re: Real Estate Question: Haggling a Foreclosure

No architect once you agree on a price with the seller get a few estimates on the work. Pick the guy you like and submit his estimate to your lendor. Your lendor will then call your contractor make sure he's legit and send out the appraiser. As long as the house appraises good youll be on your way to closing. If the renovations are under 35k the contractor will get two draws. One up front for half and the other when the work is completed. If your project is over 35k they can get up to 5 draws. The lend or does all the paying to the contractor so you don't have to worry with any of that.

Find a good local bank and get a renovation loan. They generally follow the same format as 203k but Give you much more leniency. 203k also has built in caps for how much you can borrow for renovations. The bank will require an as is appraisal and a hypothetical renovated appraisal. The will most likely want to keep your loan under 90% of the final value. You generally will have a balloon until construction is done, then You can refi to a conventional. One of the perks is the equity you generate during construction will be the down payment.