[sreeb]

The 24% funding is not good. A lot of condos have low reserves because they are owed money by non paying owners who are in foreclosure. Much of this will be payed as the units are sold. The condo may also have had a big expense lately. If all the units just got a new roof and paint job this may be no big deal. If they just spent the money repairing flood damage then it is a big problem.

The main impact on you is that HOA fees will be higher until the reserve is brought up. Try and discern from the documents if the current fees include enough reserve payments to bring the reserve to fully funded in 5 years. If not, take the shortfall, divide it by the number of units and 60 months. Your HOA fees will probably go up about that much.

Another concern is deferred maintenance. If there is a backlog of repairs or major items like roofing or repaving then you need to add that to the reserve deficit. Similar to a house only you have no control over the timing.

There have been several comments on difficulties financing condos. I think the banks have overshot and things will get better later which is good for you if you can buy now. I would look at rental cash flow. If it would cash flow at prevailing rental rates you will be able to sell it.

[sreeb]

I have bought two REO condos and made offers on about 10.

From what I can determine, the listing prices I looked at represented a lowest acceptable price with the bank basically conducting a reverse auction, lowering the price every 2 weeks until they had an acceptable offer. If the initial price is “right”, it will get bid up. Low offers didn’t even get a response, never mind a counter. Obviously some will work differently.

I used a buyers agent and thought most of sellers agents were on the up and up. There was one that sold for less than my cash offer though…

The one thing that the sellers agents seemed to want was confidence that I could and would actually complete the sale quickly and with a minimum effort on their part. Appraisals are a big unknown. It may be hard to compete with borrowed money and you can’t go too high or it won’t appraise.

You need to decide if you want to get the best deal or the best house for you to live in. In the long run, paying a few % extra is no big deal if you get a house that really works for you. If you just want the best deal, start writing offers you would be happy with on everything you think you could live in,

I don’t think you need to be in any hurry.

[sreeb]

I have bought two REO condos and made offers on about 10.

From what I can determine, the listing prices I looked at represented a lowest acceptable price with the bank basically conducting a reverse auction, lowering the price every 2 weeks until they had an acceptable offer. If the initial price is “right”, it will get bid up. Low offers didn’t even get a response, never mind a counter. Obviously some will work differently.

I used a buyers agent and thought most of sellers agents were on the up and up. There was one that sold for less than my cash offer though…

The one thing that the sellers agents seemed to want was confidence that I could and would actually complete the sale quickly and with a minimum effort on their part. Appraisals are a big unknown. It may be hard to compete with borrowed money and you can’t go too high or it won’t appraise.

You need to decide if you want to get the best deal or the best house for you to live in. In the long run, paying a few % extra is no big deal if you get a house that really works for you. If you just want the best deal, start writing offers you would be happy with on everything you think you could live in,

I don’t think you need to be in any hurry.

[sreeb]

I have bought two REO condos and made offers on about 10.

From what I can determine, the listing prices I looked at represented a lowest acceptable price with the bank basically conducting a reverse auction, lowering the price every 2 weeks until they had an acceptable offer. If the initial price is “right”, it will get bid up. Low offers didn’t even get a response, never mind a counter. Obviously some will work differently.

I used a buyers agent and thought most of sellers agents were on the up and up. There was one that sold for less than my cash offer though…

The one thing that the sellers agents seemed to want was confidence that I could and would actually complete the sale quickly and with a minimum effort on their part. Appraisals are a big unknown. It may be hard to compete with borrowed money and you can’t go too high or it won’t appraise.

You need to decide if you want to get the best deal or the best house for you to live in. In the long run, paying a few % extra is no big deal if you get a house that really works for you. If you just want the best deal, start writing offers you would be happy with on everything you think you could live in,

I don’t think you need to be in any hurry.

[sreeb]

I have bought two REO condos and made offers on about 10.

From what I can determine, the listing prices I looked at represented a lowest acceptable price with the bank basically conducting a reverse auction, lowering the price every 2 weeks until they had an acceptable offer. If the initial price is “right”, it will get bid up. Low offers didn’t even get a response, never mind a counter. Obviously some will work differently.

