In today's market foreclosures are hot and there is a large inventory in which to choose. A recent survey showed that close to 6o percent of potential buyers were considering buying a foreclosed home which is an increase of 10 percent from the 4th quarter of 2008.
One big concern on most people's minds when it comes to buying a foreclosure is what condition is the house in? Almost all buyers who are considering a foreclosure have indicated that their biggest fear in not being able to identify any serious issues that may be wrong with the home.
One answer to this concern is to get the home inspected before buying. If the right precautions are taken most worries that are associated with buying a distressed property will be eliminated.
With many foreclosure properties the homes will be suffering from a lack of maintenance issues rather than someone intentionally damaging the home before vacating the property. Before the final foreclosure process takes place the home owner is usually having serious financial issues and if there is a home repair that's needed they don't always have the money required to make the correct repairs and in turn they make the repairs on their own to save money.
Inspections of foreclosed properties have discovered poor plumbing as well as wiring issues that can lead to serious problems down the road such as electrical fires.
Most foreclosed properties have all the power turned off as well as the gas and the water too. Even with the best inspection there is no real way to properly inspect the home without having all these items on. When you have an inspection done on a foreclosed property try to have all the utilities on so that leaks can be found and wiring issues can be discovered and corrected. Also this can give you an idea of what the costs might be if you consider buying the home and you can take those costs into consideration before making an offer.
Before buying a foreclosed property, protect yourself and your investment and have the property inspected. If you don't you will be doing yourself a great disservice.
Inspections are the only way to know if everything is operating correctly and this will help you understand what issues need to be addressed.