Gilbert Real Estate Blog
~ by Randy Hooker of Dreamcatcher Realty
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6th Thing You Should Know About Buying Foreclosures in Gilbert, Arizona
In the first five 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), I wrote about Terminology, Pricing, Multiple Offers, Response Time and Property Condition as they relate to “Things You Should Know About Buying a Foreclosure.” Here’s the 6th post of the series:
- Repairs - Most Buyer’s Agents out there are unaware that there have actually been cases where the bank did indeed agree to perform a specific repair, in spite of their AS-IS stipulations. During a professional home inspection, occasionally a major problem is detected. Some examples would be an A/C unit that is inoperable, roofs that have serious problems or zero life expectancy, electrical issues that pose a health and safety hazard, plumbing problems that pose imminent water damage risks, etc. These types of property conditions are what some people call “deal breakers,” as they can often result in the buyer canceling the contract and walking away from the property. However, an experienced Buyer’s Agent can present a copy of the inspection report(s) to the listing/seller’s agent, along with a carefully worded repair/replacement request. The incentive for the seller to consider the repair is that they now know the condition exists, and they know that any subsequent buyer will encounter/discover the same problem. So often the bank/seller will actually agree to perform the repair(s).
I want to emphasize that there are no set rules, customary practices, ‘normal’ responses or even reasonable decisions made by any given bank or asset manager. This arena is clearly an art, not a science. Just be sure your Buyer’s Agent is an experienced, skillful artist.