I used a buyers agent and thought most of sellers agents were on the up and up. There was one that sold for less than my cash offer though…

The one thing that the sellers agents seemed to want was confidence that I could and would actually complete the sale quickly and with a minimum effort on their part. Appraisals are a big unknown. It may be hard to compete with borrowed money and you can’t go too high or it won’t appraise.

You need to decide if you want to get the best deal or the best house for you to live in. In the long run, paying a few % extra is no big deal if you get a house that really works for you. If you just want the best deal, start writing offers you would be happy with on everything you think you could live in,

I don’t think you need to be in any hurry.

[sreeb]

I have bought two REO condos and made offers on about 10.

From what I can determine, the listing prices I looked at represented a lowest acceptable price with the bank basically conducting a reverse auction, lowering the price every 2 weeks until they had an acceptable offer. If the initial price is “right”, it will get bid up. Low offers didn’t even get a response, never mind a counter. Obviously some will work differently.

I used a buyers agent and thought most of sellers agents were on the up and up. There was one that sold for less than my cash offer though…

The one thing that the sellers agents seemed to want was confidence that I could and would actually complete the sale quickly and with a minimum effort on their part. Appraisals are a big unknown. It may be hard to compete with borrowed money and you can’t go too high or it won’t appraise.

You need to decide if you want to get the best deal or the best house for you to live in. In the long run, paying a few % extra is no big deal if you get a house that really works for you. If you just want the best deal, start writing offers you would be happy with on everything you think you could live in,

I don’t think you need to be in any hurry.

[sreeb]

[quote=poorgradstudent]Faced with a choice of walking away and breaking even and facing 7 years of bad credit or 14 years of house payments to get back to zero, I have a hard time faulting people for taking 7 years, unless they LOVE their home.[/quote]

A lot depends on the loan. I continue to believe that todays loans are a bargain never to be repeated in my lifetime. As long as our government spends like there is no tomorrow, there may be no tomorrow for the dollar.

[sreeb]

[quote=poorgradstudent]Faced with a choice of walking away and breaking even and facing 7 years of bad credit or 14 years of house payments to get back to zero, I have a hard time faulting people for taking 7 years, unless they LOVE their home.[/quote]

A lot depends on the loan. I continue to believe that todays loans are a bargain never to be repeated in my lifetime. As long as our government spends like there is no tomorrow, there may be no tomorrow for the dollar.

[sreeb]

[quote=poorgradstudent]Faced with a choice of walking away and breaking even and facing 7 years of bad credit or 14 years of house payments to get back to zero, I have a hard time faulting people for taking 7 years, unless they LOVE their home.[/quote]

A lot depends on the loan. I continue to believe that todays loans are a bargain never to be repeated in my lifetime. As long as our government spends like there is no tomorrow, there may be no tomorrow for the dollar.

[sreeb]

[quote=poorgradstudent]Faced with a choice of walking away and breaking even and facing 7 years of bad credit or 14 years of house payments to get back to zero, I have a hard time faulting people for taking 7 years, unless they LOVE their home.[/quote]

A lot depends on the loan. I continue to believe that todays loans are a bargain never to be repeated in my lifetime. As long as our government spends like there is no tomorrow, there may be no tomorrow for the dollar.

[sreeb]

[quote=poorgradstudent]Faced with a choice of walking away and breaking even and facing 7 years of bad credit or 14 years of house payments to get back to zero, I have a hard time faulting people for taking 7 years, unless they LOVE their home.[/quote]

A lot depends on the loan. I continue to believe that todays loans are a bargain never to be repeated in my lifetime. As long as our government spends like there is no tomorrow, there may be no tomorrow for the dollar.

[sreeb]

Congrats, you actually got some kind of response out of a bank :)[/quote]

This was an asset management specialist hired by the bank. The bank took about a year from the last payment to get title.

[sreeb]

Congrats, you actually got some kind of response out of a bank :)[/quote]

This was an asset management specialist hired by the bank. The bank took about a year from the last payment to get title.

[sreeb]

Congrats, you actually got some kind of response out of a bank :)[/quote]

This was an asset management specialist hired by the bank. The bank took about a year from the last payment to get title.

[sreeb]

Congrats, you actually got some kind of response out of a bank :)[/quote]

This was an asset management specialist hired by the bank. The bank took about a year from the last payment to get title.

[Author]

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