Wife and I currently live in a home we have owned since late 2012. It’s been a good house but it’s in the middle of town and we would love to have something outside of town with some land, and maybe a touch bigger (our house is around 1400 sf). We’ve been casually shopping around on Zillow and recently a listing popped up that is both intriguing and concerning. Here’s the details: House sits on 4 acres, outside town a bit but still convenient for both of us. Puts our daughter in a better school district (she turns 5 this May). The house is ~4000 sf (3 bed/4 bath) which is ridiculously huge for us being a family of 3. It also has an in-ground pool which I don’t particularly want to deal with. Upon looking into the property details, the home has been owned by a mortgage company since 2018 or 2019. A quick Google of the former owner’s name shows a local assisted living home being associated with him, so I don’t know what the story is there. Pictures from the Zillow listing show that the house is dated and probably needs work. Current listing price of the house is well below the tax appraisal value, so it’s stupid cheap for the size and property. It definitely looks like it has been unoccupied for a while. House was built in 1997. We have not even looked at the place in person, but yeah- is this a potential money pit or worth looking into?
There are no bad properties… Just bad prices. Do your due diligence and you’ll be fine.
Is this a potential money pit or worth looking into? Yes.
Spot on.
I’m a landlord and have purchased quite a few vacant properties. You didn’t mention the age of the home, but unless it’s all newer pex plumbing, you’re going to have to replace most of it. Especially on older homes, the plumbing just crumbles without use. It may even seem fine at first, but once you start using it, it’s going to crumble. When I buy a home that has been vacant, I typically assume I’ll have to replace most of the mechanicals. Sometimes the furnace is fixable, but again, without use this stuff seizes up and stops working. There is usually some issues with walls/flooring/trim due to temp fluctuations. Definitely check the house for leaks very diligently. Don’t just get whatever inspector your realtor uses. Find a good one with good reviews who knows what to look for in a previously vacant home. If these issues and your tolerance are reflected in the price, then go for it. My personal home I live in was vacant for two years before we bought it and after replacing most of the plumbing (cast iron, home built in 1940), we’ve had no other issues pop up in the last 14 years that weren’t normal for the age of the home.
Get an inspection. That will answer your question definitively.
It’s cheap because it has been sitting. Expect to have to do major renovations.
Sitting should have no effect on the value unless it has deferred maintenance. I sold a house once that had been vacant for 10 years or so. It was fairly new so nothing really went wrong. Being barely lived in it was actually in pretty good shape.
It really comes down to how much hassle you’re willing to deal with. Renovating a property that big, not to mention maintaining that much land, is not for the faint of heart. Definitely inspect the pool. It may need to be resurfaced. Don’t forget the weekly maintenance a pool needs.
Of course it is worth looking at. If you like it enough, put in an offer. Be sure to get inspections, DO NOT skip this step on a house that has been vacant awhile.
Ask why. Inspection is a must. You might have to replace all HVAC, plumbing, roof, and if water damage, a lot more. Foundation could be sinking. Termites. If the property is desirable, someone would grab it.
Nothing you mentioned would in any way be of any great concern. It’s either a good house or a house with issues that need repair or updating, or a house that’s too far gone, or a house that’s overpriced. If it’s well below tax value, it could be that the lot has been divided or something like that, or the tax value could be wrong, or it could have been underpriced and at this very minute it is getting showings and multiple offers. But to answer your question, being bank owned means nothing. Previous owner means nothing. It could be that there was some complication in the foreclosure and they had to sit on it for a period of time before they could sell it. Or, who knows? But there is nothing that might suggest a problem if it’s for sale.