House on Hubzu

[Laura Ryan]

I am eyeballing this house in my town on Hubzu. 

What are your thoughts when you read a description like this:

Property Description

REO Occupied - the seller does not represent or guarantee occupancy status. NO VIEWINGS of this property. Please DO NOT DISTURB the occupant. "As is" cash only sale with no contingencies or inspections. Buyer will be responsible for obtaining possession of the property upon closing.

[Michael S.]

I have both bought from Hubzu and walked away from deals on Hubzu.  One Hubzu home I purchased was vacant so it made the inspection easy.  The other was occupied and I revised the offer (which was cancelled).  

Regarding the occupied home I could not inspect, I attempted to simply speak with the current occupant and have a civil meeting to see if they would be moving out or would be vindictive and destroy the home.  I had also prepared to offer the occupant cash after moving out rather than have to go through the eviction process to create a sort of win-win, rather than a loose-loose (where the angry occupant is forced out and destroys the house along the way).  The occupant would not answer the door or respond to a letter, so I revised my Hubzu offer for worst case scenario.  The revised offer was not acceptable to Hubzu and the contract was cancelled.  

My advice would be: if you cannot inspect the home prior to purchase then adjust your offer to compensate for a full interior renovation - flooring, plumbing, paint, many fixtures, etc. 

Of special note:

I'm not sure if it is still like this but the Hubzu preferred title/escrow company was really bad.  It was outsourced to a company in California that in turn outsourced to a foreign country. The Hubzu title company created a few errors along the way.  One of the errors I did not find until a  year after the sale.  I found out that my tax bill was being sent to an incorrect address.

Good luck