Welcome to Foreclosure Guide
Free Foreclosure Search Article
. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
Free Estimates for Fixing up Your Foreclosure Properties Can Yield a significant Savings in Your Overall Budget
from:No doubt you are planning on investing in foreclosure properties because you will want to take advantage of the downward slope in the US real estate market at this time. You will be able to purchase properties at well below market value and that is a consider feather in your financial cap so to speak. Your work does not end after obtaining the loan for financing and paying the closing fees on the foreclosure properties.
Though you may be able to rent out the foreclosure properties as is, especially if you were shrewd enough to purchase only the most quality foreclosure properties in good areas. You will no doubt have to do some fixing up. You want your foreclosure properties to continuously appreciate so that you can get maximum dollar value in the future should you decide to resell.
What you need to do from the start is get an estimate from a qualified professional on how much the repair and renovations will cost on your foreclosure properties before you even buy them. If not then, right after the purchase so that you can avoid damage and deteriorations on foreclosure properties from escalating beyond your financial control.
Actually, you can get free estimates on the cost of fixing up your foreclosure properties and that will help save you money when you are planning your own financial budget.
You will get to see most of the foreclosure properties before purchasing. The banks will let you see properties and so will government owned properties in many states offered by the HUD and VA programs. There may be a little more difficulty viewing properties put up at auctions but it is not entirely impossible to see them either. Inquire with state laws what your rights are in this manner.
How Many Free Estimates are Needed?
• Get several estimates upon the same property and same work to be done on that property. Do not just accept the first bid for the job.
• Get estimates over the telephone, to insure that you do not have to pay for the cost of your estimate.
• Make it clear to the prospective contractors that you are looking for free estimates at this time.
Compare prices
• Do not invite each professional at the same time, talk to them individually ask as many questions about the work as you need: What work needs to be done, how will it be done, how long will it take to do it, what are the labor costs, and how much will it cost up front and at the end of the contract.
• Ask about the refurbishing costs (bringing property up to standards) and how long the existing appliances or things like the electrical and plumbing systems should last in their existing state.
• Ask about the replacement costs for parts.
• Take the initiate to go to the hardware stores and price these items to see if the contractor is being honest or overcharging you for the pieces.
• Use online cost estimates on fixing up properties, such as the Home Remodel and Cost Guide by Marshall & Swift, this guide is widely used through the Industry.
• Get an estimate from the hardware or home improvement center before soliciting professional contractor estimates.
Wherever possible do your own repair work in order to cut down on fixer upper costs. Use your own people, before contracting to a private company. However if a professional team can get material at discount and you need quite a bit of material to fix up your foreclosure properties, you will have to weight the material cost against labor cost to see which direction will yield the highest savings for you.
Free Foreclosure Search News
New Website Offers Free Access to Foreclosure Listings
Foreclosure search engine streamlines process for buying distressed properties and features over 3,000 homes for less than $10k.Boston, MA (PRWEB) April 25, 2012 The foreclosure crisis has created an amazing opportunity for homebuyers and real estate investors to pick up homes at a fraction of what they sold for a few years ago. Unfortunately, locating these properties and sourcing the best ...
Read more...Foreclosure outreach event set for Friday in Bonita Springs
"Understanding Your Mortgage Options," a free foreclosure outreach event presented by the Housing Development Corporation of Southwest Florida,...
Read more...bz.foreclose.0518
Foreclosure filings in Lane County rose by 48 percent in April compared to March, but were still well below last year’s figures, according to numbers released Thursday by RealtyTrac, a California-based firm that tracks foreclosure filings nationwide. A total of 161 Lane County households — or one in every 970 …
Read more...ListedBy Debuts Real Estate Industry's First Free Online Live Auction, Social Networking and Services Marketplace
Site bridges classified advertising and auction models to drive asset value and salesNapa, Calif. (PRWEB) May 03, 2012 ListedBy (http://www.ListedBy.com) today made its debut, launching the real estate industry's first free online live auction, social network and services marketplace. ListedBy addresses a market void and need for a free, transparent online auction and property search arena ...
Read more...Letters to the Editor: Occupy, Iran, Romeo and Juliet in Yiddish
Why Occupy? Rob Eshman is to be commended for raising the issue of the Occupy movement (“ Occupy Ideas ,” May 11). A Lexis/Nexis search reveals that media reports about income inequality “skyrocketed to 1,269 stories” in October 2011 from 409 stories before the Occupy movement occupied public spaces, according to Occidental politics professor Peter Dreier.
Read more...