Anybody want a house in Fort Worth for a STEAL?

TangoWhiskey

TangoWhiskey

Touchdown! Greaser!
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3Green
A lady came into the auto parts shop while I was there today, and asked the manager if she could leave some flyers on the counter for her house, which she's trying to sell to prevent a foreclosure on her record. He said "sure", and she left a pile of pink flyers in a plastic sleeve, with a color photo of the house on the counter.

We went over and looked. OH MY!!! The picture is of a REALLY nice, modern brick one-story.

Built in 1997, 2280 sq foot one-story rambler, 4 bdrm, 2 bath, 2 living, 2 dining, open kitchen with central island and skylight, great condition, master retreat with private entrance to the back yard, master bath has a garden tub, separate shower, double vanity and large walk-in closet. Full second batch, 4th bedroom can also be used as a study or home office. Laundry room, two car garage, security system....

GET THIS: She's asking only $59,500 (her remaining mortgage balance, I presume!) or best reasonable offer. Will be sold this Sunday to the highest bidder, house is open for inspection this weekend.
 
If her balance is really that low, then I don't understand how the bank wouldn't lose more money by foreclosing on her and having that house be empty for a long, long time (until the market recovers).

Wouldn't it be better to cut her some sort of deal and have her pay back the mortgage over time?
 
sba55 said:
If her balance is really that low, then I don't understand how the bank wouldn't lose more money by foreclosing on her and having that house be empty for a long, long time (until the market recovers).

Wouldn't it be better to cut her some sort of deal and have her pay back the mortgage over time?
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You're thinking logically. The "customer service" people at mortgage companies are incapable of such rational thought and certainly have no logical thinking skills.
 
KennyFlys said:
You're thinking logically. The "customer service" people at mortgage companies are incapable of such rational thought and certainly have no logical thinking skills.
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Yeah, apparently not. A neighbor of a friend of mine is having a similar issue. Bank foreclosed on him, put a lot of money in the house, and then just had it sit around ever since. Nobody's buying, of course.

It's a shame, really :(
 
That appears to be a very nice home, well kept. If the word is getting out there, she should do quite well.
 
Apparently it's being represented by the website I posted... got this note from the lady:

I am an investor and have a financial interest in the house. The owner is in foreclosure and that is why the house is priced so low.

Unfortunately, I had to postpone the sale. I have rescheduled it in 2 weeks for the weekend of Nov 1 & 2, 10 - 5.
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I am, however, leary of the deal, based on the "if it sounds too good to be true" rule. I definitely wouldn't touch this one with a ten-foot pole unless I had a good real-estate attorney involved.
 
Well--if it is an auction--it is likely that it won't sell for the starting price.
 
Another thought keeps going through my mind. Is there a divorce involved?
 
Dam good buy!!! to mad I wont be back in the states with free time on my hands till December or I would come and inspect and make an offer.

Lots of Short Sales going on right now.
 
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jesse said:
Well--if it is an auction--it is likely that it won't sell for the starting price.
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BINGO! Try more like 159K or whatever the standard housing price is in that market.
 
Do I understand mortgages correctly?
You can pay off $199,000 of a $200,000 house and if you never make that last payment, the bank gets not only the house but the $199,000 as well?
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Do I understand mortgages correctly?
You can pay off $199,000 of a $200,000 house and if you never make that last payment, the bank gets not only the house but the $199,000 as well?
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Is that true? I always thought that the owner gets what's left after the bank is made whole, but that includes costs like the endless legal fees and court costs and the loan contact has late payment penalties so the last $1000 could go to $5000 in a few months.

If the homeowner in such situation didn't do a panic sale for $150,000....
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Do I understand mortgages correctly?
You can pay off $199,000 of a $200,000 house and if you never make that last payment, the bank gets not only the house but the $199,000 as well?
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There are no mortages anymore, thay are called "Deeds of Trust" (faster forcloser out of court) The bank has to forward the balance of the proceeds ($1000 + expenses) to the old owner.

mikea said:
Is that true? I always thought that the owner gets what's left after the bank is made whole, but that includes costs like the endless legal fees and court costs and the loan contact has late payment penalties so the last $1000 could go to $5000 in a few months.

If the homeowner in such situation didn't do a panic sale for $150,000....
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The fees the Trustee (legal ease for the attgorney selling the house) must be "reasonable" and are monitored for abuse.

More than likely a house worth $200,000 (normal market conditions) would only sell for $150K to an investor. He has holding costs, fixup, back taxes, realtor fees, and he must make a profit.
 
Sounds like it is, indeed, an auction. The $59k price is thrown out there to generate interest...which it has.:wink2:
 
All,

This may or may not be a deal. It depends on the market there. However, I doubt that one could build this house for what the asking price is.

Also, in this market, cash is king. We don't know if this is a short sale (suspect it is) or the seller really has a low mortgage balance, or there's more to the story. Now, if the mort bal is low, there could be a few dollars made, by taking title subject to. (buyer pays the mortgage) And there's a few sellers dumb enough to get behind on a great mortgage with a lot of equity.... uterly stupid, but...... .

Lots of unknowns.
 
tdager said:
I understand that whole "location, location, location" thing but that is freaking ridiculous.

ANYONE that pays that much for that shoe box is stupid. Yes I said it and I stand by it.
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And so is the bank that lends them the money.
 
sba55 said:
If her balance is really that low, then I don't understand how the bank wouldn't lose more money by foreclosing on her and having that house be empty for a long, long time (until the market recovers).

Wouldn't it be better to cut her some sort of deal and have her pay back the mortgage over time?
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Yes.... but the bank in all likelihood no longer owns the mortgage note. It has been sold to Fanny/Freddy, securitized, CMOed so that now probably more than a thousand people own a piece of the mortgage, divided into classes with each class having a different priority claim over mortgage payments and also the ultimate repayment. Result: There is no lender to negotiate with. All you have is a special servicer with "if this, then that" mandatory instructions as part of the securitization. If no payment, then foreclose. No flexibility.

Back in the era when lenders owned 100% of the loan (1976-8) I worked for the Travelers Insurance Company and at the time we had a portfolio of single family house loans. (Travelers got out of the business in the 1960s and the portfolio was dwindling down as the loans were being repaid normally.) End of year the boss gave each of us a portfolio of loans for which the December payment had not been made, and we were to drive out to the houses and collect the payment. So I show up at this house in Grosse Point Michigan, an otherwise affluent area. Here is the house with the grass up to my armpits, paint peeling, etc. WTF? Our mortgage balance at the time was down to nothing: about $600.00 and the house was worth $500,000 plus or minus even in bad condition.

No answer at the door. I saw a neighbor and chatted him up. The owner was an elderly widow, becoming senile, living on fixed income, yada yada. A very sad story. I reported all this to the boss and his answer was almost immediate. "Stop all collection efforts. Write the homeowner a letter and tell her that we will not foreclose on her, and that we would be repaid when the house is ultimately sold." Then he turned to me and said "remember, this company makes its money selling insurance. We don't make money foreclosing on senile widows. If we tried, the negative publicity would be a disaster for our agents."

We owned 100% of the loan and could do what we wanted with it. And for $600 at what must have been a whopping 5% interest rate.....

-Skip
 
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