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When you buy a home through a foreclosure auction, you can get it well below market price. The catch is you are often buying the home sight unseen. As Kate King reports, that means you can never be sure what you might find inside. One buyer of a rural Connecticut home found three dead bodies when he entered his recently purchased property. Winning bidders in other foreclosure auctions have encountered pest infestations or vandalism. One buyer walked into a home and found a “sex apparatus” hanging over the bed.
In the affluent Malibu neighborhood near L.A., hundreds of homes were ravaged by the wildfires. The aftermath is prompting an unusual migration out of one of the most desirable, celebrity-packed stretches of coastline in the West. Even those homes that escaped damage are having a hard time selling. “Malibu is a great deal right now,” said agent Jill Reeder. “I think it’s absolutely a buyer market because we have such a plethora of inventory.” Nicholas G. Miller and Paul Kiernan talk to some owners trying to leave.
He Bought a House ‘Sight Unseen.’ Then He Found Three Dead Bodies.
Edward Marchion took a chance when he bought a four-bedroom house in this affluent suburb without ever stepping foot inside. When he entered for the first time, he could hardly believe what he found: three dead bodies.
The mystery is an extreme example of what buyers can encounter when purchasing houses through foreclosure auctions.
Marchion’s winning bid for the Connecticut house, seemingly a bargain for a property valued at $650,000 in one of the country’s hottest housing markets.
Iconic Beachfront Estates Are on Discount in Malibu’s Sluggish Post-Fire Recovery
Malibu now has a glut of luxury homes and empty lots stuck on the market. More than a year after the Palisades fire, the city has been slow to recover, and some of the most sought-after real estate in the country is struggling to get attention.
Permitting and building delays, together with surging insurance costs and new construction codes, have prompted owners to sell and deterred potential buyers.
Data Points
$41,250: The median down payment among Gen-Z mortgage shoppers across the 50 largest U.S. metros, the lowest amount of any generation in an analysis of 130,000 mortgage purchase inquiries by LendingTree.12.6%: Rise in prices of new starter homes in the Northeast since 2022, according to Realtor.com. Starter homes are now about 50% more expensive in the region than prepandemic.
Beyond WSJ
U.S. Suspends Funding for U.S. Virgin Islands’ Housing Authority and Accuses it of Corruption (The Associated Press)Property Taxes are Poised for Major Midterm Elections Ballot Battles across Many U.S. States (CNBC)Paxton Expands Real Estate Portfolio Amid Senate Run and Divorce (The New York Times)
About Us
Craig Karmin is real-estate news bureau chief. Reach him on X @CraigKarmin or via email at [email protected]. The newsletter is compiled and edited by Kate King and Rebecca Picciotto, WSJ real estate reporters. Reach them via email at [email protected] and [email protected]. Got a tip for us? Here’s how to submit.
