If you are interested in buying a foreclosure home, it is important to know what to look for when you first walk through the house. You may be getting a good price, but are you really getting a good deal? You have to look at both the price and what you get for your money. As someone who has done this consistently would tell you – someone like Dean Graziosi, for example – there are foreclosures that are worth buying and others that are not. The key is to try to find the ones that are so that you can get your money's worth out of them, whether you want to live there or sell it to someone else. Below are some things to consider.
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Damage to the Home
The very first thing to look for is damage to the house that the previous owner caused, either by accident or on purpose. Some people do not want to move out and they do not want the bank to take the house, so they cause damage to it out of frustration or anger, knowing that they are not going to live there for long anyway. Others just neglect the homes once they know that they are going to lose them, so there could be damage from little things that most homeowners would have fixed. Of course, there are excellent foreclosure homes out there that people took great care of until the end, so this should not frighten you away from them at all. You just need to know how to find those ones.
The Major Updates
Speaking of updates, another thing to look for is when the person last updated their house. Certain things have to be replaced or fixed from time to time. For instance, a new roof has to be put on a house every so often. Was this something that was just done, or are you going to have to pay to do it yourself? If the house needs too much work, the low price may not be worth it. If it needs no work at all, then you have found a gem for any price.
The Home's Value
The value of the house on the open market is something that you may need to research on your own, or the real estate agent might be able to help you. It can tell you a bit about why the person decided to leave their house in the first place. Many people lost value on their homes so that they owed more than the homes were worth. They then walked away from them and let the foreclosure happen because it did not make sense to pay so much when the house was worth less than that. You need to know what it is worth and what the asking price is to make sure that you do not get into the same situation.
Your Must-Haves
For most people, the must-haves are at the top of the list when buying a house. They are still important with a foreclosure. If you need a home office so that you can work, do not buy a house without one. However, you need to make sure that the house passes all of the other qualifications listed above before you start to look for these various features.
