Real Estate Investor · Fullerton, AL · Member since 2008 · 9 posts · 0 votes
Hey guys, I know this is a dumb question and forgive me because I'm just getting started.....
But I've been searching for REO's on bank websites such as fanniemae, ocwen, wellsfargo, countrywide etc... They list the asking price, but I know it's my job to find out how much the property is really valued at to figure out if it's a good investment or not. Where do I go to find property values? Is a website such as zillow an accurate depiction of a property's FMR? If not, I hold a real estate license which I do not know how to use. Deadly combination isn't it? HAH! Either way, would my best bet be to just order the comps? Any advice as to how you figure out property values would be appreciated. Such a basic question, I feel like such a dumba$$...lol
Have a Realtor run comps.....however, my two cents is to avoid the bank owned properties. You will make a lot more money in this business dealing directly with the homeowners and utilizing techniques such as wholesaling, lease options and subject-to (plus with these techniques you use none of your own credit and very little (if any) money.
Why would you avoid bank owned properties? Aren't there a lot of pretty priced properties being offered by the bank? Would the negotiation and willingness from the bank's side to accept a contract that you plan to assign be harder in comparison to fsbo's? How would you go about handling my "deposit dilemma" with my interest in wholesaling and assigning contracts and my lack of money or credit?
Sorry for the bombardment of questions! :oops: Thanks for your unconditional willingness to help a NewB in CA. :D
Congrats on taking the plung. First off, California REO's right now are at awsome prices. You picked a good time to buy. As far as what Jason is saying about Option/contracts/assignments/subject too's he is right. You can make a stupid amount of money that way.
I wouldn't recomend that for California right now though (sorry Jason). I would really learn it now though because you are going to need it in about 2 years.
If you wanted to get started out here you need to know what you are buying. I work in the IE but I know a little about OC. There are some decent 2-4 units out there and you might get lucky and pick one up REO. As far as valuations go...just pick an area you want to buy and study it like crazy. You'll catch on after a while. It's like buying a computer. Some houses have better parts than others so they are worth more.
I avoid bank owned properties because I would have to get a loan from a private money lender or get a bank loan on the property....there are too many properties out there that I can take subject-to/lease option/wholesale where I use none of my own credit.
As far as a deposit is concerned the most I ever put down on a property is $10.00...since we are creative real estate investors we never want to put more than $10.00 down on a property.
To stay in this business a long time you will want to learn how to use very little (if any) of your own money and none of your own credit.
Hello Kal,
If you have your RE license, you must be affilitated with a broker in some way. You may have access to the MLS system. If so, you can access alot of things that some other investors can't, like running sold searches of areas to get a feel for the values, expired listing reports so you can try to buy them at a discount from motivated sellers, and many other possibilities. Just a thought, good luck
Thanks for the quick hint msedwick. I actually never thought of that. Licwidsand, thanks for your advice as well seeing it from a California perspective. What aspect of investing do you choose to focus on in today's CA market?
I am doing all buy, rehab, refi and hold projects. I can cycle the same 50k over and over again. This is only an option if you have 50k but when liquidity and owner seller deals are scarce the big boys tend to move in. A buyer can borrow the money but it has to look liquid on paper. If you can not buy in this market larn subject to and option tactics to prepare your sel ffor the next 5-7 years.