Down payment. I'm only 25 so I don't have a huge amount of cash in savings I can play around with. Past downpayment it's easy.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Either find some old lizard who's selling because he's tired of life and wants to move to Miami, and thus might be willing to hold paper. Or look for estate sales where the dearly departed's family are 500 miles away and might be willing to do the same for a year.

Yeah that's the best way to do it, I just got an offer accepted on an estate where the family lives a million miles away and doesn't care.

I have been having good luck recently with bank owned properties they just want to get rid of. I closed on one today where they owed $189kish, and that's what it was listed for. House was flooded and needs to be demolished. I got it for $72k..bank took a nice loss. Foreclosure auctions which in my state take place on Saturdays are pretty much a total waste of time. I haven't been to one in 4 years, I'd rather be out in my boat. You have to wait for the bank to buy it, ruin the house for awhile and choke on it for a year. Good deals need to season a bit.

Most banks are dumb as can be so they let perfectly good houses sit vacant with the utilities cut off for a couple years letting everything freeze and leak. I love these because they scare away all the first time buyers and the people shopping with mortgages. Most banks won't invest a cent into a house to keep it up, they just rather take a big loss.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

There are two kinds of foreclosure auctions. One is a sheriff's auction "on the courthouse steps" -- or in a conference room in the courthouse. I think you're talking about these.

There are also private REO auctions, where banks sell off properties that they already bought back at the sheriff's sale, after letting them "season" for a while. Also bankruptcy auctions -- some auctioneer in Brooklyn managed to get himself appointed by the bankruptcy trustee of the Federal courts in NYC.

Banks do the strangest things. They had four properties go bad and bundled them into a package. There was nothing really wrong with the properties. The bank was just paranoid. We still own a couple of them.

This was the good circumstances type of thing rather than the smarts. I was interested in one of them. They offered the four of them at a price I could not ignore.

There where no complications other than they could not find title to some extra property that went with one so we made a financial correction and a couple of water heaters were rentals that got another very small correction.

The additional property that they could not find the title for I aquired from the owners wife after they had gone bankrupt. It cost a flat fee to open up the bankrupcy. Hold the required meeting and pry the title out but the lady involved wanted nothing for the piece of land. She and her husband had broken up and she just wanted clear of any rememberance of that time in her life.

Yup this right here.


Hatty, how complex is the foreclosure work for a first time buyer? I'm not afraid of moderate repairs (like you mentioned) so long as the timber in the house isn't rotted out.

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$60 OM617 Blank Exhaust Flanges
$110 OM606 Blank Exhaust Flanges
No merc at the moment

Buying a foreclosure is no different than any other property. In my state CT you go to the auction and have to outbid the bank which is stupid since they always owe more than its worth. You have to bring a check for 10% of the minimum bid which is the mortgage amount. None refundable, close in 30 days, etc.

The best way to do it is to buy from a bank, and other than once in awhile having to fill out some different forms its no different than buying a house from anyone else. Most bank owned properties are listed on the MLS like anything else.

Either way you need to get your mortgage pre approval before you start looking. No agent worth anything will show you houses without one.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Yeah I was gonna say, how is that with mortgages? Then there are renovation mortgages as well, I'd guess that you have to buy the house first, assess, and then get the reno mortgage. I'd be mortgaging quite a bit, though 10% of the MINIMUM would be pretty easy since they start pretty low. Guess the sequence is a bit weird to me. I am not scared by any drywall, electical, plumbing work. I just need the money

__________________
TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

You need to sit down and talk to a good mortgage broker. They have mortgages that will give you money up front for renovations.

I just don't deal with those kinds of mortgages so other than knowing they exist I really don't know much about them.

Also a lot of states have pretty good first time buyer programs where you either get a lower interest rate or don't have to put much down. 3% for example and you can get the seller to pay closing costs.

If your a vet they have the VA which is a horrible loan program, but FHA can be pretty good. I think in more rural areas they have farm loans too which might be worth looking into. VA is only good if you can strong arm the sellers into paying your closing costs up front.

If your credit is good, you have pretty low debt and good income you can get into a house without much out of pocket.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Taking on a house that needs major renovation. You really should know what you are doing and geting involved with. Sometimes they can be had really cheap though can offsett things.

One place of ours should be gutted and redone. We will try to sell it as is later this year first. It would be a good buy for a young guy with some ability.

Some of our best deals overall over the years where when realtors where not involved in the transactions.

In certain parts of the US, the average American has the mechanical ability of a spastic jellyfish. If you're the least bit handy, you can get a bargain on a renovation.