# questions about foreclosed homes **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 16, 2009, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-foreclosed-homes/486055 "2009-02-16T05:58:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-foreclosed-homes/486055/41 "2009-02-22T20:09:20Z")
Anyone care to chime in on the short sell process? (Hope I’ve got the terms right.) Where’s the best place/what’s the best method for determining the offer price? Amount left on the loan seems a silly place to start, but some upthread comments seem to suggest that’s what the bank/note holder would be interested in. Listing price of comparable houses in the neighborhood? But how does the offer price take into account the bank’s inevitable costs of going through foreclosure/sale – or their realtor’s commission? Or the general sluggishness of the market? How could a bank not take present value into account – or is their math relatively unsophisticated? Does it make sense to bring in a private appraiser … then what, discount it? Or are there (worthwhile) net-based services that give a reasonably useful value? ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-foreclosed-homes/486055/42 "2009-02-22T23:20:27Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Anyone care to chime in on the short sell process? (Hope I’ve got the terms right.) Where’s the best place/what’s the best method for determining the offer price? Amount left on the loan seems a silly place to start, but some upthread comments seem to suggest that’s what the bank/note holder would be interested in. Listing price of comparable houses in the neighborhood? But how does the offer price take into account the bank’s inevitable costs of going through foreclosure/sale – or their realtor’s commission? Or the general sluggishness of the market? How could a bank not take present value into account – or is their math relatively unsophisticated? > > Does it make sense to bring in a private appraiser … then what, discount it? Or are there (worthwhile) net-based services that give a reasonably useful value? I stay away from them. A lot of homes have two or more loans on them. That means that two or more banks will have to approve the sale. With a short sell the bank does not have to go through the foreclosure steps. They will have the normal 6% commission on them. Know one knows what the bank does. It appears that it is a commitee at each bank that aproves the sale. Look around at the market to determine if you think the price is right. The appraiser will come when you are trying to get your loan. Banks are hard at making descisions about sales. Heard of one case where the bank had 10 good offers on one house. They could not make up there mind and each of the people making the offers ended up going for a different house after 4 months. The bank ended up foreclosing. Then put it on the market for $20,000 less then the lowest offer and got no takers. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-foreclosed-homes/486055/43 "2009-02-23T01:00:49Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Well, when you have a couple of hundred thousand dollars worth of debt, that you’ll probably never be able to pay off, what’s another few grand. > And regardless of whether you’re losing your home because of job loss, illness, divorce or sheer fiscal irresponsibility the fact remains - if you’re getting kicked out of your house, you’ve hit rock bottom and at that point you probably aren’t thinking rationally anyway. > I know if I were losing my house I’d probably want to go out in blaze of glory too -putting cigarette butts out on the carpet, spray painting the walls with obsenities, carting away as much copper tubing as I can. And you don’t even want to know what I’d do in the bathrooms. My husband and I walked away from our first real estate purchase. It was a condo in Victoria that turned out to be one of the worst “leaky condo” buildings in the city. We knew the assessment for repair was ridiculous, and the value of the condo was far, far less than what we paid, and even if we stayed… ($40,000 special assessment to repair the building, and our purchase price was $135,000) well, it was a lose-lose situation for us. The property was assessed at something like $30,000 due to it being in a ‘leaky’ building.) We couldn’t sell. We didn’t want to say. The federal Liberal government was of no help. So we consulted a lawyer who basically told us to walk away from it. So we did. Hello, bankruptcy and seven years on our records. Everything has its consequences. Other people in the same situation reportedly took everything with them they could–appliances, fixtures, what have you. We left all the appliances (fridge, stove, washer, dryer, light fixtures, anything!) and left the property empty and unvandalised. The only thing we did not do was a thorough clean, the kind you do when you want to get your security deposit back. But vandalism? No. All the bank had to do was collect about one garbage bag worth of items I couldn’t bear to pack and do a quick wipe-down of surfaces and cupboards. I still told my husband that I wished we’d kept and sold the appliances, but he argued for doing the right thing, which was leaving them with the unit. I can’t imagine turning on a tap and walking away, or suchlike. We were screwed, but there’s no reason to do the same to anyone else. I would never vandalise the unit. The bank got a condo with everything intact and one previous owner. I’m still bitter about the whole thing, but I am glad that we did not do anything destructive. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-foreclosed-homes/486055/44 "2009-02-23T17:19:49Z")
> [@Snnipe\_70E](#): > > I stay away from them. A lot of homes have two or more loans on them. That means that two or more banks will have to approve the sale. With a short sell the bank does not have to go through the foreclosure steps. They will have the normal 6% commission on them. Know one knows what the bank does. It appears that it is a commitee at each bank that aproves the sale. Look around at the market to determine if you think the price is right. The appraiser will come when you are trying to get your loan. Thanks. We’re in no hurry about this, so bank’s hemming and hawing probably won’t make a difference — and changing our minds at any step won’t be a problem. Since there is no real estate agent involved, are you suggesting that we could reasonably knock 5–6% off the (assumed) fair market price with a reasonable expectation of acceptance (putting aside the mystery of committee decision-making)? That’s the fun part … trying to decide what to offer with no agent or other professionals involved. That’s where the thought of hiring an appraiser comes in — unless there’s a good website out there with a cost lower than $250, it seems the small investment in service could save us from leaving several thousand dollars on the table (or wasting our time with a too-low offer). ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-foreclosed-homes/486055/45 "2009-02-23T18:13:48Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > 1. Is there a way to find foreclosed homes without paying for the listings? (I assume this is all public record, but spam emails and websites I’ve seen all require a fee for sending me a list). > > 2. If I find a foreclosed home I like, how likely is it that I would get a great deal from the bank? (will they sell for a huge discount to get the property off their books, or will they only be willing to sell at the price that the outstanding loan reflects, or is it all a matter of each case being individual? I’m looking for a usable rule-of-thumb here.) > > 3. If I buy a 1 million dollar home for 500K, will the house be reassessed at the new sale price, reducing its property taxes (again, if this is on a town-by-town basis, I’d like to understand that, also) > > 4. Are these homes usually damaged by the former owners, to point where purchasing them is much riskier than a normal home purchase? > > I realize many of these questions are potentially site specific, but if any answer can be generalized, that would be a helpful start. > > Thanks [http://www.realquest.com/rq/default.aspx#](http://www.realquest.com/rq/default.aspx#) Just type in your zip or any other one that interests you. ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-foreclosed-homes/486055/46 "2009-02-23T18:23:40Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > I’ve reached the conclusion that the only safe assumption about a real estate agent is that this person knows how to figure a commission and cash the check. Anything you get beyond that in the way of knowledge, honesty or actual help is a bonus. > > Certainly there are conspicuous exceptions - I’ve dealt with some - but there are enough brainless scumbags out there that it’s foolish to assume anything but the worst. I had a Florida real estate license a few years ago (I let it expire). The training essentially involves memorizing the laws related to the RE industry. One chapter spoke about home construction (essentially the different types of houses that could be expected to be encountered), and nothing on estimating costs of repair or improvement. Essentially, being involved in RE requires aggressiveness (which I don’t have) and the ability to memorize (you have to take a class every couple of years). Intelligence doesn’t really enter into it. Many experienced realtors are RE investors as well, and may have a decent amount of knowledge of market values and repair costs. OTOH, being a RE agent gives them first crack at the latest listings (in Florida there is no law against this, don’t know about other states). Oh, and the commission is usually fairly straightforward to figure out. A typical 5% commission from an MLS sale will likely end up being split four ways (listing agent, listing agent’s agency, selling agent, selling agent’s agency). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-foreclosed-homes/486055.md?page=2)