Foreclosures Before the Clean Up

Atlanta Rodents

Over the last several years of this real estate slump, the idea of buying foreclosure homes for “pennies on the dollar” has been planted firmly in the minds of many buyers. Like cockroaches, the skeevy infomercial masters altered their DNA and started pumping out “can’t miss programs” to buy and flip these homes. Cable and network news toss out the 30 second “buy distressed homes and save thousands” blasts on a regular basis. And don’t get me started on the real estate industry tossing out all of the new agent “distressed home expert designations” that can be purchased to further confuse the naive home buyer. Those are topics for later – right now I want to share a little of what I see appraising these homes before they hit the market.

As both a certified appraiser and a broker I get into more homes than most agents, I also see many Atlanta foreclosure homes long before they are presented for sale. As an educated buyer knows, these homes are sold “as is, where is” with no seller disclosure – complete buyer beware. The data research side of this is one story – the physical condition of some of these homes is an entirely different one.

Foreclosures Before the Clean Up

Being in real estate full time since ’89 has resulted in many long standing relationships with professionals involved in every aspect of this business – but the best war stories come from fellow appraisers. All of us take photos, but I’ve taken to carrying a flip video camera because while a picture might be worth a thousand words, a video is even better. As I see things in the Atlanta real estate market that make me cringe, I’ll post them. I expect this to be an ongoing series of posts, every day is a new adventure.

Rat Infested House

I caught this appraisal and it was nothing short of amazing for all the wrong reasons. In a scene straight out of the TV show Hoarders, this home was literally over run with rats. With the infestation so extensive, my thoughts as I walked through:

• Rats are notorious vectors for disease and this home is rat heaven
• The HVAC system has to be compromised with feces, hair, dander and possibly nesting material
• The finished floors are obviously trashed, I’m thinking subfloors might be as well due to animal waste
• They are living and nesting in the walls, likely gnawing on wires, insulation, duct work and drywall
• They’re also dying inside the walls – stinking bodies and all the issues that come with that
• If the seller brings in a firm to eradicate them, will it be poison – lasting effects? More dead rats in the walls?
• The bonus here was a nice black mold issue that was firmly in place down in the basement

I called for a professional eradication along with clean up by a “disaster firm”; a company that would literally break the home down and scrub it clean. I’ll be watching this one to see how it’s presented to the market. Here are videos of the interior: CLIP 1 and CLIP 2 an exterior one is also posted on YouTube

Not all of the Atlanta foreclosure homes that I appraise or research for buyers are this bad. That said, most will have issues that need to be addressed -buyers need to be aware of the potential issues because these are all “as is”. As I come across good examples to post, I will.
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Hank Miller is an Associate Broker & Certified Appraiser working full time in real estate since 1989. He specializes in the north Atlanta real estate market which includes Alpharetta, Marietta, Roswell, Duluth, Kennesaw, Sandy Springs and surrounding areas. Hank can be reached anytime at 678-428-8276 or EMAIL Hank