Originally published on My Own Green Acres / May 4, 2017

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Distressed Properties

The idea of house hunting for your dream house seems like so much fun…and then you start actually looking.  Now maybe if you are looking for the typical suburban house it’s not so complicated.  For us, the combination of good schools, not a horrible commute for the hubby, and acreage seemed like a dream and we soon realized it might just be an impossible dream.  The reason? Every house with enough land in our price range in Lake County was a distressed property!  

What is a Distressed Property?

A distressed property can be a short sale that it is being sold for less money that was borrowed in the mortgage. It is usually done to avoid a foreclosure.  It might also be a home already  in foreclosure.  Sometimes the owner of the home has passed away and the home is left to relatives as an Estate.  By the time the legal proceedings allow for the sale of the house, it has been left without care and needs some TLC.  These homes can be a great value with some hard work., but you must be willing to take a chance and perhaps open a can of worms because you do not know what is inside.

Our Search

When I started looking for our home, I thought it would be easy.  As important as it is to use a Real Estate agent, most home buyers begin their searches online through online sites like Realtor.com or Zillow.  These are great tools to narrow down what you are looking for and that was where we began. I soon learned these sites have many errors and do not always show as much information as a Realtor can find on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service). I only wanted to look in Lake County, but my husband wanted to still be in the western suburbs so we also looked at homes in DuPage County.

It didn’t take long to see a pattern in the houses I picked. I am a sucker for an old white farm house.  I would find something that looked amazing and call the Realtor to pull up more details.  When would see the houses in person, the first thing I noticed was that they rarely looked like the pictures.  Second, I soon learned when it seems too good to be true…it usual was.  Finally, our biggest problem was every distressed property that I loved had issues with the actual sale.  Now my daughter thinks all sellers play the “nah we changed our mind” game.

The takeaway: Don’t lose hope…that house is out there (and worth it). It just might not be exactly what you thought you were looking for!