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The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

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Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#101

Post by danans »

supportengineer wrote: post #95
chasil wrote: post #90

I bought a local house in 2004 that suffered a failed furnace in deep winter (with great damage) for $17k. I put another $10k into it for repairs, and rented it. I started getting postcards around 2012: "I/we want to buy your house." I have a pile of them. None of them offered more than $20k. The home in question is very near Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. I do a two mile walk through campus every day, s…

Why are those homes so cheap?

The GP said:

"with great damage"

Which would explain why they are cheap, and also land in that area is very cheap, so it basically converges onto the price of the land.

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#102

Post by heavyset_go »

danielmarkbruce wrote: post #87
bhouston wrote: post #75

They are a discount buyer, so it is generally a bad deal to use them and you basically shouldn't unless you have no other option. It is similar to getting a pay day loan, or selling stuff to pawn shop or keeping a balance on your VISA. You are going to get a bad deal. I don't really know what to do about it. How can you ensure people are educated enough to know that a discount buyer is a buyer who will under pay for…

In the cases mentioned specifically, the buyer has broken a law already (at least two are fraud) or the contract is invalid (lack of mental capacity). This isn't really a story per se. People are doing illegal stuff or stuff that won't hold up in court if challenged. We have a system for it - it works ok, not fantastically. We don't need new regulation for cases like this, we just need better execution on the existin…

Someone who is selling their house for pennies on the dollar most likely can't afford to police lenders and keep them honest via lawsuits, especially sellers like those in the OP who are mentally disabled.

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#103

Post by chasil »

supportengineer wrote: post #95
chasil wrote: post #90

I bought a local house in 2004 that suffered a failed furnace in deep winter (with great damage) for $17k. I put another $10k into it for repairs, and rented it. I started getting postcards around 2012: "I/we want to buy your house." I have a pile of them. None of them offered more than $20k. The home in question is very near Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. I do a two mile walk through campus every day, s…

Why are those homes so cheap?

We used to be the global manufacturer of farm equipment. The early 80's farm crisis closed several major players. Deere is still headquartered here, but plants are established in China and elsewhere.

My area also hosts a U.S. arsenal with custom manufacturing for military equipment that has kept many people employed. We also have the largest aluminum press in the world that makes all the skin for Boeing, Airbus, and all the rest (Bombardier, Embraer, et al).

I've worked for all of them.

We never recovered from the loss of farm manufacturing, which has depressed home prices.

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#104

Post by [deleted] »

supportengineer wrote: post #95
chasil wrote: post #90

I bought a local house in 2004 that suffered a failed furnace in deep winter (with great damage) for $17k. I put another $10k into it for repairs, and rented it. I started getting postcards around 2012: "I/we want to buy your house." I have a pile of them. None of them offered more than $20k. The home in question is very near Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. I do a two mile walk through campus every day, s…

Why are those homes so cheap?

[deleted]

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#105

Post by TylerE »

pkphilip wrote: post #96
chasil wrote: post #90

I bought a local house in 2004 that suffered a failed furnace in deep winter (with great damage) for $17k. I put another $10k into it for repairs, and rented it. I started getting postcards around 2012: "I/we want to buy your house." I have a pile of them. None of them offered more than $20k. The home in question is very near Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. I do a two mile walk through campus every day, s…

I can't imagine property being so cheap - that too in the US. Here in India where I reside, you wouldn't be able to get even a 100sq.ft of open land for that price.

You often see this with old crappy houses in not super desirable areas, because your basically have to bulldoze and build from scratch to get something you’d want to live in rather than a cheap rental.

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#106

Post by chasil »

pkphilip wrote: post #96
chasil wrote: post #90

I bought a local house in 2004 that suffered a failed furnace in deep winter (with great damage) for $17k. I put another $10k into it for repairs, and rented it. I started getting postcards around 2012: "I/we want to buy your house." I have a pile of them. None of them offered more than $20k. The home in question is very near Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. I do a two mile walk through campus every day, s…

I can't imagine property being so cheap - that too in the US. Here in India where I reside, you wouldn't be able to get even a 100sq.ft of open land for that price.

Rock Island, Illinois was listed on Salary.com several times as one of the five least expensive places to live in the U.S.

Our winters are not very pleasant, but if you like to ski, there is plenty to indulge within a two hour drive.

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#107

Post by chasil »

danans wrote: post #101
supportengineer wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are those homes so cheap?

The GP said: "with great damage" Which would explain why they are cheap, and also land in that area is very cheap, so it basically converges onto the price of the land.

The floors were all Weyerhaeuser oak, and they were not difficult to bring back. This is not commonly found.

Really, the purchase price and renovation costs were rounding errors compared to coastal and major metro real estate.

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#108

Post by chasil »

PraetorianGourd wrote: post #100
supportengineer wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are those homes so cheap?

A mixture of: 1. The home being in a state of disrepair such that most lenders won’t fund a mortgage 2. Being located in a region where the local economy can’t support high home prices 3. Because of the lack of desirability, a lack of speculative investment.

...and now that workers are remote and can live wherever they want, these are fair game.

After driving through Port Lavaca, TX, that seems really nice.

If you like snow, you will be happy with Rock Island.

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#109

Post by granshaw »

danielmarkbruce wrote: post #89
dmbche wrote: post #79

Exchanges of over some amount of money should be supervised by a third party just to check it's not a scam - how hard could it be? I can't believe there are no safeguards for people...I can't believe it wouldn't be worth it socially

Often two people want to do a transaction without anyone else knowing about it. The US is, to a large extent, built on the idea the idea of individual freedom etc etc.

Home sale transactions end up being public record anyway tho

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#110

Post by 1letterunixname »

There's another legitimized scam involving foreclosures, pre-foreclosures, and outright theft: adverse possession where a 3rd-party pay some back taxes and gets the property for a song.

In some municipalities, adverse possession can be used without paying back taxes to squat and legally transfer a portion of another title to a person occupying that area.

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