At first glance, a foreclosed home appears to be a quick deal ready to be sold “as is.” But a cold weather roadblock has Realtors and buyers pulling their hair out in their efforts to buy up those Real Estate Owned (REO) properties: Old Man Winter.

Banks must winterize New England homes that have gone into foreclosure, otherwise pipes are likely to burst, causing major damage to an already devalued property.

But serious buyers need to have inspections of the heating and plumbing systems done to gauge the value of the home, and that can’t be completed while the house is winterized.

“It can be a hardship for buyers, because there is no way you can make a good assessment or make an inspection without having the property de-winterized,” said Sonia Hart, broker owner of Common Wealth Realty Services in Dorchester. “The prospective buyer has to negotiate with the banks, which can be difficult because sometimes they don’t want to pay to de-winterize the house.”

Linda Kody, broker owner of Kody & Co., Inc., in North Andover, specializes in selling bank-owned property. She said only a few banks refuse to pay for houses to be de-winterized, but that doesn’t make the process any easier.

“Real estate is negotiable, and everything about real estate is negotiable,” Kody said.

But those negotiating with banks should be ready to make concessions, not just receive them. Banks are also run by groups of people who make decisions a lot slower than the average seller, and they have policies that can be inflexible.

“[REO properties] have challenges,” Kody said. “They’re different than the regular marketplace. You’re dealing with a corporation that has rules and regulations. There are a lot of management responsibilities that go along with being a listing agent for bank property. A lot of agents think they want to do bank property, but they don’t understand what it means.”

One of those responsibilities is paying for costs associated with keeping up the property, and then applying and waiting for reimbursement from the banks, which can come as long as two months later.

“We come out of pocket for a fairly large amount of the cost,” said Michael DiMella, managing partner of Charlesgate Realty Group in Boston. “It’s certainly above and beyond what you do for a normal listing. The bank does reimburse for most of the cost. There is a lengthy process before you even come on market with the property, to make sure it’s ready.”

Mum’s The Word

DiMella said one of the biggest frustrations in deal with bank-owned property is the lack of open communication between the Realtor and the bank.

“Most of the communication is [done] electronically; there isn’t a single person you can call to find out what’s going on,” DiMella said.

The process gets drawn out, and that can be frustrating for buyer if they are expecting a quick sale. Kody said much of being a listing agent for bank-owned properties is managing expectations.

“The real estate agents need to set realistic expectations for the buyers, and they need to try to set expectations for the sellers, too,” she said.

That is if the Realtor can actually get to the seller. Larger lenders that deal with thousands of REO properties farm out the responsibility of selling foreclosed homes to asset management companies.

According to Kody, many of those companies can be less than flexible, and less than respectful. Asset managers also take a cut of the final fee, reducing the Realtors’ share of sale.

“There are banks that I don’t work with, because there are sometimes asset managers or lenders that don’t respect what agents do,” Kody said. “We work too hard, so we only work with banks that respect Realtors.”

Realtors may also have to handle tenants still living in the foreclosed homes, which can be a delicate situation. Often the families are neglected and ill-informed by the former owners, and have struck a deal with the bank to continue their residency. When the property is sold, they need help moving along.

“It is a tough situation, and one that we take very seriously,” said DiMella. “We try to do the best we can … to do something to help the tenant and the family.

“[Handling foreclosed property] is not easy, but I think it’s and important job, and it’s an important job for Realtors to do well especially given the prevalence of foreclosures on the market now,” DiMella said.