Buying a Foreclosure!!!

Foreclosures???  Short sales??  It seems that this is all I hear when I answer the phone to sell real estate.  I can't say that I blame anyone from wanting a good deal in real estate when buying but are you really getting a good deal or the short end of the stick? 

Having dealt with many many short sales and foreclosures I have come to very much dislike the process of a short sale or foreclosure.  Short sales can take up to as long as 6 months and sometimes longer to find out that the bank really isn't going to sell it for what you thought it could be bought for.  Guess what?  You are back at square one.  Buyers get frustrated at the Realtors and the Realtors get frustrated at the bankers and it ends up being a very hostile situation.  The government states that they have made changes to govern this process but we have not seen it come through the system.

Foreclosures are a different story:  You take the middle man out of and you are dealing directly with the bank or that is what you think. However, the listing agent has an asset manager in which she has to answer to and keep happy in order to keep listings.  The listing agent jumps through hoops to get the listings and sell the listings and can still end up not knowing what the bottom dollar is or what the bank will really sell the home for.  It leaves both realtor's in a really bad place with the buyers.  After you come to an agreement on price after waiting many weeks to get the contract signed then they throw at you the banks addendum that the bank or mortgage company has everyone to sign that totally takes all legal responsibility away from them.  This will scare you to death if you are a buyer.  It disclaims all but that they can take your next born child and you can do nothing about it.  It really is ridiculous.  Do we have a choice the buyer asks?  The answer is no you have to sign it or they will walk and you can't have the house.  What do they do they sign at the mercy of the bank.  I really must say I am very familiar with foreclosures and short sales and if you can steer clear of them and buy a home from an individual before they loose it you will have a much smoother transaction and not feel like you have had your integrity ripped from you.  Some foreclosures are great prices and others are not priced great.  The bank manipulates the appraisal system in thier favor and we have to deal with it.  I wish things were fair but nothing is fair in this world.  As you can see I do want to sell but I am a christian and I don't want to sell something that isn't a great deal.  We can search and find that perfect price on a short sale, foreclosure, or a distressed seller who has contacted me and cried his story out to me and I am trying to help him save his credit and reputation.

Sharing a little story on a foreclosure:  It was some customers of mine:  The "Armstrong's"  they came from Colorado and drove 3 days to get here.  When they get here the house that they had signed all documents on to buy was flooded.  It was a foreclosure.  The bank was aware of it and had hired someone unprofessional to be there to fix it before the closing and not let us know anything about it.  As agents we showed up to check it out before and have the lawn mowed for our customers so they would be happy and have less to deal with.  We get there and find that the entire ceiling has been ripped down by these contractors.  The bank expected our clients to close as is because it wasn't there fault and they had signed the addendum's "as is"... bla bla bla..  Needless to say we went to battle for our clients.  We called Emergency professional plumbers in to access the job and fix it to let it dry out.  My husband Vincent Davis/Realtor was there until after dark making sure this was fixed for our clients.  The next day we begin to try negotiate lowering the purchase price because their was at least $7,000 in damage done on this beautiful home in towns county, GA.  After many hours of debating with the other Realtor who was very nice as well but was at their mercy also, we then came to an agreement on reducing the price.  We had to get extensions signed and was jumping through every hoop to get it done before the deadline that they had set for the entire real estate world that by June 30th all closings with any incentives must be closed.  Thank the good Lord above we did close it this afternoon at 4:00 p.m.   The buyers are happy but have a long way to go in re-modeling the living area, dining area, and the kitchen.  This is due to water lines that have burst that we did not know until the water was turned on.  By the way my customers also got to see deer in the yard and a 400lb black bear walk through right before they bought the house.  They are very excited but anxious about that.   However, they are used to Grizzly bears so a black bear shouldn't be anything.  

Our Tips when buying short sales or foreclosures:  Don't buy them!!!!  Ha Ha!!!

Seriously if we could all boycott against it that would be great but we can't.  Be careful and cover all basis.  Choose a Realtor who is used to dealing with foreclosures and that have closed foreclosures.  This year myself, Christal Davis, and my husband, Vincent Davis have sold more foreclosures than any other transactions in real estate.  Have your Realtor walk the property with you, look at the deed and the land description, make sure there isn't any hidden waterlines that are broken, or anything that isn't turned on please just remember that until it is turned on you will not see electrical issues or water leaks.  Be willing to work through the problems if they arise.  If you are not willing to work through it than a foreclosure just isn't for you.  Foreclosures are great deals in most cases but sometimes "you pay for what you get".    I look forward to working with you and answering any questions with you. 

We also work closely with Lake property in the Blue Ridge, Blairsville, and Hiawassee areas.  We will be glad to find that perfect property.  We have lived here all of our lives and pride ourselves in being natives to the area. 

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