Everyone wants to buy a foreclosure until they get to see inside the property

[Bruce Lynn]

Everyone wants to buy a foreclosure until they get to see inside the property.

Look at what this guy won at the tax foreclosure option.
https://www.13abc.com/2024/02/25/buyer-beware-local-man-buys...

It's not always pretty, profitable, and fast flipping like they show on TV and YouTube.

[Engelo Rumora]

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Quote from @Engelo Rumora:

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Quote from @Engelo Rumora:

What happened to the good old shoulder barge or accidental door kick haha

I don't ever remember buying a house without getting some eyes on it.

I've always found some a back door or window "open" hehe

If a neighbor approaches me, "No habla ingles" 

😁

Yep, I used to drive neighborhoods and look for those deserted looking houses that had potential. Then park down the street and 'accidentally' wander into the back yard, and 'accidentally' stumble through that window. Surprised I didn't see ya there my friend....

That's how you find the best houses. But you can't actually advise people to do this right....?

True mate,

Always needed to get eyes on the property.

Even if it meant sticking my nose on every window and looking through.

Even the basement windows lol

I think it's too high risk buying completely blind and not doing at least that.

Ideal world, the back door is unlocked.

And luckily for me "It was always unlocked" by me hahahaha

 Lol, yeah, I gotcha. I can't believe now some of the neighborhoods I ventured into...but I always had my friends: Mr Smith and I'm sure you know his pal...

Never had any dramas mate.

And back in the day I'd hang in the heart of the Ghetto.

Everyone loves Aussie's also so always a good time.

Mr Glock was always in my office as it's just to easy that way.

Dundee and his knife

"You call that a knife mate" haha

[JD Martin]

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Quote from @John Underwood:

We bought a house last year that we did see inside of.

It was in a great area.

The house was full of junk and cat poop. It smelled like money and we got a fantastic price!

Reminds me of the house I bought that had 9 dogs locked inside. It was a raised foundation and they filled the floor heating vents with dog food.....you can imagine...

John, which do you think smells worse - dog poop or cat poop?

 Almost nothing is worse than cat piss. I'd take crap over piss any day of the week. I bought a house out of foreclosure that I called the "cat piss house". The smell was so bad you would have an asthmatic attack when you went inside. And that wasn't even when it smelled the worse. It was built in 1928 and had original old-growth hardwood floors in pristine condition other than the smell. I thought I was going down to the subfloors but I had my flooring guys come try to sand anyway. When they started sanding the smell got so bad you needed charcoal respirators to even be in the house. What was amazing, though, is that once it was fully sanded and cleaned up, the smell was gone. You'd never even know what it had been today, and it's been one of my better rentals besides. 

[Bruce Lynn]

Quote from @Nate Marshall:

Someone will probably try to wholesale this one. "Just a little damage" 

Walks flat, needs roof and cosmetics.

[Bruce Woodruff]

Quote from @Bruce Lynn:

Quote from @Nate Marshall:

Someone will probably try to wholesale this one. "Just a little damage" 

Walks flat, needs roof and cosmetics.

 Charming cottage, close to all...... 😂

[Bruce Woodruff]

Quote from @JD Martin:

 Almost nothing is worse than cat piss. I'd take crap over piss any day of the week. I bought a house out of foreclosure that I called the "cat piss house". The smell was so bad you would have an asthmatic attack when you went inside. And that wasn't even when it smelled the worse. It was built in 1928 and had original old-growth hardwood floors in pristine condition other than the smell. I thought I was going down to the subfloors but I had my flooring guys come try to sand anyway. When they started sanding the smell got so bad you needed charcoal respirators to even be in the house. What was amazing, though, is that once it was fully sanded and cleaned up, the smell was gone. You'd never even know what it had been today, and it's been one of my better rentals besides. 

JD, I'd agree about cat pee.....it has something in it that will make you see Jesus, even with a respirator....

