The old lady that lives in the house behind us house is going into foreclosure. My husband and I would like to buy it but the question is would it be cheaper to wait until it is foreclosed upon and buy it from a sheriff's sale or to buy it from her?
The old lady that lives in the house behind us house is going into foreclosure. My husband and I would like to buy it but the question is would it be cheaper to wait until it is foreclosed upon and buy it from a sheriff's sale or to buy it from her?
let me ask the crystal ball.............
it says you have a 50-50 chance of paying more one way than the other.
way too many unknowns and possibilities to make that call. Remember though, if it goes to auction, you will not be the only ones bidding on the property so that alone tends to make me believe buying from the current (yet short term) owner would be better situation.
The value of the property compared to the mortgage balance is one of the bits of info that make a great difference as to what you might expect to pay to either party as well as how many competitiors you might have in an auction.
don;t forget though, if you buy, and don;t want old lady neighbor as a tenant, you are the ones that have to evict her.
My sister and her hubby just went thru this in Maine. The neighbor was going into forclosure. My sis/hubby and neighbor drew up an offer to purchase for the amount owed on the mortgage. The offer was submitted to the bank and my sis never heard anything. So, they went to the auction. They ran into someone from the bank (running the auction). The baker asked why the were there, they said 'we never heard back from you guys' the banker said 'your original offer was fair... no need for this auction'. My sis got the property. I don't know where your property is but I would think that several factors would play into this:
1. what is owed on the mortgage 2. how far into foreclosure she is 3. if the offer you would be willing to make would be acceptable to the mortgage holder.
I'm sure there are other factors to take into consideration. But I wanted to at least relay the story in hopes of giving you some idea of direction. Good luck.
cbent's points are very pertinent, especially the one about "how far into forclosure this is" Depending upon the answer to that question, you may not be able to deal with the old lady neighbor and must deal with the bank.
If it is early stages and the bank has not taken any true action to reclaim as of yet, you would still be dealing with the OLN (old lady neighbor). The offer would not neccessarily have to be the mortgage amount but if it isn;t and OLN is acceptable, that would mean she would have to pony up the remainder out of pocket at closing so I seriously doubt that is an option (but not impossible).
If the bank has actually started the process of foreclosure, then you would most likely be dealing with the bank (which can be a real PITA and I don;t mean the bread. Not always but a possibility)
Not too far into foreclosure as there isn't a court record of a case yet in my county. It's just word of mouth from other neighbors. The old lady's husband died several years ago and I guess left her in a bit of a mess. The lady's grandchildren have said that she hasn't been paying payments or taxes on the property and she owns several other homes. In court records I did find she has several liens against her and her late husband.