Never buy any home no matter how good of a deal it might seem like without fully satisfying yourself to the extent of the damage and without having at least a couple of very reliable quotes. You will incur some out of pocket costs when doing your inspections, but depending on the overall extent of the damages on the property, you can eat up $25,000 in a blink of an eye.

Have your agent help you gather information. You don't need to go it alone. If you aren't yet working with an agent, write me at DaveO@TheOCmls.com and I can tell you all the critical steps you will need to take before making a big move like this.

Thanks and good luck in your home search.

Good information. You should call the city of Orange to find out what permits they require to fill in a pool and then call a contractor to get a bid. It's a bit more involved that simply turning it into a big planter. I've heard from others that it can be done for less than $10,000 but my contractors license expired in the 1990's and you'll want bid from a licensed pro.

Good luck, let me know if I can help.

The pool at this property is very bad and in its current condition will not hold water and looks like the former owner attempted make repairs him self and ended up making it worse and then started to fill it in with dirt because there is 2 feet of dirt at the bottom in the deep end. The $25K is from a FHA 203K Streamline Loan which would allow me to make the repairs needed. Stanard FHA would not approve this one without repairs.

The bank isn't going to allow you to make repairs on a bank owned property prior to the close of escrow (neither would you want to in the even the transaction goes south). On most of the REO's I've sold that have pools, and the pool was empty, closing the deal without the pool being filled and operational has not been an issue. The loan underwriter would be the ultimate decision maker on that issue.

$12,000 to $15,000 will go a long way for pool repairs but you should call a licensed contractor for a better answer. You are going to have an inspection period if your offer is accepted and you'll have time to walk away from the deal if you find the pool repair costs are prohibitive.

Call me if you need help with your offer and inspection. I rebate part of my commission on every transaction and you could save several thousand dollars.

Brad Davidson
714-961-8442
Real Estate Commission Rebates @ http://www.wehelpubuy.com