But that house that had 9 dogs locked inside of it had this beautiful wide-plank flooring, Ponderosa Pine...unbelievably gorgrous.....I had it sanded once and got about 50% of the smell, twice, maybe 75 %....third time got 95%.

Primer/paint did little.....finally had to have the walls and ceilings skim coated with new texture...throughout the entire almost 3000 SF house. Ya can't make it up can you?

[Bruce Woodruff]

Another new investor story with the moral of 'bid it right'

I got a call from a Realtor friend that there was a house that was doing a one day 'best and final'. I rushed over and when I got there I found about 20 couples, all obvious newbies....the comments I overheard were - "I don't like the color of the walls in the entry"...."the bathroom tile is too old", etc.

I was the only person crawling under the house, going in the attic, looking in the Main panel.....everyone looked at me like I was nuts.

So of course I bid it way higher than anyone else and did not get it. I figured later after I found out what the low bid was, that whoever got it lost an easy $100k.

[JD Martin]

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Quote from @JD Martin:

 Almost nothing is worse than cat piss. I'd take crap over piss any day of the week. I bought a house out of foreclosure that I called the "cat piss house". The smell was so bad you would have an asthmatic attack when you went inside. And that wasn't even when it smelled the worse. It was built in 1928 and had original old-growth hardwood floors in pristine condition other than the smell. I thought I was going down to the subfloors but I had my flooring guys come try to sand anyway. When they started sanding the smell got so bad you needed charcoal respirators to even be in the house. What was amazing, though, is that once it was fully sanded and cleaned up, the smell was gone. You'd never even know what it had been today, and it's been one of my better rentals besides. 

JD, I'd agree about cat pee.....it has something in it that will make you see Jesus, even with a respirator....

But that house that had 9 dogs locked inside of it had this beautiful wide-plank flooring, Ponderosa Pine...unbelievably gorgrous.....I had it sanded once and got about 50% of the smell, twice, maybe 75 %....third time got 95%.

Primer/paint did little.....finally had to have the walls and ceilings skim coated with new texture...throughout the entire almost 3000 SF house. Ya can't make it up can you?

 Ha! No, you sure can't. We walked a house one time that had alternating piles of dog, cat and human feces all over the floors. When you are willing to cover your mouth with a handkerchief and step over land mines to see if the layout works for a LTR you know you're a real estate investor 😁

[Michael Smythe]

Should have done cash-for-keys with the occupant.

[Bruce Woodruff]

Quote from @JD Martin:

Yep. Or just a little crazy....?

[Andrew Syrios]

Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:

Quote from @Andrew Syrios:

Yeah, I preferred buying REOs where I could actually inspect the property. But those basically don't exist anymore. You need to be very cautious with sheriff sales (not just the property's condition but also checking for tax liens and making sure you're buying a 1st and not a 2nd). 

I have seen folks that did not know basically what they were doing bid and buy seconds with no clue about the first..  And in one instance I tried to warn them.. And the bidder assumed I was trying to talk them out of it so I could buy it.. they ignored me and bought it.

I also bought a first in Vancouver WA .. And when doing inspection prior to auction someone was working on the house rehabbing it.. we bought the first showed up and the folks working on it had bought a second and had no clue on the first and did pretty much the full rehab out of pocket and now lost it all..  the money they bid on the second and the rehab and we got a basically fully rehabbed house for the price of the first..  Now granted this is rare to the extreme but if your the one losing out its painful.

I haven't actually seen that happen before but I've heard of it. I remember one case where someone was posting in the forums about how they accidentally bought a 2nd for $500,000 on a property worth something like $700,000 with a $700,000 first. (It was shortly after the 08 crash.) My heart sank for him. 

[Jay Hinrichs]

Quote from @Andrew Syrios:

Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:

Quote from @Andrew Syrios:

Yeah, I preferred buying REOs where I could actually inspect the property. But those basically don't exist anymore. You need to be very cautious with sheriff sales (not just the property's condition but also checking for tax liens and making sure you're buying a 1st and not a 2nd). 

