Fun with Polybutylene and Lender Owned Homes
December 19, 2008
Now, I’m no plumber, but this looks like polybutylene pipe to me. The right color, the brass clamp fittings, the house was built in the early 1990’s…
This is a shot of the master shower in one of my listings, a lender owned gigantic home on the West side, let’s call it a moderate fixup, at a ganga price. The master shower? Been taken out, all the way down to the studs, so you can see the plumbing.
Of course, there’s no way to know what actually happened in this shower, that would make it be in the current condition. Were they remodeling? Was there a leak? Someone just felt like tossing the sledgehammer around over a weekend?
When you buy (or in my case, sell) a lender owned home, there’s a good amount of due diligence to be done. There’s no owner to make disclosures, the bank wants to sell as-is, the buyer doesn’t want to purchase a lemon, and quite frankly, I’m not looking to fool anyone about the condition of this house. Disclose, disclose, disclose. I believe this house has polybutylene. Buyer – you should verify that with your inspector.
Tucson Weekly Reports on Foreclosures
December 17, 2008
There’s an article in the Tucson Weekly this week about foreclosures in Tucson, and one homeowner who negotiated with his bank to stop foreclosure and stay in his home. You can read the story here.
It’s an interesting reflection on the foreclosure market in Tucson, from the cause of the rising number of foreclosures in the area to estimated times to recovery. I believe the author is right when they say that far to many people don’t fight the foreclosure.
The article also confirms that the highest density of foreclosures are on the South and Southwest sides, and that the vast majority are homes that were bought 3 years ago or less.
My only point of contention with the article is that they claim foreclosure transactions aren’t factored into the MLS stats, and then they imply that if these transactions were included, sales and median prices would be much lower than reported. I’m guessing this was probably a misunderstanding. "Foreclosure transactions" where the bank takes back the home are not factored into MLS stats. That’s not an arms-length transaction. However, when those foreclosed homes are listed and resold on the open market, those sales are factored into the MLS stats.
Resources to help you fight your foreclosure in Tucson:
Just found: One more article on foreclosure rates in Pima County via the Arizona Daily Star.
Bank Owned Homes in Tucson
December 15, 2008
And speaking of bank-owned homes…
You can’t easily search the MLS for them, but we’ve come up with a way to search it for you, and make a list of everything that appears to be bank-owned. It’s not 100% accurate, but I’d bet we’re in the 95% range. It’s the best we can do with the data we’ve got though, and should be helpful if you’re trying to pick up a bank-owned bargain.
You can see the lists, broken down into area of town here, at the new Tucson Bank Owned Homes site.
- About Tucson (48)
- Bank Owned Homes (3)
- Canadians and Tucson (2)
- Central Tucson (6)
- East Tucson (6)
- First Time Buyer (30)
- Home Buying (114)
- Home Selling (65)
- Homeowner Associations (7)
- Loans and Financing (46)
- Market Discussion (18)
- Market Reports (51)
- North Tucson (6)
- Northeast Tucson (6)
- Northwest Tucson (7)
- Odds and Ends (71)
- Purchase Contract (4)
- Relocating (9)
- Repair Renovate Maintain (21)
- Restaurants (14)
- South Tucson (6)
- Southeast Tucson (6)
- Southwest Tucson (6)
- Top Ten (3)
- Tucson Events (36)
- Tucson Foreclosures and Short Sales (14)
- Tucson Homes Explained (32)
- Tucson in Photos (4)
- Tucson Land (5)
- Tucson Neighborhoods (20)
- Tucson New Construction (2)
- West Tucson (6)
