I know as much as my real estate agent wants to tell me; basically stay away.
I’ve heard buyer is responsible for all repairs and what not while the sale is finalized.
Could also take months for the bank to finally sell the house while trying to recoupe some of the money from the previous home owners.
Anyone have first hand experience?
Thanks
I looked at one when I was buying… treat them like any other house in your search but understand that you’ll have to deal with the the bank that holds the paper and this just adds complexity. Your Realtor probably just doesn’t want to have to work harder for no additional gain on his/her part.
My realtor is a personal friend of my wife. I think she’s just trying to watch out for us.
I pushed and got her to investigate a property (short sale) and she found out mold in basement and under carpet. She’s happy to put an offer in but I think I may pass.
some go off without a hitch…others not so much. they have the potential to take forever depending on how big of a problem they represent for the bank. i’ve found that many more expensive properties in short sale work out better than a less valuable property. i suspect it has to do with short and long term loses for the bank and their expectations of the costs of going through foreclosure.
the details about responsibilities for repairs and whatnot isn’t set in stone but you have to assume that a seller that can’t pay the mortgage can’t pay for repairs either and the bank certainly isn’t going to fix anything on a property they are already losing money on.
if you love it, its a good route to take, but expect the worst…it might take months to close the deal.
I was working on a short sale house for 6 months before I finally gave up…
Mold would be one that I would walk away from no matter what, wayyy to much BS associated with that shit if the basement was water filled for an extended period of time.
Each one is different, some will be worth it and some just a waste of time. My wife’s grandmother has been a top selling realtor in WNY for 30+ years.
No matter what always have an inspection done and make sure you use a good one, don’t just pick any random Joe in the phonebook.
My parents just closed on a short sale in Florida, house valued at $315k…they picked it up for $170k and closed in 2 months. House is 6 years old and looks like it was never lived in.
Thanks guys. I’ll be doing a VA home loan when the time comes and they have a strict home inspection policy. I’m also told they provide their own inspector. I’ll probably hire another one for a second opinion as the VA inspector is only going to look at things to guarantee the VA home loan. To be honest I want nothing to do with buying a home in NYS because of the political BS and property taxes.
thanks again for your input guys
the VA appraisal is only an appraisal…not a home inspection. they will have a particular checklist of items to check for that are specifically called for in VA requirements but they are not going to complete a comprehensive home inspection. they will check that there isn’t chipped or peeling paint, utilities are turned on, there is a permanent source of heat, etc…but they will not inspect all systems to be sure they are in working order throughout.
be sure to hire a building inspector on your own if you do not feel you know enough about the systems yourself to make the judgement on your own.
Thanks for the information and heads up!