Bank Owned — Buyer Beware

What would you pay for a used toilet?

If you are like me, you are thinking “you would have to pay me to take a used toilet off your hands…ick!”

Missing toilets are just one of the surprising things I’ve seen removed from a home in foreclosure.

Not everything is as obvious as a missing toilet.

If you are seriously considering a bank-owned (as-is) home, be sure to look for the heating and air conditioning units. I once had clients write an offer on a bank-owned home where the HVAC was missing and we wrote an offer accordingly. It was a multiple offer situation, and we weren’t the highest. I was frustrated, wondering if the other bidders knew they would be installing a heating system. It wasn’t something that was disclosed to us; my buyers were extra observant.

One house had all the doors but none of the hinges. Again, I had to scratch my head, imagining a lemonade-type stand “Used Hinges for Sale.”

Today, I have buyers in escrow on a bank-owned house, and the problem in their case isn’t the things that went missing before they made the offer — but after.

The home was broken into and the appliances and all the door knobs (yep, door knobs) were stolen. Not to worry, the contract guarantees that the home will be delivered in the condition it was in when the offer was made and accepted.

So the bank ordered a new stove and doorknobs — and just when they were about to arrive, there was another break-in, and the oven is now missing. Now the oven has been ordered and the stove has been installed — and I’m holding my breath hoping we can close on this house, change the locks and secure the property before anything else changes.

If you make an offer on a bank-owned home: take lots of pictures when you view the home, and consider that your inspections are the best investment you can make. 

Sure, it’s an “as-is” sale, but you need to know what “as-is” includes.