Cook Co. suspends foreclosure evictions

[thundley4]

Is this legal?  Can the sheriff refuse to comply with a court ordered judgment for eviction?

Residents of foreclosed properties in Chicago and other parts of Cook County don’t have to worry about deputies forcing them out. Sheriff Tom Dart says that starting Thursday his office won’t take part in evictions.

Dart says he’s concerned that many of the people being evicted are renters who were unaware that their landlords have been failing to pay their mortgages. He says his deputies have no way of knowing whether they’re removing someone who has defaulted on a loan or someone who has been faithfully paying rent.

Dart says he thinks he’s the first sheriff in a major metropolitan area to stop such evictions during the ongoing foreclosure crisis. Dart says the number of mortgage foreclosures in Cook County has skyrocketed and will probably keep rising.SunTimes

[Texacon]

And will those who have already been evicted be able to sue?

KC

[Ptarmigan]

Speaking of sheriffs enforcing court ordered foreclosures, Westboro Baptist Church has failed to pay their lien. I wonder if the sheriff will be foreclosing on them soon?  If so, good riddance to garbage.

[debk]

I saw this a little while ago on Fox.

I do evictions and I'm not sure why this is happening.

When I get assigned a property through foreclosure, the first thing I do is find out if it is occupied. This is done by calling the utility board that services the property.

I pull the property tax records from the courthouse, and verify with the utility company that the name I have, is the same on the utility bill. Due to HIPPA laws, they cannot give me the name, but if their name does not match the name I have on the tax records they will tell me. They will also tell me how long, if ever, it has been since the name I have, matches one in the records.

If it does not match, and the utilities are currently on.....chances are....it's a tenant.

My next step is to make contact with the person living in the house.

I do this by trying to find a phone number for that address, knock on the door, or leave my business card taped to the door with a request that they call me.

Once contact is established....I do everything I can, to get the individual(s) residing in the property(homeowner or tenant)....to voluntarily move. If they are willing to move, within a given time frame, usually within a few weeks, and leave the house "broom clean" and all possessions gone....I will give them a check for $1000 and they give me the keys.

If it is a tenant....I have also either helped them to purchase the house or to find a new rental. I have done that with owners too.

If the person is rude and hostile.....I do not go back. At that point, I turn it over to the eviction department.

It took 4 MONTHS to get one homeowner's eviction processed. During that time, he knew it was going to happen, because he went to court every 30 days for a stay of eviction. When it was finally mandated by the court, I went with 2 county sheriff deputies and the man was escorted out, the locks were changed, and the rest of his possessions were moved out by a crew of 8 to the street - some stuff in large garbage bags, the rest left at the curb. Stuff was left for 48 hours, before I had it removed by the trash out crew.

Out of 18 properties since last November, only one time have I had to do this. All the rest have either been empty or the resident has taken cash for keys, and one tenant purchased the house. I am working with another to help him purchase the property....but it is not going well. The property is not comping out anywhere near what is owed on it, bank wants more money than tenant is willing to pay.

I have had the deputies go with me one other time, as the property was being used as a neighborhood crack house according to 2 of the neighbors. They were there primarily for my safety to make sure there were no inhabitants.....at least not on a regular basis.

If the Cook Cty sheriff's dept are putting these people out without their knowing....then someone isn't doing their job.

Banks and lenders....all over the country....follow the same process that I have just described.

They have real estate agents all over the country...who do the same job that I do. Whether or not the agents do their job exactly the way I do....I don't know. I just know what works best for me. By checking with the utility company first, it gives me an idea of what I have gotten myself into.....it's for my safety.

Yes, tenants do have to move. They no longer have a rental agreement when the property has been returned to the bank/lender. Banks/lenders are not in the property rental business. They want their monies back as much as possible.

The only difference could be....is if the property has been bought on the courthouse steps by an individual or group of individuals looking to get a "deal" on a property to live in themselves or for investment. Even then, at least here, it takes 90 days to evict a tenant from a property. But still....these people would have had contact with someone telling them they needed to move.

My brother lives within the Chicago city limits.....in Chicago, they have tax sales on the Courthouse steps. These are properties where the property tax has not been paid to the city and/or county.

These type of sales have nothing to do with mortgage default. I know in theory how they work, but I don't do them, so I don't know the process.

I only do mortgage default evictions, then manage the property during premarketing, then list/sell it.

