Buying short sale and bank-owned

[Elena Koyun]

Hello!

We are looking at purchasing our first investment property - a duplex. After unsuccessful two attempts to buy a duplex in our budget around $300k with FHA loan, we thought to turn to a short sale, foreclosure, and bank-owned properties - that are very price effective.

Both - our lender and real estate agent - are talking us out of it saying that in most cases we have to have full price cash on hands, otherwise, we may spend money on inspections and not get the property at the end. They are strongly suggesting that we stick with regular sales, buy duplex or two, have rental income, save and then look at the short-sales and foreclosures with cash on hands.  Please, note we are not going to the auction. 

After some googling we read that it is the same sale where we put some money down and take the loan to pay the rest, the only difference is that we buy a place "as is." We would really appreciate an explanation of how these kind of sales work in the real world.  Just in case, if conditions are different for different states we are in WI, Dane County.  

Many thanks!