All Forum Posts by: Lauren Do

Has he thought about buying an annuity? 

I can only imagine what would happen if someone tried to enforce something like this on a couple who was pregnant. 

Thank you! I need one more month to sort out my financial situation a bit further (become a member of the credit union) and so we might try again to get it. The estate agent implied that the ARV was $500,000, so $50k more than my assumption. I don't trust that 100% but I know I was very conservative in my numbers.

You are right, I probably did insult them. When I got the contractor quotes, then did the math and saw the offer number, I thought we would just move on and not put the offer in. The estate agent kept asking us to make and offer and saying that we should at least toss something into the ring. I wasn't trying to be ballsy, he pushed us when I was resisting, and then he did seem insulted. 

I guess I edited it out of my post, but I'm not in the USA, I am in the Caribbean. It's a sellers' market for beach front and centrally located, but this is outside of town and not on the water. A nearby turnkey property was just reduced $45k to $499k. Other comps stayed on the market for 300 to 500 days. Unfortunately I can't find a true comp because this house is 2 storeys and nearly all surrounding houses are 1 storey.

I believe the valuation came from a RICS surveyor, but you make a number of valid points and I should find out what it is based on. I just know the number with none of the supporting data.

Hi! I am looking for my new primary residence rather than an investment property, although I do have another investment property which was bought without the wealth of knowledge on BP. I am in an ultra-HCOL country. 

I found a house that I liked, a rehab project. It was on the MLS and I viewed it once when it was first listed, but wasn't ready to buy then. Six months later, I viewed it again and put in an offer.

I found comps and called contractors for quotes for repairs. I calculated that the ARV is $450,000 and that the repairs would be $100,000-ish - it doesn't have city water, air conditioning, or working appliances. It has several features which are unsafe as it stands but easy to fix and MUST be fixed for safety reasons.

The house was originally listed at $465,000, then reduced to $435,000 after 4 months on the market. Before they listed, they received a valuation of $400,000 as it stands now without any repairs. 

We made an offer of $315,000, and it was promptly rejected, somewhat rudely, because the owners are expecting the valuation as a 'bare minimum'. They will not look at offers below the valuation, and want above it. 

My question to the wonderful people on the Bigger Pockets forum is why would a seller think that the valuation is a reasonable starting point to move UP from? Why would someone buy a rehab project for above the valuation? The market is not very hot in this particular area due to traffic and it would be considered 'out of town'.  

I would like to understand the seller's perspective on why the valuation is the 'bare minimum'. From my perspective, the valuation is the absolute maximum that one would pay. The sellers are apparently highly motivated to sell, but expect someone to pay more than the house is valued. They have not received any other offers in the 6 months it has been on the market.

Mothers can do a house hack too. Would she like to do a B n B? 

Airbnb does not allow third party bookings, although they leave it somewhat at the host's discretion. 

How would it work? Would you allow them to advertise however the winner would have to contact you and make a legitimate booking through Airbnb for free? Presumably the winner would get some flexibility with dates, so the charity wouldn't make the booking, making you at the mercy of a random showing up.  

The question firstly is whether you actually want to support that charity by providing the accommodation. If not, say no and don't sweat it. If you do, I would retain control by saying that the winner would need to contact you via Airbnb and then make a Booking Request, which you could then discount to 0. You could still see whether the person has positive reviews and proceed as per a normal booking request. 

We had a lodger. We did up a lodger tenancy agreement and got paid monthly, with two weeks notice. I would personally not mandate more than 3 months. Housemates got on my nerves pretty quickly and in the future I would go for a higher turnover so that I don't get sick of them. The 'glow' fades on both sides, and when housemates get comfortable, they get messy. We are central London so never had a problem finding someone and enjoyed brief periods of vacancies. UK taxes are brilliant for lodgers as well. Just under $10k is tax free.