All Forum Posts by: Ethan Atkinson

Hey @Joshua Barrett. Welcome to the best place to begin learning and keep learning no matter what stage you get to.  I have organized a really great meetup that happens once a month, and it just happened this past Monday, but we will have another one soon. Check out our facebook page for Athens Real Estate Investor Club, the one that @Dominique Haynes was talking about. And I'd be happy to get lunch someday.  No better time to start than the present. 

Yes, almost always the attorney pays a separate company to "perform the title search" as a way to cover their backs.  Sometimes they actually do the title search in house, but have a titel company that insures the work completed. 

Do you need some legal help, like for a closing? I ask because attorneys handle that here in Georgia.  If you just need actual title searched done I don't actually have any personal contacts.  I see Chicago Land and Title on many of my closing docs.  I can ask a couple attorneys I work with often. 

Very tough to purchase directly from the bank @Courtney Spiers, but it can be done. Find a person, company, group, hedge fund with tons of cash and buy some bulk deals. They will sell you deals that have already been foreclosed, those in delinquency, those that have done deed in lieu of foreclosure(now REO similar to foreclosure) but you might have to buy 20-30-or 100 whatever the case may be.

If you don't have that kind of buying power or access to it, then you can find the people who have been given delinquent or foreclosure notice already and direct mail to those folks asking if you can help them stop foreclosure from hitting their credit history but you would have to buy the house.  There are a bunch more steps, but there are countless threads on these forums of BP that can help you navigate.  

This process can also be done through purchasing delinquent or whatever status notes from private lenders, or smaller local and regional banks who might actual sell one off notes, that you take over for lower than the market value of the home, catch the people up who are living there and want to own the home, or if they can't catch up you do the foreclosure or deed in lieu yourself.  BLAMMO, now you are the bank that owns the home!!   Are there a ton more steps?  Yes, and I am not an attorney or banker or note buyer but this is what I have heard and studied, as well as having workd for a listing broker when there were thousands of foreclsures all over Georgia.  

Do it! Yes it's smart.  If you do lots of advertising you can always talk about both sides that will help a seller, and a buyer.  You can buy properties from some distressed or not distressed seller, or you can help them list it for sale if they won't take the cash offer, or financing or whatver creative way you offer to purchase.  Quite often the 3-%% listing commission will be more than you could have made with a wholesale fee. And if you don't want to list anything, or aren't experienced yet, then you can refer the leads legally and for a fee to another listing agent for 20-30% of the commission. It is just smart.  

Hey Hannah - This sounds like some good safe real estate investing.  The vacancy is probably correct, as well as your cap rates, which are somewhat low, but depending on location of these condos you are ok and they will likely be rented easy, quick, and always, at least for the near future.  The cash flow might work ok at these numbers and the cash on cash return will not look so bad either.  I live and work in Athens as an agent and work with many investors.  But - where are you getting financing for only 10% down. Likely will need 20% and that also means 2 loans and double the closing costs. You can probably negotiate a better rate from the attorney since they are getting a 2 for 1 deal, but you closing costs will probably be more like $8-9000 total unless there is some magic going on.  Your presentation of numbers only works if it is a duplex, but then that means you need 25% down!!  But since you need two loans that makes your payments will be lower as well.  The $1000 per unit is also questionable based on what I know of the market for what's available, where and for how much.  Where is the condo?  Shoot me a PM or call me if you need more help specifics.   

I have lots of great suggestions. Number one - all the big time investors I know who have owned properties for years and years have them in their own name. Some of these owners also use LLCs but not for all of them. Quit claim into an LLC might trigger the "Due on Sale" clause but that doesn't mean the my will actually do that, because that is extremely super remotely rare, and you can just show them you are the sole member of the LLC if that's true. Last quick note - selling short usually means you have to have late payments and some kind of distress to show he bank they should let you sell short. That means really hurting your credit score for the next couple years. Look up my profile and PM me or just call and I can explain more options. Send me the address because if the house is in Gainesville it seems the market has returned well and you wouldn't even be underwater, but yes I know it happens often.

@Gordon Vaughn, I will definitely try this out. Seems that is how it worked couple years ago when I worked as a Buyer's agent under a HUD listing broker. In my area of Athens, the Hud homes don't last long at all, or they are way over priced, but maybe not once the 1st reduction happens.

@Aaron McGinnis is who you should call first. Great contractor and has at times been investor friendly. You can probably get one of those guys 2 weeks out by buying them lunch when they come see your project. If they are 2 weeks out for a quote you don't may not want them anyways because you need someone to start soon. Get out to the next Atlanta REIA or Georgia REIA meeting and network with every flipper there finding who to contact for quotes. Or maybe first call the former president of Georgia REIA - Chris Littleton to see who he recommends - and his office is right down the street from you - Solutions Realty Network. My last advice is craigslist. You can find folks on there all day long.

Is there no landlord or property manager?  Does each Buisness have a "condo?"  Or is there one main Owner? Could be plenty of negative long term impact without a good, clean, maintained parking situation.