been totally worth it so far. I have some pictures online if you want to see some of the transformation... http://gallery.me.com/deppemn#100107

Wow your house is amazing! Are you doing the work yourselves or hiring all/some of it out? You have done a spectacular job with it.

[mnnice]

Curious thread revival. Since this thread was started DH and I made an offer on a short sale. The offer we made was not accepted by the seller's lender (nor was a higher offer made by another potentional buyer). I would consider buying it a sheriff's sale.

This house is move in ready (although very underlandscaped IMO)