As far as suing....the tenant could possibly sue the previous owner....they can not sue the bank or lender as they did not have a rental contract with them.....only with the previous owner. The lease becomes null and void when the bank retakes the property.

[Ptarmigan]

Debk, do you do evictions on people who fail to pay their lien?

[debk]

Debk, do you do evictions on people who fail to pay their lien?

What I do is offer "Cash for Keys" to the homeowner who has lost their home back to their lender. Or to a tenant who is living in a dwelling that the landlord has lost back to their lender.

The actual writ of eviction, itself, is done in a courtroom, executed by a deputy of the County Sheriff's office, that I attend as a representative of the bank.

Foreclosure proceedings do not start until someone has missed at least 3 payments in a row with no contact with their lender.

At that time, the lender either contacts a 3rd party company to do a driveby shooting (which I do)...I will take a picture of the front, the house #'s and a view of the street scene, sometimes the street sign, sometimes 2 or more fronts ....depends on the client's (bank, mortgage company) requirement.

The lender tries to make contact with the homeowner (not the tenant) through phone calls, letters, then certified or registered letters. A tenant is not going to receive the mail notification unless the homeowner has not given the change of address to the lender. This is why tenants don't know they are living in a property that is facing foreclosure, unless they open the homeowner's mail or they see it in the paper when it published in the classifieds.

During this time.....usually at least one or two additional driveby shoots will be done. The company that I do them for....will not send the same person out to the property more than one time. We are supposed to tell the company if we have done one on the property for another company or if the property is listed by an agent in our same office - not the same company as many companies have different offices...mine has 8 and over 600 agents in the area.....many who do the same thing I do. I just can't be out of the same office. (I don't even know half the agents in my office as there are over 100 and I work from home and rarely go in the office)

When no resolution can be made between the homeowner and the lender....it goes to a law office, which then posts a public notice in the local paper (it's in the classifieds) ...1 time per week for 3 weeks. Here, the notices are now being posted every day of the week as there are so many of them. The notice is in the paper the same day each week and on the same day of the 4th week, the property is sold on the courthouse steps.

The sale can be stopped by the homeowner bringing the note current up until the end of business the day before(which is risky) or by filing bankruptcy with enough time for the court to notify the lender that the homeowner has filed, usually a couple of days prior to day of sale.

Once it is offered on the courthouse steps, there is a minimum price set by the lender....based on the reports done from the drivebys. These are Broker Price Opinions based on comparable properties sold within the last 180 days or less, and currently listed comparables, with very specific comparable criteria.....so that it's apples and apples being compared, not apples and watermelons. This is not an appraisal done by an appraiser...it is based on current market conditions. Most companies require the person doing the report to be a licensed Realtor.

If the minimum is met, the person buying the property has either 24 or 48 hours to pay cash paper money for the property. If the minimum is not met, the bank/lender takes the property back.

I get notification of a property the day after it is retaken by the bank/lender. I am emailed the details of the property and I have 24 hours to accept or decline the property.

If I accept it.....I check for occupancy, offer cash for keys if occupied to the occupant...to avoid the sheriff eviction and it's costs. Sometimes the house has already been vacated. It may or may not be a mess. I have to secure the house, change the locks, get it cleaned up, yard mowed and winterized depending on the season. Take a bunch of pictures, identify the damage, estimate repair costs, turn in reports, babysit the property through pre-marketing, then I get the listing when it's ready to be sold. During pre-marketing, at least one other agent will do an interior shoot...take their own pics and do a BPO - based on their opinion from comps they pull (I do those on other agents' foreclosures), another agent will do a driveby, the title is cleared for liens or judgements, homeowner dues, etc, the bank/lender determines what to sell the property for based on the reports sent in by myself and whoever else did reports for them

If the homeowner refuses the cash for keys, that's when I turn it back to the attorney, they proceed with obtaining a writ of eviction from the Court in the county the property is located. When the writ is completed, I'm notified by the lawyer's office that I am to contact the deputy to co-ordinate meeting up with him at the time I am told by the attorney's office. I have a locksmith there, and a trash out crew there if need be. Like I said, I've only done one evict out to the street out of 18 this year.

I have done reports on properties when the have not yet been trashed out.....they can be really horribly awful. I did one where the people had taken some clothes, some furniture, threw the rest everywhere all over the house, and emptied out the kitchen cabinets onto the floor and then pooped on everything. There have been times that I have taken my clothes off my garage and taken them straight into the washing machine. I carry bottles of antibacterial hand cleanser.

