All Forum Posts by: Greg Powers

One other caution: read the deed carefully.  Some denominations put deed restrictions on their properties, listing some of the uses that are forbidden, and sometimes they are pretty broad.  Those could be more restrictive than the zoning.  If the church or diocese is no longer the owner I’m not sure how diligent anyone would be about enforcing them, but an angry parishioner might raise hell (pun intended).

@Tony T.

Dismantle it, sell individual “Blessed Bricks” online for $100 each, cut the pews into individual chairs and sell them to a SOHO interior designer, then sell the land to a developer, or turn it into a multi-level parking garage. Sounds like the neighborhood could use some of the latter.

@William Robinson

On his IG account J Scott posted a sort of summary game plan that might be similar to what you’re looking for/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CFpQBwXDzgb/?igshid=7betfuyv620k

@Jack C.

As a real estate agent (not an investor trying to buy direct), my response, when a potential seller quotes me their Zestimate, is: “Then why wouldn’t you accept their offer?”...said with a big smile and a pause. “You see, Mr. and Ms. Seller, the only opinion of your home’s value that really matters is what a real buyer is willing to pay. If I invite Zillow to the open house after we get it listed, do you think they’ll come?”

And as has been mentioned, the Zestimate is an algorithm, with no boots on the ground knowledge of the home or its competition.

@Mike Mocek, my investor clients are skipping them. But for owner-occupiers I suggest including a clause stating that, “Without waiving the inspection contingency entirely, Buyers agree that inspections are for Buyers’ knowledge only and shall not be the basis for further negotiation on price.” That way you signal to the seller that you’re not going to nickel-and-dime them asking for a dozen repairs or big concessions; but if any major issues or any immediately-necessary repairs that you can’t handle financially are discovered, you can back out of the deal and get your deposit back. It’s a hybrid approach that seems to please both buyer and seller. And frankly, if any major issues come up—like mold, foundation issues, etc.—the seller is likely to address them for the buyer to keep them from walking. They’ll have to deal with them for the next buyer anyway, so why not keep the bird in hand?

Here is a link to the New Hampshire statutes regarding rooming houses:  

http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/lv/540-B/540-B-mrg.htm

If you need a referral to a good landlord/tenant attorney in NH who can answer more specific questions, let me know and I can pass along a few names.

@Jay Yoo, in New Hampshire, if I don’t represent you as an agent, I can’t provide advice or counsel, so I wouldn’t be able to review offers with you even if I wanted that gift card.

@Devyn Caraballo

I’m in New Hampshire and our Dept. of Environmental Services has a fund homeowners can tap into to help pay for the clean up of leaking oil tanks. Part of our gasoline tax funds it.

You definitely want to leave the problem in the seller’s hands. Don’t take a concession—make them fully remove and remediate. But if your state has a similar program, it might soften the blow for the seller.

Mason is correct.  If you PM me with your email I'll send you a summary of the RSAs relating to security deposits, but here's a summary of the NH RSA relating to accounts and why you have to recordkeep them separately:

• "Security deposits can be held by the landlord in a single trust account at any bank, savings and loan association or credit union organized under the laws of this state. Upon request of the tenant, the landlord shall provide the name of the financial institution, account number, amount of deposit, rate of interest and shall allow the tenant to examine his security deposit records. Every 3 years, 30 days prior to the expiration of the year’s tenancy, the tenant may request the interest accrued on the security deposit. The landlord must comply with this request within 15 days of the expiration of that year’s tenancy.

• A landlord who holds a security deposit for a period of one year or longer shall pay interest to the tenant at a rate equal to the interest rate paid on a regular savings account commencing from the date the landlord received the security deposit."

@Darshil Parikh, all these answers are right. As they say, “Everything works; doing nothing doesn’t.” The key is to talk to as many people as you can, let them know you’re an agent, and listen.

You can talk to people you know (your sphere), people you meet (have lunch at a bar and strike up a conversation), people who meet you (set up at a home show or host another agent’s open house), virtual people (Instagram and Facebook) and people you never meet (cold call). Learn what to say, learn which questions to ask, and learn how to provide value to people.

You’ll discover methods that you’re comfortable with and that work well for you. All those categories of people can eventually become part of your sphere, and most top producing agents consider there sphere to be in their top three sources of leads.

The more action you take, the faster all that happens.

Hang out with successful agents.

And yes, read The Millionaire Real Estate Agent. There’s no better systematic road map available.