All Forum Posts by: Mitch Freed

Wouldn't landlord / tenant laws come into play here...there is a specific time frame that a landlord must wait if a tenant moves out and leaves behind belongings...after that time frame is up then the landlord can do what he/she pleases with the stuff.

Johnston...I wish the agents in Portland thought like you do.

Unfortunately short sales in Portland come with a short sale addendum which all firms are requiring to get signed by all parties. It states that multiple offers may be submitted and the bank decides which one to accept. There are no back up offers.

I don't think the commissions are an issue to investors...in a short sale, technically the bank is the one paying the commission.

Vik...the NOD lists sent out by title companies are a good way to get to homeowners before they decide to list with an agent. But you better have a killer postcard and even better sales pitch if you are going to go door to door..and a lot of time on your hands :) Because once they are posted they are going to get bombarded with flyers and phone calls.

You don't always have to have cash...but you do need proof of funds. Cash is always best because you are not subject to financing or appraisal and you can close the transaction very quickly.

Also, consider the condition of the property...will it pass an appraisal? Any life in the roof? If not...cash cash cash.

SoCalGel...unfortunately it doesn't matter to the listing agent that the seller isn't going to net any money...the seller still has to sign off on the offer...and in most short sale situations the seller is in danger of the bank requiring them to sign a promissory note for the difference if any debt is to be forgiven. This doesn't always happen but it could. Therefore, if higher offers are submitted then the agent will always advise their client to sign them.

This homeowner was quite uncooperative unfortunately. Trustee Sale was inevitable.

And you are correct there is no redemption period whatsoever if a homeowner is foreclosed on via non-judicial foreclosure (trustee sale)

Regarding the investor at the auction...Portland is an interesting place.

I'm not sure how it is in other cities but Portland has a group that doesn't like to let outsiders win properties at auction. They all have agreements behind the scenes...they bid a dollar at a time and somebody eventually pays off the others so they won't bid up the property.

I concentrate on bank owned, short sales, and picking up properties on contract...the auctions here are too full of collusion.

The ideal situation for me would have been to negotiate with the lien holders prior to auction...but the homeowner wanted nothing to do with any of that. She didn't understand her situation.

I can see that your last sentence refers to junior liens and contacting the homeowner...there was a 2nd mtg of 150K that was wiped away at trustees sale. There is also about 2k in HOA liens. Property taxes are paid in full.

And yes I have met the homeowner. I spoke to her several months ago when her home was originally scheduled for trustee sale and then postponed and then actually canceled. It just recently came back and finally sold at auction.

Now that the home has sold is there any reason to speak to the previous homeowner?

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the response! I didn't purchase the property at auction but I am curious to find out how the IRS gets their guaranteed bidder.

The property sold at auction for less than what it was purchased for as new construction in 1997...it was a good strike price. The X factor on how great a deal it was is the 60k tax lien. Given the fact that the property has substantial equity in it I imagine the investor who bought the property will attempt either to negotiate with the IRS or just wait out the 120 day redemption period.

My thoughts were that I could potentially purchase the lien from the IRS and redeem the property myself...thus being on the good side of the internal revenue service by helping them get some money. Otherwise maybe they lose out after the 120 day period.

Real Estate Agents and Short Sale Investors do not mix simply because the SS investor has no security that his/her offer won't be topped by somebody else who comes in 2 - 3 months after negotiations have started.

The REA's job is to look out for the best interest of the client so they are more than happy to present a higher offer to the seller and why wouldn't the seller sign it.

Furthermore, properties that are listed on the market give the banks all the more reason to sit and wait for higher offers...giving the investor no leverage at all on the approaching sale date.

Plus, REA's have to conform to office politics when getting involved with these SS negotiations.

I started out writing offers on listed SS properties because they were so easy to find...they were listed on RMLS as being a short sale. The downside came quickly after when everybody else jumped in the same pool and turned my water yellow.

I have met Dwan in person and was not impressed by her SS knowledge. I came to a couple conclusions after sitting through her annoying seminar:

One...she is probably not actively negotiating short sales but rather making all her money selling her boot camps and packets. Her experience comes from light years ago when she apparently started in Florida and has no bearing on today's market.

Two...anybody that markets a short sale packet or boot camp is going to make the whole process sound a lot easier that it really is...they gotta hook ya somehow.

You mentioned that the bank provided a verbal SS price...was that a verbal acceptance to your SS offer or a verbal counter offer?

I just had a bank tell me that they accepted my offer and were going to postpone the auction. They ended up not postponing the auction and it went to trustee sale anyways....very disappointing but what can ya do.

If you have authorization from the seller then I would recommend contacting the bank directly. Postponements are pretty common in these situations especially if the property is listed on the market and there has been action...even more so when offers have been submitted.

Don't back off...keep in constact contact with the bank. They don't have the brightest bulbs handling these files and are notorious for letting things fall through the cracks and letting them go to auction.

This would certainly streamline the REO process if more banks had their reps show up...i've never seen one come to an auction in Portland though.

Did the article mention what city this investor is working in?

I imagine it is a specific bank he is working with...probably a local one that has less loans out there than the slow moving giants. They will have more time and resources to do due dilligence, especially if they are a local bank.

How to you plan to purchase the property for 10,000.00 less than what they owe their bank? This is called a short sale...why not just write an offer for 10,000.00 less at the very beginning and try to negotiate that deal with their bank. Cut out all this complicated you making their payments nonsense and cut to the chase. Is your ultimate goal to buy and sell real estate or screw over homeowners?