All Forum Posts by: Marty Boardman

You don't need a book to learn how to find properties in foreclosure. These notices are filed at your county recorder's office or circuit court. Some of this data can be found online (if the county offers this service). Worst case you'll have to drive to your county office to search their computers for the notice of trustee's sale, notice of foreclosure or notice of sale document (the name of the document depends on which state you live in).

This notice typically includes the homeowner name, address, date of auction, principal balance of the loan (or judgment amount), auction location, lender and attorney names.

Good luck Newton! 

As Will mentioned there's no universally standard way to determine ARV. I think it's more art than science (especially when you're talking about a fully remodeled home vs. an outdated property). It's difficult to measure what kind of premium the market will pay for updates. But in today's housing market it's significant, especially where you are in Florida.

When running comps I focus far less on past closed sales and look more at what's available right now. With low supply homebuyers don't have many options. I price my properties based on what else they have to choose from on the MLS (so this price is usually higher than what has sold in the last 6 months). I'm not too worried about appraisal issues because buyers are desperate and will often waive the appraisal contingency OR agree to cover the difference.

I don't hire general contractors for my fix and flips. They are expensive and don't always have my best interests in mind. Instead I hire a project manager that is paid to keep the rehab moving along on time and on budget. My PM schedules the sub-contractors and makes sure materials are at the job site so nothing gets held up. I pay the sub-contractors directly and I pay for all the materials. If the house gets done under budget and/or before their deadline I give my PM a bonus.

I started wholesaling in 2003 (like most new real estate investors). I bought two courses (on cassette tapes) and actually found them to be informative. They helped to straighten the learning curve, but I could have probably figured it out on my own.

Wholesaling was not a sustainable business for me. I'm not a hustler and I suck at lead generation/follow up, so after about 3 years I burned out.

That said, I know of many successful wholesalers where I fix and flip in Arizona and Wisconsin that have built honest, sustainable businesses. I'm not sure who they learned from, but they received good instruction because when I buy houses from them the process is efficient and professional. Of course, I do my due diligence, and they bring me lots of deals that I pass on because the numbers don't work. But, these wholesalers are still legit.

I'm sorry Christopher this hasn't been your experience. I believe the real estate investment ecosystem needs wholesalers, fix and flippers and buy and holders. Each provides a valuable service for buyers, sellers and tenants. I suppose there will always be bad apples like in any other industry.

I live in the Phoenix metro area (Gilbert). I don't own any rental properties here. All of mine are out of state. I guess if you're investing for appreciation this is a good market. However, if it's cash flow you want you can do much better with SFH and multi-family in the midwest and southeast.

I look at 3 metrics when considering a new area to invest in rental properties:

1. Median price

2. Average rental income

3. Property taxes

It's not very scientific, but it does help to weed out a lot of markets (like Cassi mentioned in Texas) where property taxes are sky-high. However, there are cities where property taxes are above average and you can still make the numbers work because rental income is also above average.

All my rentals are out of state (I live in Arizona) so another factor I consider is can I fly there non-stop. Again, not very scientific but if I need to make a quick trip I don't want to spend a full day traveling.

Good luck Thomas!

I get letters and text messages on a weekly basis with offers to buy my house (and my rental properties) and I've never missed a payment.

There's probably an investor/s in your area that are using these marketing letters as a method to acquire more deals.

I'm curious Ben...did she respond to any of these letters? How did you contact her?

Okay you asked us to pick apart your strategy so here goes :)

If the owner is deceased then you've got to track down the heir/s. You can't buy a house from a dead person and getting an heir/s to agree to sell the house to you will be extremely difficult, especially if there's no trust or will. Chances are you'll have to hire a probate attorney for the estate (and pay for it) because the heir/s are broke. If they had any money at all they would have already paid the property taxes.

I've done deals like this in the past and it was like herding cats.

You're obviously motivated, otherwise you wouldn't be considering a strategy like this that requires so much research and prospecting. I recommend you focus on pre-foreclosures. For marketing you can door knock, mail letters and skip trace/text message the owners. You'll be reaching people who are actually alive and can sell their house to you without jumping through so many hoops.

Good luck!

I've done several Arizona probate deals and they are difficult to close. Here's what I had to do:

1. Get a death certificate

2. Get a probate attorney for the estate (plus pay the legal fees because the family members were all broke) and follow the legal steps required

3. Get all heirs to sign the petition

4. Get all heirs to sign the deed to you

It takes about 3-4 weeks IF everyone cooperates. That's the trickiest part of it. Good luck!