I have seen folks that did not know basically what they were doing bid and buy seconds with no clue about the first..  And in one instance I tried to warn them.. And the bidder assumed I was trying to talk them out of it so I could buy it.. they ignored me and bought it.

I also bought a first in Vancouver WA .. And when doing inspection prior to auction someone was working on the house rehabbing it.. we bought the first showed up and the folks working on it had bought a second and had no clue on the first and did pretty much the full rehab out of pocket and now lost it all..  the money they bid on the second and the rehab and we got a basically fully rehabbed house for the price of the first..  Now granted this is rare to the extreme but if your the one losing out its painful.

I haven't actually seen that happen before but I've heard of it. I remember one case where someone was posting in the forums about how they accidentally bought a 2nd for $500,000 on a property worth something like $700,000 with a $700,000 first. (It was shortly after the 08 crash.) My heart sank for him. 

 I have seen it happen maybe 5 times over the years and directly involved in 2  .. the one I mentioned that I bought the first after the second was bought and another were I was bidding but got out bid B/C other bidder did not know about the first.

In the its a Small World category.. I was having lunch with the president of a new bank I am using in Oregon they are out of Eugene and they know your Dad well.. And then I was telling them about my funding's in the mid west and he mentions I think His boys moved back there somewhere.. I said Oh ya and perfect timing and hit it out of the Park !!!  

[David Avery]

Best deals require your work 

dumpsters and 3 guys at home depot. 

Have cash buy their smokes, lunch, and their music. 

Demo is fun!.

most investors want to do it for a few hours. 

If you don't want to make so serious money than don't,  take these chances and keep reading the books and attending the RE meetings .

Get a great agent and investor savvy contractor and make $50,000 fast!

[Engelo Rumora]

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Another new investor story with the moral of 'bid it right'

I got a call from a Realtor friend that there was a house that was doing a one day 'best and final'. I rushed over and when I got there I found about 20 couples, all obvious newbies....the comments I overheard were - "I don't like the color of the walls in the entry"...."the bathroom tile is too old", etc.

I was the only person crawling under the house, going in the attic, looking in the Main panel.....everyone looked at me like I was nuts.

So of course I bid it way higher than anyone else and did not get it. I figured later after I found out what the low bid was, that whoever got it lost an easy $100k.

Hey mate,

Whenever I get "Highest and best" from a realtor.

My reply is always "I wish the highest bidder all the best" lol

Then again, in our market we have the privilege of not having to get into bidding wars to get a decent deal.

In other markets, it seems to be the only way ehhh 

[Engelo Rumora]

Quote from @JD Martin:

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Quote from @JD Martin:

 Almost nothing is worse than cat piss. I'd take crap over piss any day of the week. I bought a house out of foreclosure that I called the "cat piss house". The smell was so bad you would have an asthmatic attack when you went inside. And that wasn't even when it smelled the worse. It was built in 1928 and had original old-growth hardwood floors in pristine condition other than the smell. I thought I was going down to the subfloors but I had my flooring guys come try to sand anyway. When they started sanding the smell got so bad you needed charcoal respirators to even be in the house. What was amazing, though, is that once it was fully sanded and cleaned up, the smell was gone. You'd never even know what it had been today, and it's been one of my better rentals besides. 

JD, I'd agree about cat pee.....it has something in it that will make you see Jesus, even with a respirator....

But that house that had 9 dogs locked inside of it had this beautiful wide-plank flooring, Ponderosa Pine...unbelievably gorgrous.....I had it sanded once and got about 50% of the smell, twice, maybe 75 %....third time got 95%.

Primer/paint did little.....finally had to have the walls and ceilings skim coated with new texture...throughout the entire almost 3000 SF house. Ya can't make it up can you?

 Ha! No, you sure can't. We walked a house one time that had alternating piles of dog, cat and human feces all over the floors. When you are willing to cover your mouth with a handkerchief and step over land mines to see if the layout works for a LTR you know you're a real estate investor 😁

lol

I've seen it all and smelt it all.

