The Good and the Bad of a Foreclosed House

As we mentioned earlier, Nike and I really love the house we found in NW Portland. It's a bank owned foreclosure, and based on everything I've looked at I'm convinced that it is a very good deal, even in this depressed market. However, foreclosures come with downsides also.

The previous owner apparently took (and probably sold) the kitchen range, dishwasher, and even the central vacuum unit. All of these appliances belong with the house and should have been included in the foreclosure. The bank purchased new appliances to replace these, but the gas range doesn't really fit the space, so Nike and I may end up replacing it in the future.

The owner also put comments on zillow.com that were very critical about several features of the house. This is really strange, as I'm not sure why someone would do that for a house they owned. We're guessing the comments were added after foreclosure in order to reduce the amount the bank would be able to get on the house. We had our house inspector check everything mentioned and were happy to find that the flaws were highly exaggerated or imagined.

The last straw came yesterday. Somehow the bank had not discovered that there was an IRS tax lien on the house for over $20,000. It's not our problem, but the bank is going to have to spend some significant money to get the lien released, and it will delay our closing for 2-4 weeks. So instead of moving at the end of June, it may be the end of July.

Here's the kicker - I checked the name from the foreclosure documentation and found that the previous owner is a realtor in Portland with her own agency! I'm very tempted to give her a call, tell her I'm looking for a house, and ask if she has any experience with foreclosed properties. I'd love to hear the reaction!