foxmulder Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 I've/my wife and i have been looking at a foreclosed house, Listed below Market value, It is in very good shape(not looted, hard wood floors, freshly painted? sink and toilets intact...etc) Good neighborhood, seems very quiet. I am scheduled to take a look at it with a realtor that is my friends wife. Any advice on the questions i should ask? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJXterra Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 I've/my wife and i have been looking at a foreclosed house, Listed below Market value, It is in very good shape(not looted, hard wood floors, freshly painted? sink and toilets intact...etc) Good neighborhood, seems very quiet. I am scheduled to take a look at it with a realtor that is my friends wife. Any advice on the questions i should ask?Termites, flood damage, roof age, plumbing age, electrical age, appliance age (including water heater).Other than that you need to personally go into the attic and check out the insulation and check all faucets, etc. move/lift area rugs, etc. Pay attention to everything, and if even one thing makes you skeptical be sure to check it out thoroughly and have the inspector focus on it when he/she inspects the house.When I bought my first house I was overy excited about the prospect of owning my own home and didn't take a good HARD look at the place. We got pretty lucky it wasn't worse than what we found with the inspector. We bought it regardless b/c it was what we wanted but I didn't go into the attic and I didn't look hard under the house and we really could have been burnt there. Inspectors aren't cheap and they'll find a TON of nitpicky stuff but you can probably take a good look at the house before then and eliminate it if anything is terribly wrong w/o having to pay them all that money.Good luck, where are you looking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flipper Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 I've/my wife and i have been looking at a foreclosed house, Listed below Market value, It is in very good shape(not looted, hard wood floors, freshly painted? sink and toilets intact...etc) Good neighborhood, seems very quiet. I am scheduled to take a look at it with a realtor that is my friends wife. Any advice on the questions i should ask?Since it's a foreclosure there won't be any "disclosure" provided by the seller. Between yourself and an inspector you'll have to investigate the home's condition and repair history. Other than that I'd just make sure the house is in a good place in the neighborhood and the neigborhood is in a good place in the city.flipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxmulder Posted November 13, 2007 Author Share Posted November 13, 2007 (edited) Termites, flood damage, roof age, plumbing age, electrical age, appliance age (including water heater).Other than that you need to personally go into the attic and check out the insulation and check all faucets, etc. move/lift area rugs, etc. Pay attention to everything, and if even one thing makes you skeptical be sure to check it out thoroughly and have the inspector focus on it when he/she inspects the house. When I bought my first house I was overy excited about the prospect of owning my own home and didn't take a good HARD look at the place. We got pretty lucky it wasn't worse than what we found with the inspector. We bought it regardless b/c it was what we wanted but I didn't go into the attic and I didn't look hard under the house and we really could have been burnt there. Inspectors aren't cheap and they'll find a TON of nitpicky stuff but you can probably take a good look at the house before then and eliminate it if anything is terribly wrong w/o having to pay them all that money. Good luck, where are you looking? Thanks guys, I'm looking in Pasadena(not the slummy side) I've looked at the exterior, Crime Data, School Ratings. EVen drainage along the road, Pasadena has weird roads with no storm sewers and floods often. Natuarally, everything is close by, Wal-Mart, Schools, Resturant, 2 grocery stores. Edited November 13, 2007 by foxmulder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm1fd Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 Thanks guys, I'm looking in Pasadena(not the slummy side) I've looked at the exterior, Crime Data, School Ratings. EVen drainage along the road, Pasadena has weird roads with no storm sewers and floods often. Natuarally, everything is close by, Wal-Mart, Schools, Resturant, 2 grocery stores. Check maps.tsarp.org to see where it lies in relation to the flood plains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumbles Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 Take a good flashlight with you. Not at all familiar with the Pasadena area, but here on the west side a lot of homes originally had wood shake/shingle roofs. Many have had asphalt shingles put on top of the old wood shingles. Tear off will be needed as well as new decking to replace. The other problem is these attics have no ventilation, they didn't need it with the wood roof. No overhangs and lack of gutters means the dirt erodes right next to the foundation.Check inside the bathtub access panels for old leaks, rot and termites. Some homes don't have access panels, some back up to brick walls, kitchen cabinets or even another tub. Repairs can be expensive with a bad design.People love to paint over old rotten siding or worse yet put aluminum siding right on top of it. Check the siding, especially close to the ground where water splashes up on it. It can look fine, yet crumble when you touch it. Know how to recognize signs of foundation problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyH Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 (edited) I've/my wife and i have been looking at a foreclosed house, Listed below Market value, It is in very good shape(not looted, hard wood floors, freshly painted? sink and toilets intact...etc) Good neighborhood, seems very quiet. I am scheduled to take a look at it with a realtor that is my friends wife. Any advice on the questions i should ask?Below market value is a little bit misleading. If someone buys it at the list price, then that's the market value. Unless it needs a lot of repairs and adding those would bring it to market value.As others have said, get a good inspector. Also, if you are making an offer for it, consider that lenders are closing their fiscal years at the end of December, so the timing is very good right now for buyers.One last thing though... If you buy a foreclosure at a neighborhood prone to foreclosures (meaning if your neighbors have also been weak buyers) don't expect any price recovery to -what you think- are market levels. In fact, as time passes, and more houses are foreclosed on (which is a sign of such neigborhoods where builders in 2004-06 really 'pushed' a lot of subprime or even Alt-A loans through their lender subsidiaries) the prices of the houses are going to become weaker... Just some food for thought... Edited November 19, 2007 by TonyH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
satriela Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 foxmulder: good thread. I'm in the same boat as you... good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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