I actually started looking for occupied homes because I believe there is more likelihood they will not have had all the wiring, pipes, and furnace stolen out of them.

You have to consider where the pipes will go for both water supply and drain, where the shut-off valves will be located, whether a window or skylight is present or whether exhaust fan is needed, where the vent for the waste will go through the roof, whether you have electric wiring that can accept a GFCI (old house might only have two conductors on many circuits, lacking ground wire).

I couldn't refi her by March.The loan is assumable so I would have to check on terms.I have exhausted a bunch of funds fixing up the place.My balloon isn't due for another 14 months from now.

We have found that putting an eyelet for the discharge hose into the drain line keeps the discharge hose from coming halfway out the drain line from the pressure and prevents leaks.If your washer is on the upper floors and not ground level it is a good idea to have a drain pan or a drain in the floor that is tied into the drain pipe for the discharge hose.Some tenants have older washers and when they go out the water is known to go everywhere.

Also, a great questions to ask is how often do the pipe breaks in the HOA and do they ever experience long lapses of no hot water.

One caveat is that the current owners (the defaulted borrowers) may have already exhausted most of the "stalling tactics" that occur in pre-foreclosure, to the point where the lender / servicer is going to foreclose on a certain date regardless of whether a short sale attempt is in progress.

Received the deposit check for renters moving in Feb for the house purchased in Dec.Had a $2500 water line installed instead of $300 repair to stolen water pipes in the house I purchased in Dec.Started applying and somewhere near the end (?)

Look over copper piping well as its prone to pinhole leaks.

Additionally, foreclosure levels were affected by our directive to servicers to delay foreclosure sales until the loan servicer verifies that the borrower is ineligible for a HAMP modification and that all other home retention and foreclosure prevention alternatives have been exhausted.

We have maintenance install the washer and dryers so they are hooked up correctly.We use teflon tape,the steel braided hoses wit the high quality washers on the inside.Where the discharge hose goes into the drain we install a strap to the wall so the discharge hose won't fall out when draining and leak.Even given all that if they have an old washer it can give out and water can be released.The simple fix is a drain pan under the washer with a pipe that ties into the discharge pipe in the wall.All of this will cost about 40 bucks or so not including labor.Well worth it than cleaning up a huge leak causing massive damage.We also check the hot and cold water valves the supply lines hook into from the washer.The valves might be gone and partially leaking.Also if the tenant installs the washer and dryer they might over tighten fittings causing bent pipes and damage or under tighten having leaks.Been my experience with over 20 units on a 30 year old building.