problems bout nj home foreclosure
The wife and I put in a bid on a foreclosure here in our town. It's a nice
house that needs a bit of work.....but we're young, ambitious and willing to
bust our butts to fix up this house. We do have a few questions.....
1. The bank finished with the foreclosure, but let the debtor stay until
the house is sold. His wife left him with their teenager and dog. The bank
says that they have started eviction proceedings.....how long does this
normally take?
2. We put in the contract that the second abandoned oil tank in the yard
must be taken care of as a condition of the sale. How do I go about testing
this tank to see if it leaked? My guess is it did leak and there might be a
nasty cleanup bill for the bank, why else would someone go to all the
trouble of putting in a new tank?
3. Anyone out there have some advice for two newbies in the real estate
market? Things to look out for? We did hire a lawyer, but any and all
advice would be appreciated.
As a sidebar....the house is undervalued by about $30k (according to my
observations of the active real estate market in our town). It is more
house than we could normally afford. I am quite handy, with a complete
gutting and rebuild of a kitchen and bathroom under my belt. I know I'll
face many surprises, but that's half the fun of home ownership, isn't it?
_The bank may not want to go along with any contingency of this nature.
One of the ways you get a house $30k belong market is to take it
"as-is", warts and all. Laws in most states do not allow a seller
tomescape oil spill liability... BUT there can be an exception for a
lender who only owns due to foreclosure and was never in control of
operations on the property when the spill occurred. I am SO glad to hear you say this.... many a newbie owner is totally
lost after many years of calling Mr. Landlord anytime the slightest
thing goes wrong. Also, many newbies (espically low money down types
who are really marginally financially able to begin with) are put
underwater by the first unexpected repair.
_I hope this makes sense:
I have a friend who bought a house from someone who bought the house
from the bank on a foreclosure. The guy told my friend that the people
were living in the house during foreclosure and just trashed the place
before they actually had to move out. Were talking huge holes in the
walls, torn carpet and linoleumn, spray painted the walls, etc. I am not
saying this is going to happen (could have been an isolated incident)
but you may want to talk to the bank to see if their is anything you can
do to prevent something like this. Make sure you know the condition the
house is in now and when they move out. If their is any damage you
should talk to the bank about getting the house cheaper due to the
damage the people caused. Hopefully this will not be your case, but here
is a worse case senario.
_Also your statement about "I know I'll face many surprises, but that's
half the fun of home ownership, isn't it?" .... come back in a year and
see if you still feel the same. hee hee hee ;) (we affectionatly refer
to our house as the money pit. Friends that didn't own houses didn't
understand what we ment until they bought houses)
_1.It depends upon your local laws. Most places have a 30-day law, but some
have 120+ day laws. You would be wise to check.
2.You should get the soil tested. Any problems, and RUN, don't walk, from
this property. The cleanup costs from a leaky oil tank can be big money.
3.Well, you've done a smart thing in that regard. The lawyer will help you
to CYA. If something doesn't seem right, though, pass on the property.
There's always another one out there.I'd have to say it's half the grief. Surprises in home ownership don't
bring too many "oohs", just mostly "arrrghs". But that's just my
observation. Your mileage may, as they say, vary.