All Forum Posts by: Bill Bodziak

I just tried to insure a 1920 colonial I purchased for less than 30k. Insurance companies are trying to pin a 200k + replacement cost on it with premium upwards of 3k per year. I talked to some agents and they told me to insure it for market value only. Problem solved. 50k market value policy with 2 car detached garage for about 1k per year!

Ask the insurer for a market value policy, not replacement value.

Good Luck!

How much time you have on the current property before you refinance?

Yeah that can get hairy. Talk to a good real estate attorney. That situation as-is has lawsuits written all over it. Are you able to finance the deal somehow and cash out the land contract? 

5 units is great but won't qualify for conventional financing.... 

I have worked with this situation in the past. A short sale happens before the sheriff sale. Now the sellers have X amount of days to sell before the bank takes possession. My client in Michigan recently purchased a home during the redemption with a Wells Fargo FHA loan. No problem. The title company will use your funds at closing to redeem the house, pay off the bank, seller, agents, etc and hand you a deed. Talk to an attorney or realtor in your area familiar with these transaction. From my experience there was no difference but you must close by the end of that redemption period.

Why can you not get inside? Is it owner occupied?

I use inspection reports to negotiate lower sales prices and better deals for my clients, whether it be a retail or investor client. I love it when I get handed a 100 page inspection report with minor things @John P talks about. More pages = more $$ in my client's pocket :)

I grew up with a septic and well. Never had a problem in 20+ years. I remember it was pumped once or twice. No big deal. Have it inspected with the rest of the property and if the septic field isn't soggy you should be ok. Good luck!

Good advice @Richard Pozos The agents won't like it but if they are not helping go directly to the source. On 4-units and smaller I would suggest you should make the assumption that 3 out of 4 tenants, or all, will need to be evicted. If they work out after closing, great. If not, then you are already prepared to evict, fix up the unit and get good and reliable tenants.

There are a thousand excuses for slow sellers. Ultimately the seller's agent isn't too effective if they do not have a handle on their client to make the transaction go smoothly. Your agent needs to call the seller's agent daily, leave voice-mails, emails, don't stop until something gets done.

Good luck, keep us posted. 

 this is hilarious

@austin lee had a great suggestion. Used Killz on a house recently with new pad/carpet... smells no more!

5 inquiries in a few hours..... can get more $$$ :) I'm sure as a BP member you have done the research on tenant screening. MREIA is a great resource too. There is a meeting this Thursday in troy and it is always a good time. I will send you an analysis this afternoon.