All Forum Posts by: Brett Goldsmith

@Carolina Brembilla Some are buying 1M dollar homes yes. I'd say the majority of flippers though try to stay more in the 300-600k range. Every deal is different. I think rehab budget is a big factor of how much capital you need to do a deal. For example you can potentially flip a 1M dollar home with less than 200k ( Est. 100k purchase and 100k rehab budget ). You may need to buy a 700k home and put 250-350k in for the rehab depending on if you add sq ftg or do an ADU + nice rehab, etc.

LA county is probably one of the best places to flip in the world when you find a good deal. There's just more competition. Thousand Oaks is a nice area.

Buying a home in foreclosure is like buying any other property but potentially more sensitive or on a more limited time frame ( if property has equity ). If it has no equity than it would be a short sale. 

Process hasn't changed much some servicers use different platforms to facilitate short sales. Investor guidelines have changed slightly. 

You need to get authorized with the mortgage servicer(s) and order payoffs to determine exactly what is owed. Then you can run the numbers with title/escrow to see what purchase price would be needed to pay those off. 

Short sales are speculative. You don't know if it's a good deal or not until you go through the process. They can take awhile and at times they don't get done. Nothing truly negative from my perspective. Most people who have sour experiences are the ones who aren't patient or who's expectations don't get met.

I personally would be willing to buy in basically any area in LA county at the right price for short term plays. For longer term plays I'd likely stick to the valley or better city's in LA that I feel would offer more appreciation. 

I think it's a horrible idea to buy a house that's upside down 99% of the time. Only way it would make sense if it there was some large value add play. You should be looking to purchase it as a short sale. In real estate you typically make your money when you buy. You want equity from the get go. 

@Jonathan S. I'd probably give it a little more time to see if they vacate soon. You will likely NET more money listing it while vacant. Typically you want to find a retail buyer who wants to live there if you are looking for a top dollar offer on a SFR home. If you "can't" wait for some reason then I'm sure if it's priced appropriately someone will still buy it while it's occupied.

Since the house is significantly upside down the main option is to attempt a short sale to acquire a property such as this in an equitable position. Only other potential option would be to attempt a straight mortgage settlement, but those typically aren't offered.