Foreclosure doesn't happen in just a couple of weeks. The process takes months, in some cases years, particularly in the case of bankruptcy.

[debk]

In other articles, it states that he's only refusing to do evictions on rental properties that were foreclosed on.  Since, the renters aren't being properly notified in advance as required by law. 

If anything, it seems he is just making sure the banks follow the law when it comes to evictions. 

As far as I know.....it is up to the bank/lender to notify the owner...it is not up to a bank/lender to know if you rent out your house.

FHA and VA loans do not allow for the homeowner to rent their home to someone else. Want to know how often that rule is broken? Unless a lender's rep goes and physically investigates the property, the lender isn't going to know.

Even for a conventional loan, if you are going to rent out the property....a minimum of 10% down is required. Want to know how many conventional loans are given to a homeowner who then turns around and rents the house, when the homeowner has a 95% or even 100% loan?

The lender notifies the OWNER OF THE PROPERTY...that is what they are required by law to do.

A registered letter is sent to the owner...if the owner does not receive the letter....the bank doesn't send out investigators looking for the owner.

When a person signs a pile of papers an inch or more thick.....promising to pay x number of dollars per month on a set date to a lending institution....the lending institution expects to be paid. They own the property until every last dime is paid back.

Whether it's a house or a car or a boat.....it's tangible property that can be resold to help recover some of the costs extended by the lending institution. If they don't receive their money in a timely manner ....they take it back.

What people need to realize is that if they owe more x's of dollars each month than are coming into the wallet....the first payment out needs to be for the house payment and work from there.

There are many agents all across the country doing the same thing that I do....selling REO properties. Just like any other job .....there's the right way, the wrong way, and the half-ass way to get the job done. Not everyone does it the same way...that's why people get replaced. I would venture a guess there's some checking going on by various companies how their representatives are doing business.

Realtors are independent contractors. We affiliate with a real estate firm that has a managing broker, we advertise, list/sell property, under that company's name. But we are not employees. We follow rules set by the company we affilitate with, but we are also following the rules of our local realty association, the state association of realtors and the national association of realtors. Breaking those rules can result in fines all the way up to loss of license.

I am not a bank/lender employee. I sign a contract to market their properties and all that entails....within the law and within the rules of the associations I belong to and the company I am affiliated with.



Thanks Vonne....

[DumbAss Tanker]

Having counseled tenants who found out their landlord was a deadbeat under similar circumstances, I can see where the sherrif is coming from with respect to renters.  There is often a middle ground where the parties can agree to have the tenant pay straight to the bank for at least a reasonable period during which they can find other digs.

A Sherrif holds an elected office, not a commercial one, so pissing off a lot of voters in his County while holding the bank to only the minimum paper requirements is not a good path to being seen as a fair and just guy when it comes re-election time.  If the banks are too upset about it, they can always go to court for a writ of mandamus, but it's probably a lot cheaper and better business for them in the long run to just look at cutting deals with the tenants instead of trying to play hardball with the lawman.

[debk]

I'm not arguing with you either, Vonne.  


It makes me feel sick to my stomach and incredibly angry when I find out the house is occupied by a tenant.

They are innocent to the situation AND in each case I've had with tenants (5), I'm fairly certain the owner has known they were being foreclosed on.

Three were paying cash paper money to the landlord. One came to collect money after I had already told the tenants the house was foreclosed on!!! The SOB told the tenants that it was all a mistake and that he was working it out. So of course I get an irate phone call from the tenant. Fortunately, as I tell all tenants, I had told her under no circumstances pay the landlord any more money. The tenants thought they were buying the house from the landlord.

I had another one call their landlord...he told them I was lying to them. They called. They too, thought they were buying the house from the landlord. The wife had just had a baby by C-section 10 days before and it was a week before Christmas. I felt horrible. But on the day we met for exchange of money for keys, they were happy that it had worked out the way it did. They were out of their lease, on a house that the new buyer has put $45, 000 into repairs (on a 790 sqft house they were paying $650/month), moved into a totally remodelled house owned by a cop for $600/mo.

