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chicagoerin

Tips from those who have bought bank owned?

chicagoerin
14 years ago

As if my nerves aren't shot enough from 9 monhts of H#ll trying to sell my house, I am thinking of purchasing a bank owned property and am just starting to do my research on how that might work. I know I need to get an attorney and make sure the title is clear, get an inspection, try to negotiate repairs, although I might not get them, etc. My question is this: Chase owns the property and lists it on their website with a contact. Am I better off calling that person myself? Or getting an realtor (if I can find one willing to take on this headache) and have him/her call the realtor that has the sign in the yard???

ANY tips from those who have done this are much appreciated.

Erin

Comments (4)

  • terezosa / terriks
    14 years ago

    Actually purchasing a bank owned property is much, much easier than trying to purchase a "short sale" property. If the home is listed with an agent either contact that agent or get your own. Banks are dealing pretty quickly with their foreclosed properties

  • honkdm
    14 years ago

    I purchased a bank owned property from Wells Fargo. My realtor said it was the most difficult bank owned sale she had done in over 25 years of real estate. It took me 3 months to close after my original offer was accepted. While the bank is supposed to deliver the home with a clear title there have been some court cases (in MA) lately where the bank has been deemed not to own the property that they claim to own via foreclosure. I would hire my own attorney and buy title insurance. That way you can point to your title insurance if someone later says you don't own the house. When I had the home inspected the well failed (not unheard of when the house has been vacant for a year). The bank had to fix the well problem because no one would have been able to get a mortage on a property that did not have water. It took over two months to get the well fixed and that only happened because a well contractor that I asked to review the situation treated the well without my approval. The bank said they needed 3 quotes and then they would decide
    whether or not to do the work. What a mess! FYI the bank ended up offering me 6,000 in closing costs in lieu of fixing the other issues that come up in the inspection. If you do pick a bank owned property I would take a inventory of all contents of the house. My contract said it included the property with all contents. Everytime I went the the house over that 3 month period something else was missing. When I confronted the bank's realtor she got indignant that I was acussing her of stealing the contents of the house. Well where were the contents that were disappearing (useable stuff like wooden bookcases, deacon's bench, small kitchen appliances, etc)? So my experience is banks aren't that worried about selling these properties.

  • brickeyee
    14 years ago

    "Well where were the contents that were disappearing (useable stuff like wooden bookcases, deacon's bench, small kitchen appliances, etc)?

    These are personal property and are NOT included in a sale unless each item is named individually.

    "...with all contents" is not explicit enough.

  • dreamgarden
    14 years ago

    honkdm-"I purchased a bank owned property from Wells Fargo. My realtor said it was the most difficult bank owned sale she had done in over 25 years of real estate. "

    We were looking at a few short sales as well as foreclosures. After reading about your experience, we will probably save ourselves a headache by skipping these kinds of houses. The gall of the bank AND the realtor are amazing. Hope your enjoying your house now.

    Thanks for sharing.


    A link that might be useful:

    Top 10 Home Buying Tips For Short Sales �" A Guide To Understanding Short Sale Foreclosure Real Estate

    realtytimes.com/rtpages/20090408_buyingtip.htm