All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Bill Gulley

WOW.  Jail for real. 

Let say you put a down payment on a house at a foreclosure sale, and @Steve Babiak, feel free to jump in.  The next time you went back the house was trashed.  Upon talking with the neighbors you find out the police got called because the current home owners went in an maliciously trashed  the house and made a bunch of noise in doing so.  What if any recourse does either the bank or perspective buyer have.

I know of only one story where a guy bought a house at foreclosure and when he went to talk with the previous owner about moving out, the guy pulled a gun on him.  The buyer went back to the bank and got out of deal.  I am not sure if he had made final payment on the sale or not.  I am thinking not.  That came right from the paralegal.

@Manolo D.

Thanks for the heads up.  I will look into that.  

@Steve Babiak

I bought my current residence, in State College at foreclosure sale.  The sale had been postponed a couple of times.  The house is next to my sister-in-laws home in a small development.  We wondered why the lawn was always at a reasonable height during the course of that summer.  We then learned the township had hired a lawn company to maintain it.  The @#$%^ must have mowed the house every week.  It was a $1800 lien on the property.  After taking possession, my bank would not mortgage the property until  the balance was paid off.  So while the lawn being maintained can be a good thing, it may not depending on who might end up paying for said services.

@Sandy Reddy

Pay close attention to what the above gentleman says about doing your due diligence regarding the title search. If you have done that, IMO why not go to the foreclosure sale and see what you can get it for. If that fails, wait for it on the MLS as an REO.

Yes any mortgages recorded after the mortgage being foreclosed on will be wiped out.

@Sandy Reddy

When bidding, the tax lien may already have been added to what ever the starting bid is.  Then the sheriff will pay the back taxes off from the proceeds before giving the remainder to the bank.  Then again it may not be part of the initial bid.  Call the sheriff department and get a breakdown of the costs and see if it contains the back taxes.  Another approach is to just call the sheriff and ask if  they will payoff the tax lien with the sale proceeds.  Obviously if the don't, you will need to pay them after you take possession.

@Wayne Brooks

I have been in homes where toilets are busted, pipes separated and just hammered, and you see that note on the door saying the house has been winterized.  Its almost tantamount to deception.

That's all great information.  

As stated earlier, I am surprised the bank had someone maintain the lawn.  I do not believe there is an ordinance to maintain the grass to a certain height.

@Wayne Brooks

Do the inspectors visiting the property also take it upon  themselves to winterize the house?  That of course is generally a big joke.  Usually whom ever does such work had done so too late.  I know banks post sale have guys go in and do said work, but I have also seen many preforeclosures winterized as well.

@Account Closed

That's a great  response and one I'll take to heart.  I guess there is an intermediary choice which is hire pros.  The problem with that is having enough consistent work to keep them.  I am very sensitive to not keeping a guy like that busy because he needs and deserves it.  I am generally hiring guys who aren't working on a regular basis anyway.  So when a house is done, so are they for the most part.  At least until the next project.  Hard to keep good help around when that's your situation.  If i run an ad for help in an area, I get calls every 30 minutes for that morning, of guys looking to do something that day, and that may be all I get out of them.  That being said, I have had some guys work for me for years, on and off.  

To your questions:

Does it really only take you 3 weeks to renovate a house? Sure for the said scope of work, and me in the mix.

Do you do a good job?   Good enough, and no more or less.  I sell houses in the 100k range and the less the price the less picky the buyers generally are.  Of course the more money the home, the more pickier they are.  The quality of work follows.

Do you pull permits? I follow your question relative to the post content but, not unless I absolutely have to.

 Are you licensed to do electrical and plumbing under your permit? I am not licensed.

Long story short, I really like your idea.  At least having one pro on the job and 2 laborers.;  I don't want to be painting houses on a ladder at 65;)

@Jeff B.

For me the logistics of having employees is not that burdensome, beside my wife has historically handled the need filings and reports;)

I am just concerned I will be paying for things that are not needed and brought to a level too high or low.  I feel as though I would get ripped off without being on the job myself, and at that point I might just as well have my own guys.

I estimate for me to have a rehab done in 3 weeks, which includes cleanup, new kitchen, bath, flooring, finish or clean trim and wall coverings should take 3 guys 3 weeks.  That does not includes, well, anything I did not mention. That's been about my pace.  The cost is about (6-7)k in labor.  What would I pay in labor if I had a sub and his crew come in and perform said work?

I am certainly not arguing these are the kind of workers where you need to be on site at all times.  They don't have to tools, background, experience or work ethic to be on their own.  That is unless you want to leave for 5 hours, see that nothings gotten done and spend the rest of the day upset.

I don't want to work in the business, but I am concerned the subs will be so much slower and costlier than what they should be.