Author Topic: What do you think of this place?  (Read 1661 times)

jprince7827

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What do you think of this place?
« on: March 15, 2015, 01:05:51 PM »
Saw this on Trulia - it's down the street from my current 1br. We're looking to move up in the next couple of years because we want to have a kid.

http://www.trulia.com/property/3191184306-114-Frank-Lloyd-Wright-Ln-Oak-Park-IL-60302

It's much cheaper than the area, but that's because it needs a lot of reno. I don't plan on doing it myself, as I don't know a thing about construction. I plan to pay someone top dollar to do a top job at it. Do you think it's worth it? I have to go see it in person first and with someone who knows more about construction than I do, but I'm looking for general thoughts. I'd be able to stop by after work whenever needed to check on progress, and when it's ready we could move out of the condo and into the place.


theoverlook

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Re: What do you think of this place?
« Reply #1 on: March 17, 2015, 09:34:22 AM »
I don't know anything about the market in that area but I have bought a house through Hubzu and there are challenges associated with it.  If you decide to go for it and would like more info on the process let me know.

You may not qualify for a traditional mortgage depending on the condition inside.  I had to get an FNMA Homestyle mortgage which actually worked out well.  It rolled the improvements into the mortgage.  (though there are challenges to that mortgage, as well.)  If the place is habitable but rough you should be able to get a traditional mortgage.  But be honest and brutal about the condition, since most Hubzu purchases do not have a financing contingency so if the bank rejects the property you're out your earnest money which is a significant amount with Hubzu.

Also, in my opinion, do not use their title insurance and closing company.  Most problems I read about them had to do with people that did and had no end of trouble.  Ie, unpaid water bills that the title insurance wouldn't do anything for them on.  My title insurance co found a $7,000 unpaid water bill on our property and went to bat for us on it and got the seller to pay it as part of the closing process.  If I had used their "free" closing and title insurance you can bet that wouldn't have happened.  My title insurance cost $5,000 but it saved me that $7,000 so I count it as having paid for itself already.

Everyone you deal with at Hubzu with is in India.  They're bodies in seats occasionally answering emails but don't expect them to care about you or the transaction or property or anything.  E.g., I found an ambiguous situation in the contract and repeated requests for clarification from two different people resulted in answers of "read your contract documents" as the most detailed answer.

Would I do it again?  Absolutely.  I saved a ton of money on the property and love the house (we're living in it) and never would have been able to justify buying it if someone competent had been listing it. ;-)