All Forum Posts by: Bill Patterson

Welcome to BP, Trevor! I'm in the Kalamazoo-Portage area. Your side of the state is a tough market, but there is lots of opportunity. Good luck and enjoy Bigger Pockets!
Bill

Welcome to BP! I've driven through your neck of the woods on my way to the White Mts. It is a nice area! College students and cow country....any one still into the old "cow tippin" thing? It's great that you have a market for your student rentals for the summer months! Good luck and have fun sharing on BP!
Bill

I agree with Charles. I've been pretty busy and have not posted much at all for the past 2-3 weeks, but will make an effort to find some one to welcome right now!
Bill

If you are a real estate agent and a member of NAR, the NAR update that I just got e-mailed to me has a pod-cast from an attorney that addresses this very issue. When talking about how Realtors can open themselves up to liability in short sale transactions, the topic of getting any $$$ to the seller (specifically mentioned was moving van expenses), was a big issue. This holds true for investors, too.
Bill

Hey...here is a dumb question! What do you plan on doing with the personal property that you are considering purchasing? Hold a garage sale? Put it in a rental? It may be great for a hunting camp! My point is that I sure would hope that you are doing something with it and not just letting the home owner keep the cash and the property. I would not do it either way, as it has been posted, let them sell it on Craig's List themselves. If you need to resort to under handed tactics to get business, then you are not doing something right. As Maryann has said, "There is no reason to offer a homeowner money in a short sale situation.". Concentrate your efforts towards home owners that appreciate the help you give by just completing the short sale and allowing them to move on with their life.
Bill

Originally posted by Bryan Hancock:

For the record I agree with what Vikram wrote and those are most of the main thesis points. If anyone would like to debate these points please do so. People who come on the post and call it craptastic and/or whine without any substance to their post need not reply.

"How Do We Get More People To Engage In BP Discussions?" I'm sure that this will help a lot! You need to realize that people communicate their ideas in many ways. Encourage them to do it! I've said my two cents worth on this post. A debate is no longer a debate when the points and counter points are simply re-hashed.
Bill

You guys are pretty good plumbers! Jet_Speed, when you turned off the water the pressure dropped in the water lines which can allow the built up scale to come loose and be sent to the faucets and plug the aerators. Also, when filling the tank and bleeding the air out of the system, the air bubbles will knock some more scale loose. I always leave a tub valve on (since it has a big opening on the tub filler) when I fill the new heater and only close it when there is no more air. Sometimes this will help with the aerators and sometimes not.
Bill

Hi Martin,
Welcome to Bigger Pockets! Right now my wife is talking to her daughter in Melbourne ( Brunswick actually). She and her husband just left our house in Michigan and got home this morning. It was a nice one month visit! They have told us about the housing market in your area. They are saving for a home, but rent now. We have been to the Melbourne area and enjoyed it a lot!

You should learn lots about the U.S. market here. We have a few regular contributers with an international perspective!

Have fun with BP!
Bill

Sales information is in the public domain, now. It is public record at your treasurer’s office or assessor’s office. Realtors and their MLS system is a private system and the information that they have compiled is theirs to do with as they see fit. I'm glad that you can save the costs of using Realtors in selling your properties! $$$is good!
Bill

I guess it is a different world today, Bryan. Where Realtors spend less time locating a property, buyers have identified more properties that may meet their needs, so amount of time showing properties may be greater. Also, there are so many more disclosures (agency, lead paint, etc.) and requirements for closings which eat up the agent's time. Transactions are full of pitfalls that the average seller or buyer may not understand. A hand shake is not all that is needed, today.

Our Buy / Sell agreements here in Michigan do state the percentage of the commission that goes to the selling agent and the buyer's agent. The services of the buyer's agent is not "free" and who pays for it, who cares? I still say it comes out of the buyer’s source of funds. It makes no difference to the seller's bottom line if the buyer pays his agent a $5,000 commission for his services, since he will negotiate the listing agent's commission down as we did in the old days. Notice that I said "Negotiate The Listing Agent's Commission"! At the same time, the buyer's offer will take into consideration, the buyer's costs of purchasing the property (the commission paid to his agent, etc.), so his offer should be less than if the commission was all on the seller's side. You can shuffle the expenses back and forth on the closing statements, but in the end, the net value of the property is what the buyer will spend including his costs and what the seller will accept, net of his costs.

If you don't think Realtors are worth their commission anymore, then don't pay them! Do it yourself, hire a discount broker, whatever! There are probably a lot of services that you can do for yourself rather than hire a professional to do. It's your time and you are the best one to decide how to spend it.

Bill