All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Holmes

99 percent of all properties being sold are looking for market price. Maybe not that high but you get the idea. It is your job to find the handful that are real deals and being undervalued for some reason. One way is to call and talk to landlords. Another might be direct mail, driving for dollars, cold calling, or asking your favorite cousin if they happen to know anyone who might want to sell a house.

It sounds like your closing cost are going on top of the price. 2500 and change seems about right for that. It depends on how it was negotiated to be honest. I suspect you have negotiated their bottom price plus closing cost instead of a total price minus closing cost if that makes sense.

You certainly can refi sub 50k properties but it will require you to shop banks a bit. You’re starting point should be to look for every small local bank you can find and put their name and phone number on a list. These banks will often be named after a local city they’re in. You also should look at local credit unions. The next step after your list is made is to call each one and ask what their minimum mortgage amount is on a non owner occupied loan. Likely more than one of them will work with you.

I cannot imagine a scenario where this would be a good idea. Perhaps I am missing something. Why not take all the money you would spend on the line of credit each month and add it to your mortgage as a principle curtailment. The is generally no penalty for paying down a mortgage early if you’re an owner occupant. Please explain this to me more I am so baffled.

There is a process to challenge the assessment. I would consult a real estate attorney for advice if you go that route. They should be able to point you in the right direction to accomplish this and it may be a good idea to pay them to do it for you. Properly filled out forms from an attorney often go a long way in these situations. Keep in mind you have to prove to the people who made the assessment that they are wrong and you are right. Theoretically you should be able to sell for around what the valuation is. In reality it can be much more or much less depending on your state and county. The first thing I would ask myself is if their assessment was close to my assessment.

I think for a sub to you would still need significant cash to bring the loan current. First, make sure your numbers are spot on, with the 25k you’ll have to bring. It is sad these people are losing their home but the last thing you want is to end up in your own foreclosure. If the numbers are good then and you literally have no cash and no way to get that cash, your only other option is a partner. Talk to every investor you know and see if some one will jump on board.

Definitely make sure your lease is legal if you haven’t already. In my state regardless of the clauses in the lease if the tenant stays past the period of the lease in continues month to month. You should know if your state is the same but if you lease states the lease continues month to month after it is up that should be legal. That said now is not the time to mess around. I would immediately give notice to vacate withdrawal your offer for a new lease in writing. Both sent certified mail. Then prepare for a possible eviction. You may decide to go the cash for keys route but I would price out an attorney for an eviction anyway.

Depends on if you want to use financing for you rehab or not. If so your only real option would be the FHA renovation loan or a small local lender who will do it under a construction loan. The refinancing R must be done after proper seasoning or holding of the property. This can be anywhere from six months to a year. A year being more common depending on your lenders requirements. They will do a new full appraisal so you must be sure you rehab increases the value enough to get you cash back out. Other than than that there isn’t a whole lot more to it than a normal home purchase. You will need to live in the property of course but this will help your refinance rates.

Second vote for a CPA. A good one that will go through all your records file past returns and help you negotiate penalties and any other points. I would seek the CPAs advice on this one but it might even be time to contact a tax attorney to help with the negotiation.

With two liens I suspect this will be more complicated than a normal short sale. As I understand it, the process with a short sale is to first have the bank agree to the idea of it by filing appropriate paperwork. They may say no. Then you make an offer. Then they say yes or no. Then an appraiser comes out and tells the back it’s worth much more than your offer and the whole thing falls through. The property will then sit empty forever as the bank tries to sell it at the inflated price. That was my experience. You would have to convince two banks to agree and A line of credit is different enough from a mortgage that I have doubts the would consider a short sale. Also if it is worth 350k then your friend should fire sale it for 300k and get out of it. Again if it’s worth 350k the bank will not short sale it for less than what’s owed as they can simply foreclose on it and sell it to recoup their investment. Lastly, because of your connection with the owner there is an increased probability that the bank will refuse to short sale specifically to you as the seller could have a conflict of interest to get you a better deal than needed to sell the property.