A quick real estate search on ebay today turned up two South Bend homes for sale. Buyers, do your research. If you are seeking a South Bend investment property, you could see prices as different as $9,000 and $50,000 or $1,025 (auction bid) and $47,900 for the same property.
Here are the stories on the South Bend homes for sale on eBay on September 23rd, 2009.
340 Scott Street
A bit of digging reveals 340 S. Scott has a lengthy history in the MLS. It was listed 2/28/2007 for $47,900. After going through three Realtors, it dropped off the MLS on 3/18/2008. It was listed for $18,900 at that time.
It is now listed on a real estate web-site at $38,500 as well as on ebay with no reserve, a current bid of $1,025, and a plain-spoken note that
“It was bought from a bank as-is, where-is, no disclosure, no guarantees, no survey, or inspections and we are selling the same way. We have limited knowledge about the property condition other then what is shown or stated so please don’t ask “how’s the furnace and the roof”, we don’t know.”
The seller’s phone number is out of Dallas.
721 Rex Street
Listed for $50,000 7/1/2008. Expired unsold 1/1/2009. Apparently foreclosed and listed by the bank on 8/28/2009 for $9,000. pended on 9/14/2009. It is still “pending” in the MLS, so the sales price isn’t yet available. It could have closed and not yet been entered into the MLS or it could be the seller is advertising it before s/he actually owns the property. The starting bid on its ebay listing is $11,500.
The disclaimer on this auction is more legal:
Property sold “AS IS” As a material part of the consideration for this Agreement, Vendor and Purchaser agree that Purchaser is taking the Property “AS IS” with any and all latent and patent defects and that there is no warranty by Vendor that the Property is fit for a particular purpose…
The seller’s phone number is out of Eastern Kentucky.
Buyers, beware. Just because a price seems low doesn’t necessarily make it a wise purchase. You’d be well served to learn the South Bend market before parting with your money, or to find a local specialist to advise you and act on your behalf.
The September ND housing sales numbers should be telling…we’ll soon know if there is really any market left for ND housing sales as an extra home, and if so what type. My guess is the only thing that is really left are parents and grad students buying cheap condos to use pretty much year round as student housing and that a market for buyers who planned on using their ND homes a few times a year no longer exists with much if any depth.