Buying on the court house steps - foreclosure

[janette]

Has anyone done this? The house next door will be auctioned next week and my in-laws might be interested. Way more house than they need but it would be nice for them to be close and if it sells cheap enough a decent investment.

We know there are some existing problems with the house and that the mortage etc.... exceed the current value.

Still in the exploring the possibility stage.

 

[disykat]

My neighbor's house almost went up for sale this way but somehow they did a last minute save (they were 16K in arrears so I don't know how!) because they're still there. If we had gone and purchased it we sure wouldn't have put the inlaws in it though!

 

[janette]

No chance that they will save the house or attempt. It's been vacant since this summer. She cleared out the last of her things today, really not a good situation.

Might be crazy to have in-laws there but it would work out well sometimes. My MIL likes to travel but FIL not in the best of health really shouldn't be on his own for extended periods. They live close but not close enough for one of my girls to stay with grandpa if MIL is gone or where we can help with things easily.

I'm just not sure how some things work. Do all taxes have to be paid separately? I'm sure this years' haven't been paid but not sure about last.

 

[Talking Hands]

If it is going on the court house steps probably 2 years of taxes are not paid. That will be minimum bid. I all likelyhood the mortgage holder will bid on it as well to get the property. They will want to resell as high as they can to get their money out of it. I'd be real careful on this our you may end up paying more than it is worth.

 

[binny]

I dont know what State youre in but a lot of states foreclosures can be found at www.goldenfeather.com

Thats where we found our home. We didnt have any problems with it as far as buying it. Yes we had to do some work on it when we moved in and there were a few things wrong with the property. But as for the monies owed on the property beforehand, all debts must be cleared in advance ours were, taxes and everything.

We really got a great deal on our property and made a substantial gain in only a year.

Im really happy with our foreclosure.

as for the inlaws being that close but then again they arent MY inlaws LOL



Good luck!

 

[mom2grace]

We almost bought a house in foreclosure. In Indiana, the procedure is something like the following: the first mortgage co. will bid the remaining balance of the first mortgage, you must bid $1 more to get it. Any other mortgages are forgiven. You must have CASH (i.e. a cashier's check) for the TOTAL amount. This is why "regular folks" don't usually buy foreclosures.

There is a major difference between mortgage foreclosures and back tax sales, be sure you know the differences in your state.

Go to the local sheriff's office, county offices for complete information.

It sounds like a good deal, we also knew the owners and were able to tour the house.

Good Luck!

 

[aprilgail2]

The house next door to me went up for bid like that....it started at 128,000 and I think they got it for around 182,000........it was a total piece of junk house though so that is why it didn't go up to high...there was 4 feet of trash throughout the whole house, including animal urine and droppings, the basement had 8 feet of wart in it at one time so the whole house had to be gutted and redone.

 

[CajunDixie]

We're looking at a foreclosed house that a bank is holding now. The realtor said they'll want us to pay for all inspections, which I think is total BS since we can see there is 2 small places that are visible with water damage. Not to mention the closet in the basement was used for growing drugs. The price they are asking is higher than the township has for its value. Seems like a prebuilt house would depreciate a bit after 5 years.

As for tax sales, sometimes the previous owner has a set number of months after the sale to pay the back taxes plus interest and keep the property.

 

[janette]

This is a mortgage foreclosure, there haven't been any payments in more than 1yr so not sure what the tax status is or how the mortage company handles that. If the mortage co didn't pay the taxes they are probably not paid.

If the bid has to be more than is owed like mom2grace says it probably wouldn't be worth it. My understanding is the 1st mortage is pretty high. Someone did try to buy it quite awhile back but the mortage company wouldn't budge on them paying the principal, interest arrears + late fees etc. This made it much more than the house was worth. In general it's probably in better shape than most foreclosures but any house that sits vacant will develop problems.

Hopefully this will at least get the house up for sale and occupied again soon.

 

[Mamu]

I don't think there are any guarantee's with mortgage forclosures. Any problems you own them.

Most people who lose their homes do not take care of them, this can mean major costly repairs (roof work, major damages to interior. Plus you usually have to pay back taxes. The bargin can sometimes be more costly.

 

[Poohbear123]

Did this, he let his and his Ex-wife's house be foreclosed on, as he didn't make the payments in a year, and it sold for about 45,000. It is now worth about 112,000! Everyone thought he was soooo stupid to do this, as his wife had NO interest in it at all, she escaped with her life, like I had to!

 

[aprilgail2]

Originally posted by janette
This is a mortgage foreclosure, there haven't been any payments in more than 1yr so not sure what the tax status is or how the mortage company handles that. If the mortage co didn't pay the taxes they are probably not paid.

With the house next door to me the mortgage company paid the taxes for 3 years so the town didn't take it. I was able to track down the mortgage company from town tax records and I called them and harrased them continually until the had a company come in and clean up the outside property and board up the house! It was totally unacceptable to me that I have to pay over 6000 a year in property taxes and live next to that dump! Now it is all cleaned up and looks very nice!

 

[Arabella Figg 2003]

Here's what you need to know:

the amount due to the first mortgageholder and whether this amount is the minimum bid on the property

whether there are any other mortgages or liens, and do they have to be satisfied from the sale -- are there outstanding utility bills, for example, and were these formalized as liens on the property?

the tax situation and whether unpaid taxes must be satisfied from the sale

the house will be sold "as is", but can you inspect it to know its condition before taking title?

my suggestion is to call the local bar association and get these answers before you make a bid.