Case Study Part 3: Buying a Foreclosure
At the closing, we handled all of the legal and financial doings and Jan was the proud owner of a nice, affordable property. She paid a little more than what she would have from a bank-owned foreclosure. But, the property was ready for her to move into, allowing her to focus on her work and life instead of breakdowns, renovation, and repairs. When we got finished at the settlement table and shook hands, she actually gave me a big hug. I was taken aback by this and a little embarassed.
She then said the words that will stick with me for the rest of my life: “Thanks for selling me your property. I looked at a lot of houses before finding yours. Every one I saw had too much wrong with it for me to handle with my situation of available cash, approved mortgage amount, and housing need. You gave me the chance to put the housing part of my life back on track with no major worries.”
Wow.
All I did was buy a property right from the bank, fix it up like I would have if my family would be living there (within reason), and sell it for a reasonable market price. Since that experience I’ve continued to march on, looking for rough bank-owned properties to fix and sell to good folks like Jan. With my skills and experience and good crews, we can make a living and make a difference in the lives of home buyers. I guess that is a good thing.
This blog isn’t really about me though. From my 35 years in the trades and the real estate renovation, repair, and investing business, I’ve picked up a few bits of knowledge. The previous story was my wake-up call to reach out and help those who don’t have the resources I do — to help them determine if a property is really a good deal and how to make it a nice home. Even for those folks who do have the skills and resources, if I can give them one tidbit of info that saves them a few bucks or a lot of aggravation, that’s cool with me.
So until the next time we converse, be an educated, savvy, fully-aware home buyer. Realize that the banks are trying to clean up the mess they made and don’t really care much about your situation. And remember, most agents are motivated by commission and will not be there for the almost-certain problems you will run into with buying a run-down property.
Don’t get so caught up in the hype of getting a “deal” that you get the shaft. Know what you are really buying. Remember that the banks and their agents don’t put all of that “as-is” language, etc. in the listing and contracts because they love you. BUYER BEWARE!!!
Tags: bank-owned properties, buying a foreclosure, buying a home, case study, foreclosure, homebuying
This entry was posted on Monday, December 22nd, 2008 at 10:04 am and is filed under Advice for Homebuyers, Case Studies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