Had 2 others that were aware there were problems so they weren't surprised to see me. One had been told by the neighbors the house was posted in the paper, the other had accepted the registered letters and opened them so they knew and had called the attorney themselves. The first one, I found them a different house to rent in the same school district for the same amount of money, and the other, I found them a lender and negotiated with the bank for them to purchase the house.

The last one I'm still dealing with. He rented from a relative - who called me when they found out they were foreclosed on. I never spoke to him until after the relative (who had a separate dwelling on the property) moved out. The relative had told me how mean he was. He's been nothing but extremely polite to me. I've been going back and forth with the bank reps(who are in India) and the attorney in Memphis to try an get a purchase by the tenant, for 2 months. The attorney and I think they should sell at the offered price. So far, India isn't agreeing. Might be going over some heads here.... ...I'm trying not to because there are already 3 managers involved. It's a circus.

In my experience, the bank/lender are receptive to letting a tenant purchase the property...at less than what is owed. Not as low as what the property may end up priced when on the REO market, but less than the debt. It's usually around the price determined by the BPOs done for the foreclosure or by a new CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) done by me at the time the tenant is trying to buy it and one or two additional driveby BPOs done by
unknown agents. It's basically a short sale done after a foreclosure between just the bank/lender and the tenant or 3rd party, rather than a short sale done before the property is foreclosed on done between a buyer, the homeowner with bank/lender acceptance.

It is just a horrendous situation for a tenant.....and a scam done by the homeowner. As I said, it's going to take at least 4-6 months, at a minimum, for a foreclosure to go through and the homeowner is collecting money from the tenant without telling the tenant...."hey, I'm getting foreclosed on...and I'm screwing you over".

HOWEVER......and please, believe me, when I say I am not being ugly when I say the following....a tenant pays a landlord monthly to live in the landlord's property. Regardless of what is going on between the landlord and their mortgage....they are providing a place to live to the tenant for an exchange of money. The tenant has had a place to live during the time they have paid rent. A agreement, either verbal or on paper, has been reached between two parties - the landlord and the tenant - the for a specific sum each month, the tenant is allowed by the landlord to reside in the landlord's property. That contract is being fulfilled.

The problem is that the landlord/homeowner is not fulfilling the contract they have with their lender.
The foreclosure is done on the landlord/homeowner. The eviction is done on the tenant who happened to be in the middle.

The blame on this is being put on the wrong party. It's being put on the bank/lender instead of the landlord/homeowner where it belongs. The tenant is the victim.

Even if a law was written to force a landlord to show proof of mortgage payments and that they are in good standing with their lender....a homeowner can be in good standing at the time the lease is signed....but there's nothing to say that they are still going to be in good standing several months later.

People who are renting houses or condos right now need to be very very cautious. Spend the 75cents for the local paper and make sure that their "home" doesn't show up in the paper. If it does, there is always posted a law office at the bottom of the notice, call them. Ask what's going on. They may or may not give any details, but at least the tenant would know what day it was to be sold on the courthouse steps. If the landlord suddenly asks for rent payment to be made in cash instead of check.....ask why. If rent is paid in cash....make sure a receipt is obtained....hang on to it, so that the tenant can prove they paid rent on time for x number of months....it will help in getting a new place to live. People that pay cash paper money and do not get a receipt, have no proof they paid rent, let alone on time and many landlords are requiring proof of rental history before they will rent again.

It's a mess no matter how it's done.

On the upside....if there is one....the class I attended the other day was lead by the director of my area association of Realtors. She said that only 3% of the total residential properties on the market....this is based on the entire country....are foreclosed properties ....according to the National Association of Realtors. I don't know when this amount was determined. But I can say, there are a lot of properties out there that are priced to sell and have "make offer" or "motivated" in the comment section in the mls brief, and also a lot with inflated prices because the seller is either trying to make money or they need to cover what they owe on it.

Regardless.....the housing/mortgage market absolutely has to get stabilized. There are too many individuals, small businesses and large ones, being affected by it. Think of everything in the construction of a house.....whether it's the lumber, the shingles, the bricks, the piping, the kitchen cabinets, the bathroom toilet...it's not just the homeowner and lender in trouble....it's all those employees who work for company's that produce this stuff and the companies themselves.

It's a huge ripple effect that is turning into a tsunami.
 
With the last semi-recession, it was the housing market - and all that it entails - that helped stabilize the economy....it's what's helping take the economy down at this point in time.....in many cases due to what helped it in the past.

