Want a Great Deal on a Foreclosure?
December 22, 2008
I was thinking about writing (again) about how buying a foreclosure home can be a great deal, but isn’t always what it seems. Then I found Realtor Amy Jones’s post about the same topic, complete with a picture (below). A picture is worth a thousand words indeed. Go check Amy Jones’s post about foreclosures out.
Foreclosure homes frequently have zero appliances. The owners take them on their way out the door. They often bang up the walls on their way out too. Frustrated and frightened people who’ve just lost their home and are (likely) moving to a dingy rental aren’t too careful moving big stuff through small hallways.
Foreclosure homes are almost universally dirty. The carpet must be replaced. The walls have shoe scuff marks on them. The ceilings have shoe scuff marks on them, which leaves one wondering…. The doors are outlined with magic marker. The door handles are missing. So are the the light fixtures.
Is that blood on the carpet? Or is it mushed-in dog poo? The counters have been cigarette burned, or are still sticky with jam and peanut butter. Don’t dare open the fridge if the power is off. Whatever’s in there is about ready to climb out on it’s own! In a word, it’s naaaasty. A maid service is likely to charge you $400 or $600 to clean it all up.
I’ve seen bare concrete floors, missing cabinets and bathroom mirrors, three month old dinner still in the oven, unopened bills and court orders on the kitchen counters, missing toilets, mold so bold it nearly smacked me, and pools so green I thought I saw Nessie lurking beneath.
What haven’t I seen? Anyone other than sophisticated investors willing to buy in.
December 23, 2008 at 9:58 pm
The state that homes are left in only shows how selfish we are as a society. It’s all about me, me, and me: about not taking responsibility and about entitlement. No wonder the U.S. is losing credibility within the world.
December 24, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Hey Heather~
Thanks for the shoutout!
I often find it hard to believe that a former owner could have trashed a home so completely. How do folks have so little regard for their very own property. I wonder if they lived in the home like they were living in a cave, or if they simply trashed it out of spite. Based on the amount of dirt and slime, I think it’s more than likely the former. Either way, it’s sad.
By the time the buyer puts the money into the home to get it up and running (including all the mechanicals that you can’t see), these property are rarely a good deal.