Home Inspection Helps You Find Your Dream Home in Foreclosures
In an ironic way, the glut of foreclosed homes has presented opportunities for many Americans to buy homes at affordable prices and in many instances, at prices so low even those who have saved just enough can buy a home.
But prospective home buyers must conduct a home inspection before they buy foreclosed homes to ensure that the home buying opportunities do not turn into nightmares of repairs.
These foreclosed homes, although attractive opportunities, can also become deep pits that consume all your money for repairs.
If you buy from banks, remember that they just want to have their money back. They do not care if later on, you find that there are major parts to be repaired. Unlike many owners of FSBO homes whom you can negotiate with personally for repairs before the actual purchase, real-estate-owned homes from banks are typically sold in the condition they were repossessed.
This is why you need to hire a licensed and experienced house inspector to conduct a home inspection, so you can compute whether the house is a good buy.
With a home inspection report, you can ask home repair contractors for cost estimates and see if the sum of the home price and repair costs is still equal or less than the prevailing home price for similar foreclosed houses in the area.
Kylene Golubski, an executive at home inspection firm Inspect-It 1st, said that after banks repossess foreclosed homes, they send their personnel to disconnect utilities and lock the houses without repairing the properties. They sell their foreclosure properties as REO properties in current conditions. Oftentimes, the banks also do not reduce their asking prices even if they know the foreclosed properties are defective.
Golubski said a professional home inspection conducted by a licensed and experienced house inspector can be obtained for a few hundred dollars and the result will save the prospective home buyer thousands of dollars in unexpected repairs.
Golubski advises potential home buyers not to buy foreclosed homes that have a lot of defects, especially major defects, and especially if the asking price is above average in the area.
She added that you can only determine the true extent of defects in a foreclosed home if you hire someone trained and experienced in thorough home inspection.