Arghhhh.


DAT.....here the sheriff deputy will only go to the property with a writ of eviction signed by the court. If I want one to go with me for safety....I have to pay a minimum of $50 to the officer....because I do not have a writ of eviction when I go. I am negotiating with the owner/tenant to voluntarily move....I will give them a cashier's check for $1000, they leave on a specific day, all possessions gone and the place is clean and they give me the keys to the place.

[thundley4]

Thanks for a lot of information on this subject. Never having been involved in a foreclosure, I didn't know the details involved. 

[debk]

You're welcome.

There is so much misinformation out there....it's really frustrating to when I hear it.

The most important thing for people to realize.....if they are having trouble making a mortgage payment....call the mortgage company immediately. They really will work with people ....at that point! The lender does not want the house back....particularly in today's market!!!

It's when it's already being foreclosed on and the homeowner has made no contact with the lender that the lender is not receptive to helping the homeowner. At this point....to the lender....the homeowner as become a deadbeat who fails to pay a legal debt. It is still possible to get help....but it's extemely difficult.

Instead of doing nothing but gloom and doom on the tv and newspapers...MSM would be doing a better service to people to explain to them how to get help......and help themselves (the homeowner)....through this mess.

Bad things happen to good people....everyday. Not all these people who are defaulting are "bad" people. They are normal people who have had a crisis in their life that has caused them to lose income either through illness, loss of employment, death or divorce....and are overwhelmed with what has happened to them, they can't cope, they can't pay their mortgage payment....and what may have been a speed bump turns into Mt Everest.
They need help....not disdain. It could happen to anybody at anytime in just a blink.

People in difficulty need to be proactive......instead of waiting until they are in trouble and reactive.

But again....we're also talking about taking personal responsibility which is often lacking for one reason or another.

[Texacon]

Three were paying cash paper money to the landlord. One came to collect money after I had already told the tenants the house was foreclosed on!!! The SOB told the tenants that it was all a mistake and that he was working it out. So of course I get an irate phone call from the tenant. Fortunately, as I tell all tenants, I had told her under no circumstances pay the landlord any more money. The tenants thought they were buying the house from the landlord.

This is exactly why Contract for Deed is such a BAD idea.  I know 2 or 3 people in my area buying property with Contract for Deed from a very nasty seller.  When I have tried to explain to them the pitfalls of this deal they don't get it.

Note and Deed of Trust folks.  Contract for Deed is dangerous and this is only one of the problems that can come up.

KC

[EastFacingNorth]

debk, I've got a question and it seems that if there's a thread to ask it on this is it.

Is it possible to get a significant bargain on a house by buying one that's been foreclosed on?  Common sense says it should be, as a bank would probably rather have money now than a not-very-liquid asset.  On the other hand, doom-and-gloom stories in the media aside, I don't know how common this sort of thing is, or whether the discount is significant enough to put the extra time in to hunting down homes that were foreclosed on.

I won't be in a position to even start thinking about owning my own home for at least another year, so at this point I'm mostly asking out of curiousity.

[Chris_]

Great info debk -- I have bookmarked your posts.

FWIIW, those who think the tenant is a victim -- the tenant is no more (or less) a victim than one who unknowingly buys a hot car or gets passed counterfeit money.  They take the hit, but it isn't the fault of law Enforcement nor the original car owner nor the Treasury Department.

Sometime life just sucks.  It happens -- suck it up and deal with it.

[Texacon]

debk, I've got a question and it seems that if there's a thread to ask it on this is it.

Is it possible to get a significant bargain on a house by buying one that's been foreclosed on?  Common sense says it should be, as a bank would probably rather have money now than a not-very-liquid asset.  On the other hand, doom-and-gloom stories in the media aside, I don't know how common this sort of thing is, or whether the discount is significant enough to put the extra time in to hunting down homes that were foreclosed on.

I won't be in a position to even start thinking about owning my own home for at least another year, so at this point I'm mostly asking out of curiousity.

EFN, I'll tell you from my experience you can get some deals on foreclosures but they are few and far between.  You usually need to let them sit on the market for a while before the 'good deal' is going to come through.  This takes a very good understanding of the market you want to purchase in and a keen sense of when to jump into the deal.

You can make some decent deals on short sales but you need to know what you are doing.

