5 Steps To Buy A Foreclosed Home In NYC

Buying a foreclosure in NYC is one of the best ways to buy a home because they can sell at a great price. Buying a foreclosed home can come with a few extra tricky spots along the road. For one, you'll have to buy the home in "as-is" condition, which means that you might get a house that has some major problems that you have to fix before it's livable. In general, though, a lot of the process is fairly similar to buying a regular house. These are the steps that you should take to buy a foreclosure.

1. Get Your Real Estate Agent

When you want to buy a house, one of the first steps that you'll take is hiring a real estate agent to sidestep the frustrations and confusions that come with buying your home on your own. The right real estate agent can help you identify foreclosure properties that match your criteria, and you'll learn about them sooner, which will help you compete with the investor competition.

2. Get a Pre-Approval Letter On a Loan

Just like when you buy a regular home, you should get a pre-approval on a loan to show that you're in the position to finance this purchase. A pre-approval loan will show how much you can borrow, too. Because your foreclosure will likely need some work, think about getting an FHA 203(K). This type of loan is perfect when you need lots of repairs because you can often allocate up to $35,000 for renovations.

3. Analyze Your Options

You want to get the best home available for your budget and what's available in the area. To do this, work with your agent to run a comparative market analysis, which will look at factors such as square footage, location, the volume of current home sales, and tax history. Doing this step will also help you determine how much to offer, which can put you in a better position to make an offer that can compete with cash offers.

4. Make a Competitive Offer

When other foreclosures are selling quickly, you'll have to bid higher because banks that own the foreclosed properties know that they'll get their asking price quickly. Banks don't want to hold onto foreclosed properties for long because it ties up their money, so going in with a slightly higher offer can entice them to take your quick and slightly higher bid even though you can't pay cash because it lets them move on. Plus, bidding low is a bad idea because most foreclosures are already greatly discounted compared to fair market value.

5. You'll Be Buying As-Is Condition

Renovation costs in New York can be tens of thousands of dollars. You never know how poor of condition that house is in, so sometimes foreclosures are best left to experienced buyers.

When you're looking for homes for sale in NYC, you can find some great options when you talk to the right real estate agent. Foreclosures in NYC can be tricky to purchase, and having someone with experience on your side can be the difference between getting a home you'll love and ending up in a situation that hurts you more than it helps.