I need some help guys.

I don't have a whole lot of experience with buying a home, but I am seriously looking to buy within the next two months. I'm trying to find a good website for HUD/Foreclosure/Bankruptcy properties. Anyone know of any good sources? Most of the sites I have found require me giving alot of information and that's just not going to happen.

I already know about http://www.realtracs.com/ and then just the realty companies..

Help me out!

Thanks.

 

repodepo?

 

trust me, buy one that is finished.

 

I bought a forclosed house and you will spend some $$$. The reason why is that the owners who were forclosed on end up stealing and destroying the house. The way I see it the money I save buying a forclosed home I may use it to make the property to my taste.

The most important thing to remember is make sure the property has enough equity to make the repairs or upgrades plus absorb the declining market prices.

I use Zillow.com to get any average of what is selling and take 30-20 percent off that price to come up with what I would pay.

 

So far this is the main one I'm lookin at.

1300 Sq Ft
3 BR
12x15 Master + Bath
Other 2 are 11x11
Living Room 16x18
Brand new, never lived in.
Listed @ $139,900 Will Prob. be able to get it quite a bit cheaper because I'm a first time buyer and it still needs a few finishing touches.



I have several others that I'm interested in, and I'll be touring again tomorrow afternoon.

 

No garage????

 

Nope... That really sucks, I know, but it has a HUGE lot and plenty or room to add one in the future.

I am looking at a couple that do have 1 car garages and I'll post up pics tomorrow. Bascially all of the houses that I have been looking at are in the $130,000 range and basically brand new. Not bad IMHO for a 21 year old. :P

 

I'd definitely get a garage rather then have to add one on..

 

that might not be an option for him though, since his budget is limited.

Good luck on your search man.

 

Thats nice and affording 130k at your age is something I could not imagine me doing at 21.

If the property does not have a garage dont worry just make sure that you can add a detached garage/workshop at a later time. It is always cheaper to buy a house with all the rooms or garages you want or may need then to add it at a later time as it will cost more. You can always add a carport to protect your car from the sun which I think is the worst enemy. As a starter home its great but man someone went off road on the front lawn.

 

jeez, you guys are lucky to even have the option to purchase a home for $130k.

I would say take your time and make sure the home is right for you. Have you been pre-approved for a loan yet?

 

130K here would probably get you that garage and the garage alone. haha. I would agree with getting pre-approved first to see what you can get and make sure you are going to be comfortable with the payments. It's a lot easier looking at houses when you have an agent who can look up houses on their database and then take you around.

 

I asked about being pre-approved cause it's much harder to get a loan nowdays.

 

I think the best advice is to be patient and keep your options open. I bought my first home in November. $150k and it is 1611 sq ft.



I was seriously on the market for close to a year just watching and waiting to get what I exactly wanted at a good price. I found mine on the market listed at $170k. It had been listed for 5 months with no bids on it so I low balled and offered them $145k. They came back with $160k, offered them $150k and they took it. Another important thing is your loan obviously. I got pre-approved and went shopping. Once they took my offer I went back to sign final loan papers and lucky for me interest rates dropped that day. Original approval was 6.5 or something and I got in at 6%. Also check to see what additional funds you may be able to get. I got SHIP funds which paid for all my closing costs, inspections, etc.

Like Venom said, if you buy HUD or foreclosure be prepared to do some work. Any house you buy you are going to do work to it anyway but the key is how much. Yeah you could save a lot buying a foreclosed house but how much are you going to put back into it? Also aren't HUD houses usually in a not so good area of town? You also have to think about resale when you one day decide to get rid of it. Are you going to be able to get what you put into it or even sell it at all? You need to try and look at the area and see if it is going to be run down in a few years. Look at the neighbors houses or houses down the street. I found so many nice houses for great prices but the houses next door were run down or had dogs running around or broken down cars in the drive way.

The key right now is it is a buyers market so it is in your hands. I saved $20k on mine! Lots of houses are in foreclosure right now because they got those variable loans and their interest rates shot up to like 12% or higher. So make sure you get a fixed rate also. Hope some of this helped. Good luck man.

 

Oh yeah, trust me guys, I'm looking around like crazy. Around here all of the realtors use realtracs.com for all of the listings, so I have that to use at my discretion. I have not officialy been pre-approved, but I'm going to meet with them tomorrow to finish everything up, so far she said that I will probably be approved for 4.5 - 5.5% and if my Dad feels like co-signing (which he will) then I will probably be around 3 - 4 % both numbers will be fixed %.

