Anybody buy a house in foreclosure?

[Brian Elfert]

Someone that is getting foreclosed might destroy the house out of anger. My realtor told me stories about people that would pour concrete down the drains just before losing the house. There is also the risk of them stripping the house of all fixtures and wiring. Plus there is the fact that the previous owner is likely to skip all required maintenance for a couple of years after they stopped making the payments. At a minimum, I would want to be able to peek in the windows to make a decision. And make sure that the price reduction makes up for any potential issues that come up.

The owner of my house just never did any work on the house even years before foreclosure according to someone who knew the previous owner. He could afford the mortgage until he left his wife and bought a house with his girlfriend. He simply quit paying on the wife's house and she couldn't pay the mortgage.

The house was in very poor shape, but I am told most of the damage was due to way too many people in the house and general lack of respect. The roof leaked and destroyed the main bathroom. The previous owner tore out the fixtures and that is as far as they got. It didn't seem like any damage was done because they were mad about the foreclosure.

I had a home inspection done and the only thing found that I hadn't already discovered was the attic wasn't vented properly. I spent a lot of time and $100,000 getting the house back into shape. It is like new in many ways now.

[Brian Henderson]

Never owned one in foreclosure, but just bought one that had been foreclosed on but was a bank owned property. The previous owners had gone crazy and put a ton of money into the house, then couldn't pay the mortgage. It was a straight traditional sale, done in 30 days because of a big down.

[Bill Bukovec]

We are going to wait and see who buys it at the auction, held on the steps of the county court house. We are thinking the bank will buy it, then list it. The place needs a lot of work. There is a building that will make a great shop, once I put on a metal roof, siding, windows, doors....

[Jerome Stanek]

We are going to wait and see who buys it at the auction, held on the steps of the county court house. We are thinking the bank will buy it, then list it. The place needs a lot of work. There is a building that will make a great shop, once I put on a metal roof, siding, windows, doors....

If the bank buys it will they want more then what they paid for it plus closing costs and any realty fees.