The nearly empty beer can on the kitchen counter was still cold.
Nearby were a deck of cards and a broken-out window -- signs that a squatter had very recently been inside.
On Saturday, five prospective buyers walked through the three-bedroom home in Charlotte's Reid Park neighborhood, appraising the broken door frame in the back and the majestic oak out front.
They were participants in Charlotte's first "Big Bus Foreclosure Tour," and had come to see homes like this one -- now vacant because of foreclosures.
Foreclosure tours began in California last year and quickly spread to hard-hit cities in other states. Eric Strom, broker in charge at RE/MAX Metro Realty, decided to launch a foreclosure tour in Charlotte after hearing about a similar, highly successful venture from a friend in Colorado.
Strom hopes to hold at least two of these tours each month to give bargain-hungry buyers a chance to check out undervalued homes in a city where foreclosure rates run high.
Among those who boarded the maroon van Saturday were Ann Carter, a flight attendant from Matthews, who walked gingerly on the heavily stained carpet of the Reid Park home and considered the possibilities. The house was battered, but it was selling for just $37,900.
After leaving the home, she and fellow tour participant Myra Balzer approached a handyman who lived next door, asking his thoughts about what it would take to make the house pass building code.
"We're just two girls who might go into business together and fix it up," explained Balzer, a nurse from Stallings.
Carter and Balzer toured the homes with a mixture of hope and sadness. Hope that they might buy an undervalued house, fix it up and sell it for a profit. Sadness for the families who lost their homes.
Imagining the struggles of those families wasn't hard for Carter. In 2000, she was going through a divorce and was at risk of losing her home to foreclosure. But she managed to sell before the bank took action.
"I feel for the people," she said. "... It doesn't take long for things to go haywire."
At other homes on Saturday's tour, in widely differing neighborhoods of south, east and west Charlotte, there were many indications of things gone haywire:
Leaky roofs. Termite damage. Broken windows and rotted drywall.
In one home, the prior owners had apparently decided to take an upstairs light fixture with them. In another, footprints on a back door showed where someone had tried to break in.
But for those willing to do some work, there were deals, too. One five-bedroom house in south Charlotte's Providence Plantation neighborhood -- a fixer-upper suffering wall rot -- was listed for $328,000. Comparable homes in good condition in that neighborhood sell for about $450,000.
Later in the day, the van pulled up to a weathered three-bedroom house in west Charlotte's Reid Park neighborhood. It was on the market for $44,900 -- less than half of what a comparable home in good condition had sold for nearby. "You can get a car or your can get a house," RE/MAX agent Laura Davis-Kempf told those aboard the van as they approached.
Strom sees two benefits of the tours. They will help strengthen property values by getting low-priced homes repaired and off the market, he said. "Plus, there are some really good deals out there," he said.
"The most unfortunate thing is, a lot of people are losing their homes," he said. "If there's a fortunate side to it, it's that it's opening the door to some people who couldn't otherwise afford homes."
That door will be wide open for at least a little while. Lenders foreclosed on nearly 3,000 homes in Mecklenburg County last year, and an Observer investigation found the county's foreclosure rate was the state's highest.
No one made offers on homes Saturday. But Carter and Balzer are thinking about it.
So are Cliff and Peggy Rhodes. The two retirees, now living in Weddington, are convinced that real estate is a more reliable investment than the stock market these days. As the tour wound to a close, Peggy said: "This has been an adventure."
Most aboard clapped.
Tips for buyers
Ralph Roberts, co-author of the book "Foreclosure Investing for Dummies," offers these tips on buying foreclosed homes: • Hire a real estate agent, who can help determine if the property is a good deal.
• Have a real estate attorney on hand to wade through the sales contract and state-specific regulations.
• Get a home inspection.
• Ask for a warranty deed, which guarantees that the lender is passing a clear title on to you.
• Get title insurance to protect yourself.
• Get pre-approval for a mortgage before putting in an offer.
Want to learn more?
Those interested in learning more about the tour can visit www.bigbusforeclosure
tours.com.
You can join the tour and learn more by e-mailing Eric Strom: ericstrom@remax.net