You can make outstanding deals on foreclosure due to unpaid taxes in some cases but most of the time you have to ask why the taxes went unpaid and if there is a lender involved you may be bidding against the lender.

KC

[Chris_]

EFN, I'll tell you from my experience you can get some deals on foreclosures but they are few and far between.  You usually need to let them sit on the market for a while before the 'good deal' is going to come through.  This takes a very good understanding of the market you want to purchase in and a keen sense of when to jump into the deal.

You can make some decent deals on short sales but you need to know what you are doing.

You can make outstanding deals on foreclosure due to unpaid taxes in some cases but most of the time you have to ask why the taxes went unpaid and if there is a lender involved you may be bidding against the lender.

KC

MUI the best deals are BEFORE the foreclosure occurs.  If you can get to someone when they are about to be foreclosed on and can work the del, that is the maximum leverage point.

[debk]

Honestly? Yes and no.

Yes, there are deals out there to be found on foreclosed homes. No, because it can be a huge risk.

It is not like those shows on tv at 3 am that say you can buy an incredibly beautiful house for $3000 and sell it for $150,000. I haven't figured out what kind of "deals" these are unless they are tax sales which are very different from mortgage default foreclosure sales.

Tax sales are done on courthouse steps for the price of the back taxes. They are rarely done in this area, and I honestly know very little about them. My brother has talked to me about doing them in Chicago, but the way he explained it to me....the owner can reclaim the property at anytime during a certain time frame for the cost of the back taxes. I advised him against doing it. He may have explained it incorrectly, or I misunderstood, but given what I understood.....it sounded like a huge risk.

Mortgage foreclosed properties are sold "as is where is....with all faults". This means it could be in excellent condition, it could be full of hidden termite trails, it could be missing the wiring or have faulty wiring, it could have all the copper piping stolen out of it.

The seller....and the real estate agent and their company....are absolved of all responsibility of the condition of the property.

Which is absolutely the most important thing to remember. You could be buying a jewel....you could be buying a pig in a poke. It's a risk the buyer has to be willing to take.

If the buyer has excess money to put into the house, if necessary for repairs, then it MAY be worth it. If the buyer borrows to their max on a loan for a foreclosure....I usually cringe and suggest they may want to reconsider and look at an owner occupied resale or an estate sale, where upon having a home inspection the buyer can go back to the seller and negotiate the necessary repairs be made prior to closing or renegotiate a new sales price...or the buyer has the right to walk away completely and get their earnest money back.

If I know that something specific is wrong with a property when I get it....I will tell the potential buyer or their real estate agent....BECAUSE I HAVE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE....which ...by law....I am to disclose. I have one now that just went under contract. The tenant told me that the heat and air donot work. I have disclosed that to the buyer I am working with. He knows that he immediately has to put in new heat and air. I do not know if there is anything else wrong with the house....that does not, however, mean that there may not be other things wrong.....just that there is nothing else that I am AWARE of.

Any buyer on any dwelling should have a home inspection done by a licensed home inspector. Based on that report, they decide whether to ask for repairs, negotiate a lower price for the dwelling, or walk away from the purchase.

Banks/lenders will rarely repair anything....they will however, renegotiate the sales price. I had one where after the sales contract was signed by all parties....some jerk stole the heat pump. I had to get 3 estimates to replace it, the bank took the lowest estimate and lowered the sales price by that amount. The bank/lender will NOT hand over a check for the repairs at the time of closing to the buyer.

Even on an owner occupant resale, the buyer cannot receive a check at the closing from a seller.....UNLESS it is done outside of the closing and it is between the buyer and the seller. I paid the buyer on my house $10,500 after the sale of my house for a new heat pump and a B-dry treatment. It was a deal we made between us, not included in the sales contract, to cover the cost of repairs, as I did not have the cash laying around to have the stuff done prior to closing.

In this state, an owner occupant has to fill out a property disclosure form. Three pages of questions on the property's condition. If a buyer, upon moving in, finds out the seller was not truthful in their disclosure, the seller can be sued by the buyer. There is of course a time frame. The agent representing the seller, and the agent's company may also be sued.

If the property is being sold by a 3rd party or an owner who has not occupied the property for 3 yrs, this form is not filled out. An exemption form is completed. This means the owner/3rd party does not verify the condition of the property. No one can be sued in this case.

Can a good deal be found?.....it comes down to the condition of the house, what it will cost to bring it up to average/good condition, and is a buyer able to determine all the faults to the property.

