Upcoming Foreclosures

When buying a bank owned property with no Property Disclosure information available, what should buyer do?

How to verify the current conditions (addition permit, termite, easement...etc) and all previous repairs of the house since the owner (bank) has no knowledge about the conditions and has never previously lived in the house?

Public Comments

1. You can't verify everything. Have it inspected and a title search done and you really should be OK. A Realtor may be able to get you old pictures of the property, they stay in the MLS for about 5 years. That might give you some insight on changes made by the people you defaulted.
2. Have your attorney do a title search and make sure the addition had proper permits and approvals. You need to hire inspectors to check the condition of the house. If you do not know reliable inspectors, ask your attorney and your bank which inspectors they use.
3. Of course, you engage the services of qualified inspectors, so that you have decent knowledge of the condition of the property. As well, you make your offer to the bank based upon acceptable responses to the various inspections you have done. Title search will provide information relative to any easements, etc. Include that as a contingency to your offer as well.
4. Don't buy it !!!! You can run a title search all you want and have a inspector come out and inspect the property, but you will never know the true history. The property could have had flooding problems, sitting on a fishure, had a fire, ect. The bank will want u to sign a release that keeps them out of it in case u find somthing later on down the road. No disclosure = BAD IDEA.
5. Order a title search, call a termite inspector and have an home inspector/appraiser look at the property. A title search will tell you how many owners the house had and dates of conveyance.
6. A good property inspection company should be able to give you enough information to make your decision, but, there could have been issues at this property that are not detectable from an inspection. There could have been fire, flood, electrical, plumbing or other issues that have been repaired over the years. The best way to protect yourself against these types of undetectable past problems would be to interview as many neighbors as possible. One of my REO propery listings was in great condition, but, a neighbor disclosed to the buyer that there was a murder/suicide inside the house! This could be a huge problem for most prospective buyers. The majority of the time the buyer of a bank repo is getting a fantastic buy, so, make sure there are no previous issues and buy this property!
7. i have bought a few reo properties..i always do 2 complete checks of the property before writitng an offer..if you do not know much about repairs and such than hire an inspector..also ALWAYS buy title insurance for an reo..
8. Get a good Property Inspection done first.