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How to find foreclosed homes?

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Well realtor.com has a "foreclosure only" option in the advanced settings.

Even a normal search will say which ones are foreclosures and which ones are not
 
EagleKeeper said:
Mot foreclosed homes are not in pristine condition.

A $150K home may easily need $50K worth of work due to neglect/destruction of the previous owner.

A person losing their home to the bank is not going to be in a generous mood; they will take with them as much as they can; figuring that it is still theirs.

The bank will know what the property should be worth and have a decent estimate on what it will take to get it back to that value.

In my example; they are not going to dump that home on the market for $50K
They will want close to $100K
Click to expand...

When my sister foreclosed on her house, she just lived as normal, left everything in tact when she was asked to leave by the bank ... she left everything in there ... granted, who knows how long it was left vacant, for people to steal shit.
 
EagleKeeper said:
Mot foreclosed homes are not in pristine condition.

A $150K home may easily need $50K worth of work due to neglect/destruction of the previous owner.

A person losing their home to the bank is not going to be in a generous mood; they will take with them as much as they can; figuring that it is still theirs.

The bank will know what the property should be worth and have a decent estimate on what it will take to get it back to that value.

In my example; they are not going to dump that home on the market for $50K
They will want close to $100K
Click to expand...



Yeah, banks do not stay in business by giving houses away. If you want to find a good deal you need to be diligent, they are out there.
 
Thanks...will check around MLS.com a bit.

EDIT : Looks like it is paid service, is the consensus that it is pretty solid service?
 
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MLS is mostly what I used when I was house searching. Also had a realtor and told him my price range and what I wanted and he'd call me up every time a new house popped up. Often they sell before they even make it to MLS so you pretty much have to get a realtor to get first dibs on houses that go on the market. There are good deals to be had sometimes.
 
ViviTheMage said:
Thanks...will check around MLS.com a bit.

EDIT : Looks like it is paid service, is the consensus that it is pretty solid service?
Click to expand...

MLS is legit. We used Zillow and trulia to window shop for a house and then our realtor would give us the MLS listing so we could examine the financial history a bit better.
 
Correct MLS is the standard, its what all realtors use.

I suggest you find a good realtor in your area and talk to them. NOTE: do not sign anything.

Good realtor will give it time to prove themselves vs forcing you to work with them for XXX amount of time.

Good ones will also leave # of months unfilled and give YOU the choice.

Remember, as a buyer you are not paying ANYTHING but you can be stuck with a shitty realtor if you sign the paperwork for a long period.

If you like the person just sign it for a month at a time and you can always renew....
 
We used a realtor to purchase our condo 5ish years ago ... she actually said she knows people looking to rent, which is our plan for the condo. So knock out two birds one stone ... she's been pretty cool too, talk to her every few months about our status, because we told her were looking to move out about a year ago, we just now have a good chunk of cash saved up for the 3.5% down and whatnot. So I will give her a more serious call a little later today.
 
ViviTheMage said:
When my sister foreclosed on her house, she just lived as normal, left everything in tact when she was asked to leave by the bank ... she left everything in there ... granted, who knows how long it was left vacant, for people to steal shit.
Click to expand...

I have heard of some banks that will pay people to ensure that place is left in decent condition.

I have also seen in Vegas and Denver where houses are essentially gutted.
All appliances taken
Bathroom stripped of toilet, sind vanity; sometimes the tub/shower.
Copper piping is missing (vandals or owners?)
Decent doors removed
Garage door openers pulled off.

some people want anything
Other places will be vandalized

all depends on the luck of the draw.

better the place is left and maintained; the bank makes more in recovery.
 
I used realtor.com to search for houses for sale, and the foreclosed homes were listed as "bank owned". Not sure whether you can specify those in their search or not, but that's how I found the repo I purchased.
 
All the foreclosed homes me and wife looked at when we were in the market were in some bad shape, most of them had all the copper taken out wherever they could, sewer pipe plugged up with concrete mix...etc, etc. Usually the previous owner gets mad cause their losing their house and screws up whatever they can. Others get vandalized.

Just inspect closely, even take a rodder and push it down the drain pipes to make sure you're not into plumming issues. Maybe turn on the water at the meter pit if you can. Often they are either money pits or money bargains but never in between. Bank owned homes are not usually the most persuasive people to work with, one would think they just want to be rid of the house off their books and negotiate price, but my experience is they are stubborn and want to either make profit or watch it rot regardless.
 
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ViviTheMage said:
So, we're looking for a house ... what are some reliable sites (paid or free), that can list foreclosed homes?

We can get either an FHA/conventional loan, have about 20k saved up for the deposit, and other odd repairs if they need it that bad.

So what site is legit? I seem to find a lot of scammy looking ones... also, what is the normal procedure to close on a foreclosed home? Contact the bank? Contact a realtor?
Click to expand...

i have a house in rockford, IL, 1400sq ft, 2 story, 1/4 acre lot and nearly fully remodeled on the inside. $30k cash paid to PNC bank and its all yours.
 
Vdubchaos said:
Most foreclosed properties have been grosely neglected and abused by previous owners.

I suggest you find a normal house. Foreclosed homes are a risk that's not worth taking.

Remember, home inspector cannot look past the sheetrock or at the actual structure/what's hidden (assuming you even can find a decent inspector).

Also if you do go with foreclosed home, I hope you are a "do it yourselfer" and have PLENTY of money for repairs etc.

Mandatory home buyers questions:
a) Do you have 20% down payment (20k seems a bit low depending on the area you are in)?
b) do you have 6-9 month emergency fund?

Even with a none foreclosed home that's been cared for there is costs that are expected. With Foreclosed home, those costs are THAT much more.

Remember, there is no "deals" out there. No ONE will give something away or take a loss.

You will get exactly what you pay for.
Click to expand...

It's a pity you don't have any idea of what you're talking about, yet still decided to give advice.
 
This is the Fannie Mae site for their foreclosures. The will buy foreclosed homes from banks and sell them at decent prices. In some cases they will drop the price by $10k each month until it sells. I hear they even fix up some of the nicer homes that need repairs.

http://www.homepath.com/
 
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