Where do I find information about a Bank Owned real estate house before I buy it. What are back taxes? ?I've been looking at some of the "Bank Owned" fixer-upper houses in my area (Troy, Michigan) . Most of the houses can be bought for under 20,000$ . My question is what do I need to know about these houses before I purchase them so I wont get myself into a mess? How do I find out if it has any Back Taxes owed,... |
Bank owned homes are normally sold through a real estate firm. So you should find a real estate agent in your area that have the listing for that bank owned house you are looking at.
As far as the taxes owed on a bank owned home, banks normally keep the taxes current. The bank is not exempt from losing the house to the county for unpaid taxes.
If you decide to purchase a bank owned home you will close the transaction through an escrow closing office in most cases, or through an attorney where attorneys are used to close real estate transactions.
When escrow is opened you will be presented with a title report on the property. This title report will tell you of any liens, taxes or other items that need to be paid before title can be transferred to the new buyer(You)
Any taxes owed on the property will be paid by the current owner, the bank through this transaction. You will only pay taxes on the property from the time the transaction close and you are on title.
Most of the bank owned house the former owners have already been evicted so that should not be a problem.
You can visually look at a property to see if it has any obvious defects, once you have signed a contract to purchase the property make sure your contract say something about this Transaction is subject to a qualified inspection of the property by a state licensed inspector and my final approval.
This inspection would have to be paid for by you and cost $400 or more depending on the house location, cost of the house and what other instructions you give the inspector.
Your real estate agent should be able to answer most of these questions,but you have to stay on top of the situation. Any errors made could cost you money even if you did not cause the error.
So if things come up that you are not sure of call as many people as you need in order to get an answer. If an answer sounds to good to be true make sure you call someone else to get their opinion.
I hope this has been of some use to you, good luck.
'FIGHT ON"
County office of deeds will be able to tell you about back taxes and liens. Do not even consider a house that has tenants unless the bank has them vacate before closing. Pay to have a professional do a home inspection and pay for title insurance. You can also check with the building code enforcement officer in the town and make sure any and all remodeling was done with the proper permits in place.
First response is on track. If you get title insurance (which I consider essential), you will be protected against any liens -- the seller will pay off all known liens at closing, and the insurance will protect against unknown liens.
If you know buildings well, you can do an inspection yourself, but it may well be worth your while to engage a professional to do it; expect to pay $300-400.
It is unlikely that any bank owned property will have tenants.
The main trick is finding such properties, and here the aid of a good broker is very useful. The broker's listing data will show whether the property is owner occupied, on a "short sale", or bank owned.
