All Forum Posts by: Clayton Boyle

Worse than bad questions are the confidently incorrect answers. This is just a feature of internet boards that is older than I am. 

In a short sale, it's almost irrelevant what the seller is asking. The bank must approve it, and what the bank is willing to take on a property varies by bank and market conditions. You need someone with experience in short sales involved in this deal if this is your first - it's critical that the listing agent knows what they are doing, and that a good short sale negotiator is involved as well. You want to be able to show that the house not worth what the bank says it is, taking into consideration the condition of the property, falling market values, etc. 

Remember that this shifts the adversarial part of the sale - you and the current homeowner are now aligned and will be working together to convince the bank to accept the short sale and move things along.  A cooperative and enthusiastic seller is a must if you are to succeed. 

Be prepared for a long road ahead - I personally worked on some short sales years ago that took almost 18 months. Be prepared for nine to twelve months, and also be prepared for it to fall apart at any time. 

I can attest that Jaylan's a great resource. I'm also looking in the area, and have been keeping my eye on things out there. 

The answer is in your question - " I'm using a hard money lender and refinancing after that". 

That's a loan. 

Absolutely not. That's not a 'youthful indiscretion' but a series of awful decisions. The reason he is very responsive and polite is that he has to be in order to rent a place from any reasonable individual. It's a survival tactic out in the society, and to keep himself compliant with parole. I really wouldn't want to invite this into my life. 

It sounds like you don't intend to purchase the property, so how would a lis pendens be in play here? The circumstances under which earnest should be returned will be spelled out in your offer/purchase contract. It very well might be the case that if the appraisal deficiency tanking your ability to close is a reason that you forfeit your deposit, or it may be the case that your lender's letter is sufficient to get you out under your financing contingency. Without seeing the entire contract, nobody here can give you accurate advice. Real estate varies greatly state by state, and contract by contract. 

You may have checked a box in the contract stating you have funds to cover any appraisal gap and that this would not prevent your loan from proceeding. Your lender won't give you the loan because you now don't have enough cash after bridging the gap. That's on you - why even waive appraisal if you hadn't run all scenarios by your lender? There are many things that can swing this your way or against you. 

Absolutely not

First of all, congrats on working your way back out of a hole - it's not easy to do. 

I question the people advising you to go out and buy a triplex or quad right away, because it honestly sounds like that is just not feasible for you. You mention 60k being the gross from your business, and a net total of about 30k just with some expenses subtracted. I just cannot believe you can buy a multiunit property with under under 30k actual income, especially self employed. Additionally, I get the impression that you don't have robust savings (which is fine, but you have to have some money to put into a purchase using traditional financing).  In the unlikely event you could score a quadplex given your situation, you need reserves for maintenance, repairs, vacancies, etc. 

Focus on the business, rent until you can build up some savings, and show a longer history of income from self employment.  Set smaller goals and enjoy those successes rather than setting yourself up for disaster. 

I'd properly move the water away from the house as described by Tom and JD. More importantly, you got some good information about your plumber via a cheap, non-emergency situation.

Where are people getting the 400k amount to satisfy the husband? I read the situation as house is worth ~ $2.2 million (assuming 200k cosmetic work), and they owe 800k on it. If this is the case, I don't think anyone is accepting 400k to walk away from the property, but rather that he'd be looking for something in the neighborhood of 700k. 

Am I misreading the original post?