My husband and I have been looking at houses for the past year or so (nothing serious) but we rarely can find a house we can agree on. He found a bank owned home listed for $75000, three bedroom one bath, 1.5 stories, three out buildings and not to mention the 2.98 acres. This thing needs a lot of cosmetic work... new siding, new carpet, new drywall in most rooms, new windows. It also doesnt come with any appliances. I am not happy with the kitchen, although the cabnets are new, they look cheap and I dont even think they installed them correctly. It is also in the country so it needs a water softner.
The monthly payment for this thing would only be about 200 more than what we are paying now, but we really wont have that much extra money to play around with regarding fixing the place up as fast as I would like (with-in the first year). My husband is a carpenter do he could so a lot of the repairs. Is this a good idea? I am scared that there are just too many repairs. Any ideas?
2007-06-18 10:49:51 · 6 answers · asked by Rachel C 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
Offer $60,000; if you get it for that price it sounds like a great deal because from what you mentioned, you could repair for less than $15,000 if you know where to purchase materials and you can do alot of the work yourselves.
2007-06-18 10:59:53 · answer #1 · answered by Nancy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually it's a great idea. You can do the changes and decorating to your choice and taste---little by little when you get the money available.
Your new house will SERIOUSLY love everything you do to it. It will increase in value as you fix it up.
It will do something else--generate EQUITY for you as time goes by.
Check and see how long the bank has held title to the house from repossession. They don't want to be in the Real Estate business, they want to get RID of it. The longer they have had it, the less you should offer.
Seriously consider offering the bank LESS money for it, say 55,000 or so---because of the updates it needs, and/OR insist that the bank advance you the money to UPGRADE the house sooner--the logic being, the money will allow you to work on it, which will cause the house to increase substantially in value as you upgrade it! The 'bank's money' will be substantially more secure if the house is brought into pristine condition. ANY good lender will understand that concept.
Good luck with that.
2007-06-18 11:06:23 · answer #2 · answered by fiddlesticks9 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is absolutely nothing wrong with buying a bank owned home. My caution to you is like the other answers before, but what they don't mention is what will the value of the home be after repairs. If it's listed at $75,000 and it needs $15,000 in repairs but another home in the neighborhood sold last year for $85,000. To me that is not a good deal. I would offer the bank 70% - 75% of the after repaired value. If you need help finding how much recent homes sold for ask your real estate agent.
Another thing, your husband being a carpenter he might be able to barter for supplies and labor with other professionals. For example, get the carpet at a discount if your husband will do work for the carpet person.
2007-06-18 11:26:34 · answer #3 · answered by Michael E 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Guess it depends on how much you really love the house. If you've been looking for a year you pretty much know what's out there and what the costs are. I'd say It doesn't sound like a bad price, or course I don't know where you are located, but once you add in all the repairs and updates your looking at substantial money. One other thing, which you probably already know, most of my friends who are married to plumbers never have the plumbing finished, who are married to electricians rarely have all their outlets working, who are married to roofers usually need a new roof. Hopefully your husband isn't like that, but they usually tend to put work first. Good Luck.
2007-06-18 10:58:13 · answer #4 · answered by Kathleen M 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Even though your husband is a carpenter, the only thing you get 'free' is his labor. Do you have sufficient monies left over after your other obligations to purchase all the needed materials for the updates ?
The water softener is the LEAST of your issues. That's only a few hundred dollars. You are talking new windows, new siding, and possibly new cabinets along with all new flooring. Total up your material costs for all these improvements and then you can decide whether or not you can afford it.
2007-06-18 10:59:19 · answer #5 · answered by acermill 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
without full details what is the current value of teh house you will not receive any good answer. The best I can say is that take the price of the house less repairs-less 10% profit on repairs less any outstanding taxes less outstanding bills to utility companies less your profit margin and that should be the bidding price for the house. Find out how much neighboring homes are priced or sold for recently, that should help you too. Hope this helps
2016-05-19 00:26:51 · answer #6 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