can you buy foreclosures for as little as 20,000 to 40,000 dollars?

Question

i'm looking to buy another house and i have heard foreclosures can be pretty cheap,i'm looking for a fix me upper is this true?

Answer 1

Yes it is true. BUT you have to pay cash if you win the auction bid.
Lenders that have to foreclose a home want to sell it as fast as possible after they clear the title deed. So they auction those homes to the highest bidder. Be warned most of the time they want a bid to be at least what is still owed on the loan.
My home was bought this way and then sold to me.

Answer 2

You can, but only ones with a FMV in that range. Contrary to the late-night TV ads, most foreclosures sell for close to their fair market value. Any difference in price is usually due poorer than average condition. Many foreclosures suffer from deferred maintenance issues and some are trashed by the previous owner in retaliation for the foreclosure.

You won't find a $250k home selling for $40k. Unless it's in DEPLORABLE condition, i.e. about ready for the wrecking ball.

The auctions on the courthouse steps are almost always bought by the lender. They generally won't let it go for less than the outstanding balance. If it's a tax sale and there's a mortgage, the lender will be there to bid to preserve their interests.

Keep in mind that if you do bid on one of those sales, you must be ready to settle IN CASH within a very few days. You normally have to put up 10% of your winning bid in certified funds as soon as the gavel falls and close within a week. If you fail to close for ANY reason, you kiss your 10% goodbye.

Once the lender has clear title to the property it will usually be listed with a local realtor and sold off as any other home in the neighborhood.

Answer 3

you would never get one that cheap as there are professionals that buy property in fore closer to fix and resell and the bidding war that goes on the price would never be that low. also the bank usually has a minimum bid price to start with so they hopefully will get some if not all their money back.