I will be looking at several more before I decide for sure, but I need to find something within the next month or so at the latest.

Donnie, that's a great deal, unfortunately our housing market is nowhere near as deflated as Fla..

 

Thank-you, I work my butt off and have lived on my own since I was 18. So I've learned pretty quickly the value of a dollar. I'm sick of throwing all of my money down the toilet renting a damn 800sq ft apt.

I would definitely prefer to find a house with a garage, but for one in this price range they are few and far between especially as new as this one. There is one right down the road from this one that is still on the market, but is "under contract" I'm really hoping and praying that it falls through so that I can grab it... Doubtful, but we'll see.

The house in the picture above is sitting on about 1.5 - 2 acres so it has plenty of land for a garage/ workshop and most likely plenty for a nice in ground pool at some later date.

 

So, I'm pretty sure that this is the one.

1240 Sq Ft.
Master = 13x11 + Full Bath + Walk in Closet
Bed 1 = 11x10
Bed 2 = 10x10
Kitchen = 12x19 Including Dining room
Living room = 16x14
Wood Deck = 10x10

Has been completely renovated with all new light fixtures including a full size celing fan in the master. New Carpet throughout the entire house, nice new laminate & counter tops in the kitchen and pretty new appliances. New (less than 2 years old) HVAC. And has an alarm system.

Built in 1990. $112,900











Gonna sleep on it tonight, but will most likely make an offer on it by Friday.

 

that one is a lot nicer lookin than the first one! Good luck!

 

was gonna say the same thing. good luck man.

 

Thanks so much you guys, I'm really excited! Hoping that everything comes through!

 

You guys are lucky to get homes that cheap down here in South FL its expensive. Only deals to be had are short sales and forclosures . Most important is to get a house you like as like a car nothing sucks more than making payments on something you dont like.

 

+1 man looks great! wish i could buy a house right now... me & my buddy are looking for a bachelor pad for us to buy in the future. good luck with everything, and build a garage in the future too!

 

Hey guys, a few other thoughts with foreclosures.

These homes are usually bought "as is". Also, getting loans for them can be a bitch. If you buy the house for $130k and it needs $30k in work, you can't borrow the money upfront. Your loan value will only be based on what you paid for the house.

There are ways around this, but it is very tricky.

 

Another thing to look at, or think about is, what type of home you want. The 1st home WN was looking at was obviously a modular home. The one he's looking to buy now is a traditional home. Big difference in the quality. Your 2nd home has a much better foundation, and will withstand most bad weather you might have. Modular homes are ok, but I would feel safer in a traditional built house with a firm foundation.. Modular homes can offer you more sq footage, but you suffer in the quality of your home. Correct me if I am wrong. I bought my house in 1996. So maybe the quality has gone up for modular homes..

 

No, that first house is most definitely not a modular. Stick built with a crawl foundation.

Modulars (depending on the company) have actually gotten better quality wise, but they are difficult to insure and when you do get them insured they are mucho dinero. In most cases though a Modulars quality would definitely be less than that of a Stick built home.

I definietly think that the second house is what I'll be going with. It needs minimal work and I can definitely live with it for a first house. It's in a decent neighborhood and most importantly the price is better. More Sq Ft. for the $$. I'm actually going to be leaving in a bit to complete the pre-approval process.

Wish me luck!

 

Congrats man. I wish around here you could get something like that for $112k. That's just insane.

 

I say the second one for sure and do that little bit of work. It looks more like a house you can call a home.

 

So, we've officially agreed on the terms for the house. We are hoping to close by the end of next week. Barring any negative news with the inspection we will close @ $108,154 w/ no closing costs, full 1 year title warranty, full year termite warrantty etc!

I haven't been this excited about anything in a LONG time! I am STOKED!

 

WTG man. Nothing like getting a new house. I'm still excited about my house cause we've done so much to make it better, and adding stuff through the years.. You will have fun, but don;t let your wife watch too many of those "home improvement shows". Or you'll have a honeydo list that never ends. LOL

 

OK, so everything is pretty much official! We will be closing on Monday. Official closing cost will be about $106,995!

Got alot of plans already, and already started buying some furnishings.. Like this KICK *** new sectional!



I sold my couch (that I bought last year for $150) on Craigslist for $540 and bought this one on clearance (regular $799) for $628..... LOL! Beat that!


Can you tell I'm a bit excited?