Property Evaluation

Look under Forms and Docs Calculating Repair cost. It should cover any items and gives you a complete checklist.

Ali,
Thanks its taken me a while to get back here but I was able to find a good example of what I was looking for. The form you pointed out was one I had already looked at but wasn't detailed enough, but Thank you. Good to know someone saw my question.

pj how do you find your 4closures? Are they listed with a broker, or are you using a paid service?

thanks,
D

D
I watch my local paper, they list all of the Sheriff's sale there a minimum of 3 times before the auction. They give the legal description and the physical address. Then I go to my county auditor's website and research the addresses that I'm interested in. Their site gives me all the tax records that I need. In some cases when I have driven through the neighborhood I have found other vacant homes on the same street that were in better shape than the one I was going after. Once I see a property that will be going to auction I wait & wait & wait until that property has been taken back by the lender. Then in most cases if they did not sell at auction they are then listed with local realtors.

Being as how I'm just getting started at this, meaning I have not made any offers on a property, I have been watching this section of my local market for about 5 years now. Locally we are experiencing a large number of foreclosures coming on to the market. Ohio in general has been hit hard with Cleveland, Cincinnati, & Columbus being hit the worst. Toledo & northwestern Ohio have been hit but not nearly as bad. Another investor I know in Toledo just bought a great house that was last sold in '06 was foreclosed in '08, she bought it for 35K and it last sold for 70K.

Keep at it D, Seek and ye shall find! Best of Luck to you and yours.

I am very new to this and still trying to wade through the book (real estate millionaire) and as I drive around my area I see lots of houses for sale with the name of a realtor on them but I was wondering if the realtor deals with forclosure properties or are they only sold by the lender? And what about those sold by owner. Are they worth looking at?
I have a list of 4closures in my area but have been moving house myself so I have not had the chance to view them. Will they have 4 sale signs up?
I have to admit that they whole buying properties thing is very daunting at this time and yes, fear is a factor. But I WILL be overcoming that small obstacle when I understand what I am doing...lol
Deb

hey pj why do you wait to see if it goes through the 4close process and goes back to the bank as an REO? Why don't you go to the auctions and bid onthem there. Once it goes back and is an REO it will be listed for or as cloas as possible to market value. You are spending more money by buying an REO, oppossed to buying at the auction.

D

I have yet to buy anything mostly due to the financing. Zero down loans aren't very easy to find in my area. Let alone trying to get one for a foreclosure at auction. Buying at auction guarantees the fact that I will need to come up with %10-%20 down the day of the auction, and for me RIGHT NOW, that is more challenging than waiting until they are REO's. In my area the REO's are actually selling for less then HALF market value. I've seen many with list prices between 30-40K and the last time they sold (according to county records) for anywhere between 60-80K. Now at auction they could have sold for less but as a rule in my county bids less than 2/3 of the AUCTION listing are not accepted. Those listings can range from 2K-400K in my county. Now obviously the ones that are for 2K are in some bad shape, need extensive work to make them livable by anyone's standards, the neighborhoods they are in are historically "bad", OR they have severe flood damage that require even more expenses than just drywall and paint. These are the ones that need raised at least 2 ft from their current height, higher insurance costs etc. The holding costs alone for them would quickly kill a large portion of profits. So I sit and wait for REO's because I can inspect them myself, easier to get financing (mostly due to the banks not wanting to carry them one their books) and in most cases they are just a better product for me to acquire.

My thought's: If you look for slums you get slums. Good luck D

I am also new at this and share the same fear, but I keep working to get through my road blocks as well. Sooner or later I'll find the right detour.

Most lenders will have preferred realtor they use to list their REO's or Foreclosures. I'm sure if you look through your county's or municiple records you will find out which houses in your area have been foreclosed on in the past 12 months and then you can match those addresses up with those that you may have already written down as "possible opportunities" and then match to the listing agent. Sounds like a lot of leg work but if you do this with a few realty firms you will notice a pattern to where they are listed with same individual agent for each firm. Ex. Bob Smith with Remax, Jane Doe at Century 21 and so on.

Those that are FSBO's are most definitly working looking at. These are the ones you would be able to talk first hand with the owners and form a relationship. Get to know their needs from the property and find their BUTTONS. Just remember honesty wins people over more than a pitch.

As for your list, they may not have signs up in the yard. What I have done is collect the addresses from my lists and taken them to the my county auditors website and did a cross reference. Then did my drive by's and began crossing off the ones that required more work than what I was willing to do. I'm also a handyman and can do my own repairs to whichever house I do finally buy. Now in your case you will have to do your own evaluation, but I would recommend asking around your neighborhood and see who your neighbors would use for repairs or construction projects. Or even call the Better Business Bureau in you city or maybe even the local Chamber of Commerce.

If you have a picture of what you want in your mind. Frame it! Keep it there and don't stop until you see it in front of you. Then take a picture and put it on the wall next to the other houses you've bought/sold.

Good Luck Deb and hopefully both of us will fight through our fears.