[polock]

i am getting ready to move, and I found some foreclosures that are brand new houses that are wicked cheap. they have pics of them and they look brand new inside and out. anyone ever buy these fda foreclosures? Looks like i can save several thousand dollars going this route, just wondering if anyone ever had any bad experiences with this?

[Coldfever]

Back when we sold our townhouse and bought this one we looked at some and holy hell, every single one was trashed in some way. It might work differently down there but up here it is a bid system. I put low ball bids in on some, never got any, and then we found our dream house. If you go in planning on gutting the house you should be safe. In one of the houses, that I actually did like a lot (it had a 3 story, 5 car garage!) the previous owner dumped tons and tons of BB's down every drain. They took every faucet, toilet, shower head, door knob, and electrical outlet. It is the things you don't readily see that are the most scary. If they were that destructive upfront who knows what they did to the well, furnace, septic, or wiring.

[spyder6]

a lot of people get great deals on great houses during these times. the thing to do with foreclosures is that if they cant afford the house they cant afford to fix anything, so you'll save money in the long run but you might have a few headaches. remember to get a GREAT inspector to go through everything - it will seriously save you some coin.

[EvilM0nkey]

The good thing about HUD homes is they are basically pre inspected by the appraisers. I actually bid on one and lost, just to later find a better house (the one I live in now) That one was perfect! The only issue was a few spots in the carpet and some termites in the garage.

Only a few brokers are certified to bid on an HUD house, When you bid it just goes into a pile on the computer. Once the bid date is over the computer will just select the bid with the highest NET value. So it's a blind silent auction.
You can get some killer deals on a HUD or foreclosed house.
I had 35K in equity on mine as soon as I signed the closing papers.

[LandRover]

I almost did once. The problem we kept running into was that they were all in really crappy areas. Screaming deals were everywhere, but the neighboorhoods they were in were not where we wanted to be.

[MarkoPo]

My cousin who is a real estate salesperson has bought and sold quite a few of them. She made $30,000 on one house in less then 2 weeks. Just inspect the property first, not all people who are losing their houses are going to destroy it first. I would buy one if I was looking to move.

[polock]

well the ones i am looking at are in really nice areas kinda in the country, built a few years ago and there are pics of them and they are freaking sweet. we are not talkin about big town hud homes that are in the slums..... i think i am going to try it

[EvilM0nkey]

Go for it!

[NaeKid]

Originally Posted by polock

i am getting ready to move, and I found some foreclosures that are brand new houses that are wicked cheap. they have pics of them and they look brand new inside and out. anyone ever buy these fda foreclosures? Looks like i can save several thousand dollars going this route, just wondering if anyone ever had any bad experiences with this?

Before you buy a home - do alot of research first.

http://homebuying.about.com/cs/buyforeclosures/a/hud_homes.htm

[Elwood]

I have bought several. They were auctioned in the lobby of the county courthouse. They have probly been empty for quite a while and if you live where it freezes, expect some plumbing problems. They have been blown out, but what I find is a sticker on the window and busted pipes in most cases.

Once you are the winning bidder, it will still take 3-4 months for you to get possession of the house. Remember, you are dealing with the government, it is a slow process.

Great deals can be had, the houses are usually bought without formal inspections, but walk thru's can happen.

Just be sure to cover your bases in terms of looking to see what needs to be done to the house. Even if they don't have an open house, you can look over the outside of the property pretty well as well as look in the windows. I would budget about 10% of your purchase price for unforeseen repairs.

[EvilM0nkey]

Plumbing issues you say? We looked at one HUD house that had ALL of the pipes stolen. I would call that an issue.

[Elwood]

Plumbing issues you say? We looked at one HUD house that had ALL of the pipes stolen. I would call that an issue.

Just a small problem!!

I have seen houses with the hot water heat registers gone, door knobs gone, cabinets gone and of course, none have light bulbs! I even have tenants who take light bulbs when they leave. I have yet to figure out why people steal light bulbs!! LOL

[CJATE]

I have financed several. Around hear the HUD’s go via sealed envelope biding, in the envelop is your bid and your pre-approval letter. Owner occupied bids get first crack over the investment folks.

Not much too it, and most of the homes I have financed (the first time) through HUD were in good homes in good neighborhoods, as the one is bad neighborhoods did not pass the inspections/occupancy requirements.

Make sure you get a look in the house before you bid, and Offer IS CONTINGENT ON INSPECTION … If it’s not “the perfect” house bid low. Houses are like cars,,,, lots of them out there.

[Ross]

Get it inspected, before you make an offer, if you can. When someone sells a home they have to disclose any issues with the the home, going your route there will be no disclosure. It may look good but like other said pipes could be gone, and who knows what else. If a home stands vacant long enough no telling what could have happend to it, not neccessarily by the previous owner. Every area has a crack head or two not telling what they will do if they find a vacnat home. They could take some pretty pics and a day latter the place gets vandalized.

[vitapimp]

depending on how you get the home you might have to keep it 2 or more years before you sell it. i think most of those are when you go to a bank and ask them if they have any foreclosed or repossessed properties. they will want to finance you and recoup some of their loss through interest so they make you keep the house for X years.