We've actually bought two corporate owned homes due to previous owner's job transfer. Neither of them were in states that had a transfer tax, or at least at the time we purchased the homes there were no transfer taxes in those states. One house was only on the market for a few weeks when we saw it and they didn't budge on price but were willing to pay half of closing costs for us. They took a long, long time to get back to us on our offer though and the agent told us that's common in corporate owned homes. The other home we bought that was corporate owned had been on the market 6 months and the corporation had dropped the price 3 times in that 6 months, we made an offer that was 94% of their then asking price and it was accepted. Again, they answered very slowly. We made the offer contingent upon an inspection and the corporation agreed to fix anything up to $800 dollars. The inspection showed that both furnaces (it's in the south with dual air and heating systems) needed to be replaced, at a cost of in excess of $6000. This was in excess of the $800 agreed upon but the corporation just wanted to unload the house and agreed to put in two new furnaces before close. If the house has been on the market for a while they're very willing to deal with you on price, if it's only been on the market for a short time, they're much less willing. I'd say make an offer that you think the home is worth, the worst they can say is no.

"...and agreed to put in two new furnaces before close. "

And you most likely got the cheapest furnaces available with no consideration for efficiency.
Never have a seller make repairs like this, They have no incentive to do anything but the cheaspest fastest job possible.
Negotiate an allowance (it can even be escrowed with any balance to the seller) and then YOU have control over who performs the work and what gets installed.

Termite repairs often turn into an absolute nightmare.
Many mortgage companies wil not go to settlemetn without the repairs being completed, but you wil be at the mercy of the seller for just how well the work is performed.

You're right brickeye, we had originally wanted them to put money in escrow for us to have new furnaces of our choosing put in, and that's the way you should do it if at all possible. The corporation rejected that and agreed to put in two new furnaces (and yes I have no doubt they were not the best furnaces). We were faced with walking on the offer or accepting the 2 new furnaces that they chose to put in. We chose the furnaces.

This last house/farm I bought was owned by a Corp. Relocation Company. It also needed a lot of work, but the 20 acre property was just what I was looking for.

The property had been on the market by the owner before he got transferred .. but it sat because of the work it needed. He originally listed it at $189,900, the Relo company had it down to $139,000 and I got it for $124,000.

The manager of the local Real Estate Company still (10 years later) tells me that I stole my house!

I've put over $100K into this property in the past 10 years, added 1200 sq feet, and am planning on redoing the kitchen and 2 bathrooms this spring. But then, I don't ever plan on moving. This is my third and last home, hopefully.

The market value of my home/property is now over $200K, so I'm close to breaking even at this point and properties like mine are in demand since I live in a rural area close (30 min drive) to a city (Buffalo). Lots of people locally are moving out of the over-built up suburbs and looking for properties with land.

So, you can negotiate with Corp. owners and as stated above they are not quick to respond. And you need to decide how long do you plan on living there, can you make the changes you need and still be competitive when you sell it. Have the homes in the area appreciated, is it a desirable area so it will continue to appreciate?

From the prices you are quoting, your area seems similar to our WNY area, we don't have much fluctuations in values just a small steady increase.

And we didn't have a transfer tax 10 years ago when I bought, so I can't help you there.

We were faced with walking on the offer or accepting the 2 new furnaces that they chose to put in. We chose the furnaces.

But I don't think you came out THAT far behind. When you bid, you probably assumed you were getting functioning furnaces that were older--therefore, old technology, PLUS wear and tear. I bet you didn't think you were getting the best and most efficient of all furnaces anyway, right?

So, you got what you had planned to pay for, basically. That was basically the smart move, I think.

The "money in escrow" would have allowed you to add on your own extra $ and upgrade for less, but I bet they didn't deliberately seek out an extra-crummy furnace, nor did they (I bet) find a fly-by-night supplier or installer.

exactly right tally sue -- worked out for us -- we got two brand new furnaces, even though not top of the line, they were still brand new. We used them for 7 years before we sold the house and they passed inspection when we sold the home, so all worked out in the end, and that was one of my favorite homes we ever owned, so I was very happy with the outcome.

How timely! Just today I asked a real estate agent about "corporate owned" homes. He answered that it means bank owned, as in post-foreclosure. Often this means the home can be purchased at less than market or even assessed value. Best to ask, just to be sure it means the same in your area. Good luck!

In my area, "Corporate owned" in the Multi-list info can mean either bank owned or relocation company managed. You will need to find out which. Buyer to pay both transfer taxes almost always goes with bank-owned/foreclosure property. Expect nothing in the way of repairs done from the foreclosure companies. They want clean, quick contracts from unrisky buyers. They do like the property to have a certain amount of exposure in the marketplace, so they will often kind of look to see what's coming in for a few weeks before moving on something. Having a thorough market analysis done by your Realtor is key here, as in any prospective purchase.
Several of the agencies that specialize in marketing this type of property in our area strategically list at low prices, leave at least several weeks of time before responding to anything--and these properties can go well above asking price. In other cases, it seems like the lender (often out of the area and dependent on local advisory--maybe on target or not--will try to get a sense of buyer sentiment before taking a hard and fast position--but will cut losses reasonably quickly if nothing wonderful comes down the pike. Be very careful evaluating older foreclosure properties. They have often been abused and neglected for a while . . . the higher-priced non-forclosure property you've been resisting may actually be the better buy. As always, do your homework!

Relo companies, on the other hand (and I speak as an agent of 24 years) can be very particular and conservative to work with. They are very liability conscious. Before they "purchase" the home, it gets inspected by the inspector of their choice, with certain things having to be corrected or addressed by the transferee before any monies pass to the transferee. They require highly-detailed two page reports every 14 days from the listing agent. They try to be market sensitive, and hence, usually neither "dump" their properties or hold out unrealistically-long for a particular price. Losses usually get eaten by the transferee's company in some way. They are motivated but realistic and not desparate sellers. There's a lot of extra paperwork involved with these guys, but something to just put up with.