All Forum Posts by: Brian Burke

Correct. Once initially, then you go on an annual "self-inspect checklist" annually, unless you get put on their "bad boy" list, in which case it will be a physical inspection.

If they did in fact rescind their trustees deed, your title is clouded. If the former owner had filed bankruptcy, and the lender had not obtained relief from stay, then the foreclosure sale was invalid and may explain why they rescinded the deed (if that is in fact true).

If you don't know how to search title, you shouldn't bid on these houses, but now that you have it, try to obtain title insurance now. If you can get it, the deed was not actually rescinded and you'll have peace of mind going forward. If you are unable to obtain title insurance, it is likely that the experts at the title company found a defect in your title.

If Nationstar sold you the house when they didn't even own it, you MIGHT have a case to sue to get your purchase price back, if they refuse to return it voluntarily. If they sell you the house with some other title defect, you'd probably be out of luck because it is incumbent upon you to research the title before buying.

If there is nothing online with the Secretary of State, go to the county recorder's office where the property is located and search the LLC name in the grantor/grantee index. Look at the actual recorded documents that you find. If the LLC has ever borrowed money or sold property, there will be a signor on the deed or deed of trust that is typically a manager or member of the LLC. Below the signature there is usually a name and title. if there is no printed name and you can't read the signature, look at the notary's acknowledgement, they usually write the person's name there. Not foolproof, but works most of the time.

I don't have any experience with that city, but Sacramento CA does the same thing.

Welcome to BP, Jeff!

I'm not aware of 1031s being public, I've done them and never saw anything that led me to believe that anyone would know it was a 1031 exchange, and I've never seen any source supplying information on the exchanges of others. In some MLS's agents can indicate in the "sales conditions" (or similarly named) field that the deal was a 1031 exchange, but I suspect that the reporting is sporadic. Plus, it could be an exchange "out" of one area, where the exchange "in" is in a different area, so I don't see the value of the statistics anyway.

Regarding your question about rents, you would start with rental comps of nearby similar units that have been upgraded, coupled with information from the on-site management regarding the traffic, conversion ratios, concessions, and occupancy of made-ready units. I say "made-ready" because oftentimes overall property occupancy is suffering because ownership lacks the funds to turn units. On one of my recent rehabs, I was able to get about 10% increases post-upgrade, and on another one, over 20%. It just depends on a large variety of factors and you have to evaluate the totality of the circumstances.

Ben, in CA you can manage your own property regardless of size. You only need a license to manage for others.

Investor perspective: I get a lot of calls from brokers. The ones that I like the most are brief. Ask me if I'm in the market to buy. If yes, ask me what my buying criteria is and add me to their database so they can email me new listings as they come up. I get about a dozen or so apartment complexes in my inbox each day and I can quickly sort which ones to underwrite and which ones to delete.

Ask me if I'm considering selling. If yes, start the conversation (that's about as far as I can help you on that line of questioning because my answer is always "no" or I already have a selling broker in mind, that's the broker that got me the deal in the first place).

The only time I want a call that is more involved than that is if the broker has a specific listing (especially an off-market listing) that I should pay specific attention to, based on their knowledge of my buying criteria and a compelling story behind the deal.

Agreed. My PMs ask for it too. Doesn't cost me anything, so no objection from me.

You should also call auction.com, and the escrow company they used (do you use escrow companies in your area? Maybe attorney's office?). Someone dropped the ball. It's also possible that the deed was recorded but the assessors office hasn't changed their records. To find out, run your name in your recorder's office's grantor/grantee index and see if the deed shows up there.