The 123s of Smart Foreclosed House Buying
A foreclosed house is a good investment to make because it comes in a reduced price and there is no shortage of available properties to choose from. However, as with other investments, buying a foreclosed house is not risk free and you could end up losing your capital if you would not take any precaution before you embark on property shopping.
Do an Inspection
You have found the property that interests you. Have a walk-through of the house before you finalize the sales deal. Inspect the property preferably with a real estate broker or a home inspector. These people would be able to give you advice that would greatly help you in making an informed buying decision.
Take some photographs of the outside premises and inside of the house. If possible, photograph each room of the house, including states of disrepair such as cracks in ceilings and walls and roof leaks.
Prepare a list of repairs to be made, from priority to the least, and get a cost estimate for making improvements. If you do not plan to do the repairs yourself, find a qualified contractor to do the maintenance and repair work.
Gather Information
Prepare to haggle on the price of the foreclosed house. Gather necessary information that you could use during negotiation to lower the market value of the property. One of them is the repairs that need to be done. You could use the cost estimate to ask the seller for a lower price.
Gather information on the local economy, neighborhood and other factors that could reduce the value of the property. When negotiating, offer negative information about the house that could help undermine its market value and influence the seller to agree to your suggested price.
Also, it would not hurt your chances of buying the foreclosed house that you want if you would explain to the seller how you want to help him save from foreclosure but you need the property's value to come as close to the price you suggested.
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