What are the dangers of buying a foreclosed house on eBay, sight unseen? I see some nice ones go for cheap?

I do this to earn a living and buying house sight unseen is a risky call. If I am buying a house sight unseen I already have a buyer for the house in mind. I also have "feelers" they are folks that help me find good deals to buy around the country.

I do not usually see these people but I know them and they work for me at a % of the sale of the property they have found or ..inspected for me. Even a quick phone call to a local referenced home inspector and 300 dollars will help out immensely. That house for example it looks like a great deal on the surface at $3254.00.

That is cheap enough to make it worth it if the property is lien, debt, tax, free and it has a reasonable utility infrastructure, plumbing, heating, electricity etc. A call and or letter to city hall would handle the legal end and a bunch of phone calls to all of the contractors in the area would likely get the condition of the infrastructure.. someone has tried to fix it before.. or they have at least had the cost of fixing it estimated by someone. For that money I would buy and sell that house in one day but if I did not have a needy buyer ready to move I would not buy the property. Buying a house sight unseen that you intend to live in is crazy and could be the most costly thing you have ever done.

There is a reason the house is that cheap and it is not foreclosure. The house my have been a foreclosure but the catch will be in the Why? People will usually take care of their living situation first so why did this homeowner not take care of theirs?.. It could be that the house was foreclosed on because the owner did not have the money to fix it and felt that with the loss of their job or the drop in household income made the fixing of the property impossible or not worth the price... could be septic, mold, plumbing.. something costly kept this homeowner from paying for their house... or wanting to pay for their house, there could have been a zoning change in the city and a toxic waste processing plant is going in behind the yard... so yes the house is in foreclosure and that is the front reason it is for sale but the "Why is it in foreclosure?

" question is the key to this sale. ~~> "Seller says it was purchased foreclosed, and make no warranty as to its condition because they don't know either!" " dough. If that is the case then they also bought.. or inherited... the house without knowing all of the information and then discovered that "Why" that is the very big deal here... a very expensive to fix to livable big deal here.

Some digging into the personal life of the previous owner would be necessary here to insure a good deal.

Well...With the house you posted on the first link, there is nothing wrong...As far as I can see from the eBay link. The only thing that is suspicious is: "A $1,000 non refundable earnest money deposit is due within 24 hours after the auction. We will accept PayPal, wire transfer or cashiers checks/money orders."

Now...if you want to buy it and the seller makes a turn over on you and is a scam he might ask for a wire transfer. If you are naive, you will pay that $1.000. If he is honest he will accept Paypal.

Since he posted the phone number...the ad is ok. I saw better auctions on eBay, however, this looks OK as long as you can speak with the owner. Be careful at the vocabulary, and anything suspicious.

NEVER SEND MONEY THROUGH WESTERN UNION OR MONEY GRAM! Not even $50 These are the main dangers. To loose your money.

The rest can be solved by a carpenter.

Aaaahh MI. Worst economy in the country. The Detroit area is terrible.

They are trying to get everyone out of one entire neighborhood so they can bulldoze it to the ground and sell off the land to rebuild ... rebuild anything. I have a 21 year old friend who just bought a house out in the country for $20k. She is 21 and OWNS a home!

Sometimes it makes me want to move back. The money I could save! Then ... I realize the money isn't worth having a boring, dull life in the middle of nowhere with no interesting jobs, or no jobs period.

Although ... If I DID have money ... I would buy property and just hold onto it. The economy will eventually bounce back and in 10 years I bet the land would be worth 3, 4, or even 5 times as much!

I would be very cautious about buying a house that you have not seen in person. From my experience, often time homes look great in pictures, but when you go to actually see them, they look a lot worse. I would definitely check out any properties 1st before buying them.

You got some good advice here.. Please don't do it. I've got several years of experience buying/flipping and renting homes. Always, always, always walk through the home and inspect it in addition to looking at the sellers disclosure form.It's easy to get caught up in the emotions of purchasing a home; even for investment purposes.

Don't potentially throw away your hard earned cash.

Being a skeptic. Does this house even exist? It may not.

Second, does it really look like this? It could be completely damaged on the inside. It could have termites, structural damage, flood damage, etc.It could need everything.

What if it has been looted and is just a shell? Heating systems, plumbing and new roofs are big bucks. Even if it appears to be in good condition, you never know.

I watch a lot of HGTV and you will not believe some "contractors and electricians" have done to houses. It could be a death trap.It could have liens against it. The neighbors could be terrible.

Just imagine the worse things that could happen and you will realize this has bad idea all over it. I would never buy a house without a home inspection and you are still not safe even then.

Lest not forget as well, if you do get a house you could end up with one BIG problem after another. Such as the house not being up to building code, or even something worse like radon or asbestos . I would NEVER purchase a home without seeing it first and having a inspector inspect the home thoroughly.Be careful man!

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.