Just haven't found a dead person yet in a property hehe

Funny thing is, having travelled a lot

Some cultures consider animalistic smells attractive.

Even aphrodisiacs.

Personally, I love me some niche perfumes and have always bought the heavy Middle Eastern Oud scents.

Repulsive when first applied but give it a few minutes and it blends into the skin making it sweet, sour and woody lol

Maybe cat piss after some time smelling it would also blend in with our olfactory senses like it does with the other cultures hehehehe 🙈   

[David Niles]

We had a pretty nasty cat pea cottage, stripped lots of drywall ended up spraying about 10 gallons Kilz oil throughout.  Turned our pretty nice though. 

Have done tons of cleanouts on evictions too, nothing surprises me anymore on how some people can live.

The hot water tank had things growing in the hot water overflowing, the refrigerator was tucked in a back shed area where everything inside had liquified. 

[Bruce Woodruff]

I've bought more than one house that had shackles on the wall in various places. Some I found out the purpose from neighbors, others I just plain didn't want to know.

Yes, I removed them during the reno, not sure how many new buyers would find that an asset...?

[JD Martin]

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

I've bought more than one house that had shackles on the wall in various places. Some I found out the purpose from neighbors, others I just plain didn't want to know.

Yes, I removed them during the reno, not sure how many new buyers would find that an asset...?

That guy from the worst town in Kansas probably would have left them on the wall 😂🤣

[Bruce Woodruff]

Quote from @JD Martin:

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

I've bought more than one house that had shackles on the wall in various places. Some I found out the purpose from neighbors, others I just plain didn't want to know.

Yes, I removed them during the reno, not sure how many new buyers would find that an asset...?

That guy from the worst town in Kansas probably would have left them on the wall 😂🤣

 Most likely! Lol.....

Maybe I should develop a business model that installs them...for a slight additional fee.

[Nate Marshall]

If you act now... might get a house with just light damage. 

[Carlos Ptriawan]

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Quote from @Engelo Rumora:

I forgot the thrill of seeing these things derelict and then fixing them up.

What a pleasure to see the transformation.

What started as a simple dream for me of moving to the US and buying, fixing, holding a few properties and moving back to Australia turned into thousands of rehabs, many companies, staff and monsters with 17 heads lol

It's nice going back to the basics of how it all began.

Just simply checking out distressed properties, negotiating, buying and fixing them up.

Ahhhh, the good old days 🙏

You are spot on! It is all about the thrill of the chase, the analysis, the risk v reward... It is like a drug once you get bit, isn't it?

I am still enjoying it. No plans to stop.

 one of these days I want to chase and follow the Bruce adventure LOL just for some fun lol

[Carlos Ptriawan]

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

I've bought more than one house that had shackles on the wall in various places. Some I found out the purpose from neighbors, others I just plain didn't want to know.

whyyy ?

what they said about it lol

[Bruce Woodruff]

Quote from @Carlos Ptriawan:

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

I've bought more than one house that had shackles on the wall in various places. Some I found out the purpose from neighbors, others I just plain didn't want to know.

whyyy ?

what they said about it lol

Lol, I can't say it on the forum. PM me if you want the down and dirty details.

[Carlos Ptriawan]

i am dying to see these adventure lol i get bored quick with looking at good looking house lol

[Nate Marshall]

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Quote from @JD Martin:

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

I've bought more than one house that had shackles on the wall in various places. Some I found out the purpose from neighbors, others I just plain didn't want to know.

Yes, I removed them during the reno, not sure how many new buyers would find that an asset...?

That guy from the worst town in Kansas probably would have left them on the wall 😂🤣

 Most likely! Lol.....

Maybe I should develop a business model that installs them...for a slight additional fee.

 Not sure where I found this photo at.. 

[Kermaury Musgrove]

@Bob Stevens

Beautiful outcome for sure.