This is not just walking in and having your spouse say....the garage is too small or I don't like the color of the dining room walls. This can be walking in and finding all the carpet needs replacing, kitchen cabs and countertops are missing, holes - big holes - in dry wall or doors.

The buyer does not know what the house looked like when I first went into the house...the condition it was in when the occupants left. I have walked into houses where there is urine at levels above my head.....looked like someone stood on a ladder, aimed and peed on the walls. I have gone into them, when they have let animals stay in the house for several days and let them poop and pee all over the place. Yes, it does get cleaned up....but not necessarily are the walls replaced or the sub floor replaced.

Don't know if I exactly answered your question EFN, but I tried to explain all the pros/cons of the situation.

Edit: Forgot to mention, that if a buyer purchases a foreclosed property ...or any property...with a loan...the lender will only loan the percentage the loan amount is for based on the bank's appraisal.

This means that if the house costs $100,000, the borrower is getting a 90% loan ....which is $90,000....the house must appraise for at least$100,000. If it does not, the loan amount is adjusted to 90% of whatever amount the bank/lender's appraiser has determined the value of the property to be.

The buyer must either come up with the difference between the 2 numbers in cash paper money, prior to closing....AND be able to explain to the bank/lender where this money came from....or depending on how the sales contract was written...the buyer is able to walk and get their earnest money returned.

A sales contract should always include the phrase...."property MUST appraise for sales price or greater". It covers the buyer's tush and a good BUYER's AGENT's job is to protect their client who is the buyer, not the seller.

[Chris_]

debk, you should write a book.

[Texacon]

MUI the best deals are BEFORE the foreclosure occurs.  If you can get to someone when they are about to be foreclosed on and can work the del, that is the maximum leverage point.

Yup.  Even then you can shoot for a short sale and make the deal better.

KC

[debk]

MUI the best deals are BEFORE the foreclosure occurs.  If you can get to someone when they are about to be foreclosed on and can work the del, that is the maximum leverage point.

Exactly.

Estate sales can also be good. Lots of times, there are numerous heirs involved and they just want the property sold, particularly if they are out of state. Another one, is if the occupants are going into full time care facilities.

I will tell you.....the house can smell....they have a sad smell of age. Don't know what it is, but it always bothers me. But once the furniture is out, the drapes are gone with the dust and must, the carpet's pulled up, you can have a really quaint and attractive property. May need some updating in the kitchen or baths, but it is usually immediately habitable and the buyer can take their time making updates and improvements.

[debk]

debk, you should write a book.

I'm sorry.....am I overdoing it?

[Chris_]

I'm sorry.....am I overdoing it? :thatsright:

I wasn't being facetious -- this is great information that should be consolidated onto a blog.  I suspect you know enough to make a pretty good book on this subject -- and it is very timely!

[DumbAss Tanker]

Great info debk -- I have bookmarked your posts.

FWIIW, those who think the tenant is a victim -- the tenant is no more (or less) a victim than one who unknowingly buys a hot car or gets passed counterfeit money.  They take the hit, but it isn't the fault of law Enforcement nor the original car owner nor the Treasury Department.

Sometime life just sucks.  It happens -- suck it up and deal with it.

Nice theory.  Now back to the reality channel, where prospective tenants don't do title searches for liens or secured interests when renting, and do vote.

[debk]

I wasn't being facetious -- this is great information that should be consolidated onto a blog.  I suspect you know enough to make a pretty good book on this subject -- and it is very timely!

Thanks...I appreciate the compliment.

There are a gazillion books out there on the subject....unfortunately the ones reading them are not the ones being affected with foreclosure but the ones looking to make money from the effects of the foreclosure market.

[Texacon]

Thanks...I appreciate the compliment.

There are a gazillion books out there on the subject....unfortunately the ones reading them are not the ones being affected with foreclosure but the ones looking to make money from the effects of the foreclosure market.

Unfortunately 90% of the ones looking to make a buck off the foreclosure market don't know what the hell they are doing.  These are the ones that call me. 

I swear, we'll get some bozo come to Houston and do a 'seminar' on buying homes cheap and the next thing I know I get some RE agent who has hooked up with one of these guys and they are going to make MILLIONS!  What do I see when this happens?  The first page of an Earnest Money contract with a 50% offer.  What dumb asses.

KC