- Illinois foreclosed home owners may leave a mess behind them
- But there are bargains still for astute buyers …
- … when they shop around
Its not difficult at all to understand the bitterness that some foreclosed Americans feel when they are forced out of their homes by the banks that earlier gave them a leg-up to buy them. I’m not saying that this is right, mind you, just that I am aware of how they feel.
A leading Illinois realtor has been bringing me up to speed with the sort of things banks and realtors are finding these days when they enter a foreclosed property for the first time. In this regard, he tells me that the abandoned state of these houses may include ripped-out central heating and air-conditioning systems, smashed toilets and gutted kitchens. More extreme examples include copper piping hacked out of walls, basements flooded, concrete poured down drains, and even dangerously toxic chemicals concealed inside interior walls.
“Nothing surprises me any more,” my realtor friend told me “People are different, and the same applies to the messes they leave behind.”
The secret to buying real estate in that sort of condition is to appreciate that what you see is what you get, and that there’s always a reason why things are cheaper. Properties do often get abused – that’s the reason for inspections. The counter argument is that it’s often possible to buy a solid home with enough cash left over to replace the kitchen and bathroom fittings that you likely would have changed anyway.
But there’s a flip-side to everything. Some of the Illinois homes I visited with my realtor friend were really great. A few homes I saw had been left in house proud fashion. From what I’ve heard homes like that, and in good areas too, are in considerable demand, and often sell for more than the seller’s asking price.
Put simply; forget about a magic foreclosure fairy story around every corner. The relatively few that do exist are exceptions, and not the rule. Move extremely quickly if favored by lady luck in this regard.
The harsher reality is that less than a third of foreclosed American homes are in a “live-able” state, and that those that are, are priced accordingly, and by area too. “Live-able” is agent-speak for you can move in now, and upgrades can be done later. This not to say, though, that some cosmetic work will need to be done immediately.
What this means for America’s now-generation of home buyers is that fortune favors the bold. When you find value on www.foreclosuredatabank.com, the most important thing is to move quickly and secure your right of first refusal, at the very least. You really should look beyond what you see now, fight your way through the queue, and strike your claim for a bargain foreclosure the moment that you see one.
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Written by Alex Rolim.
