All Forum Posts by: Jerry W.

@Joe Boggin There are several issues here ands several possible solutions. If son has money for deposit and rent, you might consider renting to him, you said you have known him for years do you want him for a tenant or not? If answer is yes its easy. Do not agree to anything without money, if he is not considered a tenant currently under your state law he will be if you do an agreement even if he doesn't pay. Next, he may be a tresspasser, he may be a tenant at will he may be something else, your state laws and court precedents will decide his legal status, if you don't know get professional help. A good attorney in real estate law could probably tell you in 15 minutes what the legal effect is but it might be more complicated. You probably have something in your buy/sale agreement about quiet title or quiet enjoyment of property which means the Seller may have breached his contract, a call to Dad saying you are in breach son not leaving might solve the problem. Dad may tell son get out or else, Dad may buy him off, dad might even co sign the lease or pay it for him. I cannot advise you as I don't know PA law. If you rxplain to son that you must have rent to make your payments, and you have no legal obligation to him, his beef is with his dad, you don't want to resort to legal action but you will if needed maybe he will be reasonable. Do not say I will let you live here for X days, or you might have just made him a tenant, say Ill not go to the police/or file suit for 3 days if you are willing to let him stay a few days. The absolute best way if he won't move is to tslk to a lawyer ASAP.

@Dion I am very impressed by the fact there were no mispelling and excellent grammer despite it's length. I wish I were smart enough to understand it, I think you said it's OK to not put a balloon on your note.

@Shawn M. , I would suggest seeing how much principal you pay down on the loan each month as a way to determine the real monthly benefit. Another possibility is for you to just buy your mom out for that amount and save her the hassle. If you could refinance for 4% to even 5% it would probably increase the monthly cash flow a fair bit. I cannot do a real analysis without having sale price, mortgage amount, monthly payments, monthly rent, taxes, insurance, interest, etc., but consider the possibilities. Unless your mom has substantial assets to cover possible nursing home care in the future, it may not hurt for her to divest assets to get past the 5 year look back for medicaid.

@Shawn S. , I am having a problem seeing where 30k$ at 6% for 1 year can be useful if you are not doing flips. If you use it for the 20% down to get bank financing you won't have the money to pay him back in a year. I have done seller notes for 20% for the down payment, but I have a 5 year balloon and use a 15 year note. At the end of 5 years I have enough equity to refinance at 80% and pay them off. In one year there is no way you will generate enough income to pay him back.

Often talking to the tenants, especially long term tenants is a great way to learn about a property.

@Toni D. some Title companies will give you a discount if they issued a title policy on the property recently. It might be worth asking.

@David J. The method may vary from state to state, but normally the Executor/personal representative has to file a petition with the court for authority to sale, they usually must give notice to all heirs, in case they want to object, there is a brief hearing, then judge orders sale. Some wills have power of sale built into them that allows sales without the court hearing. If all the heirs sign a stipulation to the sale and waive hearing, the court may just sign the order. The title company will usually want a copy of the oath and letters testamentary, and the judges Order and the they sign a Personal representatives Deed.. It can vary a lot but that is a brief outline of my state. Some states have much more complicated scenarios. The property usually must be appraised and if the sale price too much below it the Court will want a good reason to approve the sale.

Hey @Jon Holdman , sorry about your house, it is always hard to have your home turned upside down, but remember Family and friends are what truly make life worth living. You will be able to give your family a nice home again. I don't know what I could do to help but feel free to call if you think of something.

@Stephen Masek your article makes people think and argue which is a good thing, so I am giving you a vote not for the content but what the content makes us do. Saying debt is all bad is like saying if 1 person of a race is bad then all people of that race are bad. I was very poor growing up, I lived apart from my family often from age 13, and lived on my own for my junior and senior years of high school supporting myself and sometimes living in a car. I could have never bought a home, or gotten through law school without debt. I was able to do undergraduate college by working for 8 months, and saving then going to college for 1 semester then back to work. I once took 24 credit hours trying to get as many hours in as possibly in each semester. If you are poor you cannot buy things without debt, period. I still remember the day I paid off my home and had no debt. Unfortunately I had to take out a loan the next year to replace my car that finally broke to the point I couldnt fix it anymore. Now my house, and all cars and all credit cards are paid off, but I have a substantial debt on my rental properties, I would only have 1 rental house if I waited to use cash to buy them, and when I retired I would have to count on social security to live on as probably half of my income. Bad debt can be an anchor that holds you back, but it can also be the vehicle that takes you where you need to go, you just have to drive very carefully. Good post, I would love to visit with you sometime, I often learn so much more by debating a subject with an intelligent person, than simply assuming I know everything.

@Greg Merrill , I believe flipping is much more risk that buy and hold. Getting your ARV too low or missing that your property is in a flood zone so its worth 20% less or even you got the estimated cost of repairs wrong. I have been buy and hold for years, that being said I think flipping provides more immediate income if done properly. I am starting my first true rehab property and I find it very challenging for more reasons than I care to type. It is my hope however to generate more profit in under 6 months than 5 rental houses in a year. I may also end up with a very nice rental house because I cannot sell it, we will see. I just bought J Scott's books on Flipping Houses and Estimating Rehab Costs, I am only part way through them but they are VERY helpful.