Phoenix AZ Real Estate

Most of our first time buyers or as a matter of fact. Anyone looking to buy a home in this market is looking for a Bank Owned foreclosure. Why not they seem to be the best deal. Actually only a few of these homes are a good deal. You can go down to Queen Creek and buy a home which is only two years old, and is priced 10% less than it was as brand new construction. That sounds like a good deal, however Queen Creek is pretty far out. If your daily commute consists of two hours round trip, at these gas prices, is it really worth it. What about the roads, schools and future development for the area?

How about that Lender Owned home in Tempe, Chandler, Scottsdale, or Gilbert. What is a good deal? A Good deal is when you walk through a home and think, "WOW! this is a great deal" " I need to buy this home before someone else does?" or " I wonder what`s wrong with it"

I had the " I wonder what`s wrong with it" Newer construction, 1.25 acre, mountain views, 2700 square feet. REO, Bank Owned. Great price. So my clients and I moved forward, and after almost two weeks of negotiations we had a deal. We tried to get a better deal.  Now begins the inspections. This bank only allowed us a 7 day inspection, after 7 days, buy it or loose your earnest money. This home had a septic tank. The prudent thing to do is always have the septic tank inspected. In this case the town required that the tank be certified, by C O E. Which means Cleaned and inspected, by Close of escrow, well beyond our 7 day addendum. OK first things first. What type of tank do we have? That`s easy, let`s pull the permit. What permit? There was no permit. Looks like the previous owner was the General contractor, and to save some money had a friend put in the septic tank with out a permit. Who needs a permit this container is only holding biological hazards waste. Environmental health hazard. First sign to run. OK what is the worst case scenario, 10K for a new septic tank. Well this home is still a great deal, and my clients can afford the new Septic tank. We still have three days to think it over. When buying an Lender Owned home, the buyer doesn`t know the history of the home. You can`t call the insurer, because you don`t know who that is. What`s the next best source of the property`s history....The Neighbors.

So I went next door to the neighbor. Hi. I`m the Realtor representing the buyers of the home next door. With out batting an eyelash this women tells me that I can`t buy that house, " Don`t you know? It doesn`t have a Certificate of Occupancy!" Thank you Mrs. Neighbor. Do you know what you have when you don`t have a Certificate of occupancy. You have a home that can`t be Mortgage, insured, or sold. Unless you are a bank and are selling the home AS-IS.

What have I learned about buying Bank Owned Homes? Expect the Unexpected. There is a lot of reward for a great deal, however their is a lot of risk. Buyer Beware.

So which are the best REO, lender Owned homes. The ones that pass inspection. That meets your budget, and is the home you have been waiting for. My last Client looked at about 40 homes. To small, west exposure, needs repair, and over priced. It was a good thing that she had looked at a bunch of homes, she new the market. When we came across the 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2000 square foot, corner lot that backs to a park In great condition, on an over sized lot with a newer pool. She had no problem offering $100. over asking price. Even though we were not the highest offer, we did offer the highest earnest money. 10K. After our 10 day addendum was up, we were committed to buying or loose 10K. Banks like that. We closed in 17 Calendar days. A personal best. I can still sell that house today for a profit.