Gilbert Real Estate Blog
~ by Randy Hooker of Dreamcatcher Realty
-
10th Thing You Should Know About Buying Foreclosures in Gilbert, Arizona
In the first nine installments of this series (1st Thing You Should Know About Buying Foreclosures, 2nd Thing You Should Know About Buying Foreclosures, 3rd Thing You Should Know About Buying Foreclosures, 4th Thing You Should Know About Buying Foreclosures, 5th Thing You Should Know About Buying Foreclosures, 6th Thing You Should Know About Buying Foreclosures, 7th Thing You Should Know About Buying Foreclosures, 8th Thing You Should Know About Buying Foreclosures, 9th Thing You Should Know About Buying Foreclosures), I wrote about Terminology, Pricing, Multiple Offers, Response Time, Property Condition, Repairs, Utilities, Bank Addenda and Owner-Occupant vs. Investor Buyers – as they relate to “Things You Should Know About Buying a Foreclosure.” Here’s the 10th post of the series:
- Closing Costs – Many home buyers these days are utilizing FHA financing that requires only a 3.5% minimum down payment. But for many home buyers, especially first timer buyers, closing costs of 3-5% can be cash prohibitive. As a result of current market conditions, it’s become a fairly common practice for buyers to ask bank/sellers to make ‘concessions’ of 3-3.5% toward buyers’ closing costs and prepaids. Generally speaking, most bank/sellers are receptive to paying such closing costs, but not always. Once again, how receptive any given seller is to paying such concessions depends on the particular bank/seller, asset manager, pricing on the property, if multiple offers have been submitted, comparable sales in the area, and a number of other variables.
The strategy and structure of your offer is extremely critical when it comes to bank owned foreclosures. It needs to be competitive with other buyers, but it also needs to be within reasonable appraisal range, include terms and conditions that are favorable to your financial situation, cash flow, etc., and yet it has to be attractive enough to a bank/seller to invite them to accept your offer. Best advice is to work closely with your Buyer’s Agent in drafting your offer. An experienced, knowledgeable and skilled Buyer’s Agent can be worth a pot of gold at this stage!
