All Forum Posts by: Karen Margrave

There is a bank owned property on the market. The house is an absolute tear down, NOTHING is salvagable. Walls are leaning, concrete buckling, etc. There's no livng room, as the house was converted to a bunch of bedrooms, built around a center courtyard, which once had a pool. All work was unpermitted. The cost of demo of the property would be around $50k. The bank has the property listed at $535k. The lot is probably worth $180 and has a nice view. We'd like to buy the property for the lot, but not sure how to get the bank to understand there's no value to the house. We are contractors/brokers and believe me, when I say there's no salvaging the house, I mean, there's no salvaging the house. It's 3000 s.f. and originally built in the 60's. Has anyone else dealt with anything like this? I'm surprised the agent listed it for such a ridiculous price when anyone should have been able to see there's no value to the house!

Have a contractor give you a bid to do the work to bring it up to code. You don't state what the violations are, therefore; we have no idea of the cost. An attorney probably would cost more than the repairs. You can also act as your own contractor, apply for and obtain permits, hire subs needed to do the work to bring to code. However; if you aren't capablle of doing that.... don't, as you'll end up hiring a contractor in the end anyway!

I have to also agree with "the hunt". Finding a piece of ground and imagining what can be there....and, finding a deal that everyone else missed is always fun.

We do a lot of real estate development, planning a project from the ground up, and are now doing a few rehabs to fix and sell. It's always fun changing the landscape of an area, and knowing those buildings will be there for generations. Sometimes it will be a project that sparks renewal, or begins new use for properties in an area. The design phase is always exciting, imagining what will be. Plus we get to meet such a variety of people. LOVE it!

Buy new and have a warranty.

Why not go the direct route, and googl private lenders in your area, etc.? Put a post on BP looking for investors, and layout your specifics, how much you need, what is the property that will secure the loan, appraisal amount, how long do you need it, ROI, ARV, etc . You can also advertise in various publications seeking investors, and note principals only if you don't want to deal with brokers. Personally, I'd allow brokers, as they have investors, know what they're doing and what each lenders criteria is, and you'll waste less time.

Has anyone here used Hootsuite to manage all your social media? I looked at it, and it seemed like it might be good.. but decided instead to just keep social media stuff to a minimum, as I don't want to be a slave to it. I have a website for our business, a Facebook page linked to that (sometimes) and Biggerpockets.

I want to be clear, when I asked what you bring to the deal, I meant, are you a broker/agent that can put in commissions, a contractor that can do work and invesst profits, a developer than can find ways to generate more income, a property manager, accountant, pertinent experience, etc. What is it that compensates for your lack of cash? If you have some type of skills or other experience that adds value to the investment, you might be able to find someone to work with you, joint venture the project, etc. Good luck, and keep us posted!

You're already been given some great advice. However; as Will mentioned, you need to find out why the seller is selling if possible. Is there some high dollar improvement that will need to be made in the near future, or costly repairs ? Without any experience doing this type of deal. The question is, what exactly do you bring to the deal that provides measurable monetary value? Maybe you should back up, start on a smaller project, and build your foundation.

Pending sales are just that, pending. They do not factor in as sales, but would be assumed to be listings, and comped as such. Appraisers look for "sold" properties. If the bank or anyone else has a listing by yours, how does yours honestly compare?

Also, just because there's a bank REO doesn't mean it's a "fixer" or needs rehabbed, it can be in perfectly good condition, a new home, remodeling completed, and turn key ready.

The point is, compare apples to apples, do the work necessary to get top dollar in the neighborhood, price it right, and it will sell without any tricks.