All Forum Posts by: Mark Gallagher

@Steven Mitchell

What is a cut floor joint? I'm not super familiar with Texas construction. 

@Chad Jarrah

@Account Closed

On a consistent basis, I've had home inspectors tell me roofs are "8-20 years old," when in fact they're brand new. So not only can they not even tell the age of the roof, they give a 12 year variance. Better off flushing money down the toilet. 

You'd be better off spending ~$350-$450 learning exactly what home inspectors look for, and then looking for the items yourself. 

@Daniel Woolsey

I've always told people to pay a contractor for the exact type of situation you're describing. If you're not paying them, they're going to try to get in and out as quick as possible and give some fluffed up estimate to make sure they over-cover themselves if you end up giving them the job. Everyone's time is money, not just the investor's. Plus, if you keep calling someone out and never give them the job, how many times will that last before they stop showing up? 2-3? You could also do this for "free" on your end if you have credit card points and could offer $100-$150 to Home Depot for their time. It's as good as cash to them since they're likely at Home Depot all the time, and you got the cards for free. A win-win scenario. 

I disagree strongly with what @Account Closed says about having a home inspector come through. Most home inspectors take a few hour course online and think they are home experts. Conversely, contractors are physically working on homes all day and know how to fix things and how much they cost. A home inspector will just say "this is broke" and offer no further advice. 

@Greg H.

The reserve on auction.com is for the amount of the insurance certificate. After a few auction runs, certain servicers will become slightly flexible on the reserve with the idea that it could be easier to convey to a third party rather than HUD.

@Alex Craig

You're talking about sheriff sales that are advertised on auction.com as being such. They are not live auction.com events, rather live sheriff sale aka courthouse steps auctions. These are apples and oranges to true auction.com sales. 

Online auction.com events DO offer title insurance. I recommend using your own title vendor, not the seller's title vendor.

Again, if you're speaking to sheriff sale/courthouse auctions, they will have different terms and conditions to the sale than when buying from auction.com when the property has already been foreclosed on. There is a significant difference. 

@Alex Craig

I'm not sure if you're trying to get people to not bid on auction.com but what you've said isn't true. 99 times out of 100 the property is sold with clear title, provided you purchase a title policy. Meaning if you purchase a title policy, and find a title defect, they will work to correct it, and if they can't you'll be entitled to a refund of your EMD.

@Shawn Crawley

Yes, they could procure a buyer, and their brokerage would get paid on a settlement sheet. If you're not going to have a settlement sheet, you could still pay their brokerage directly to the best of my knowledge. Just have realtor double check VA state law.

@Curtis Deckard

While unusual, it is legal. This is a hot market in most places. All that being said, it looks like the numbers still work great at $30,000. It's probably best to proceed at $30,000 if it works for you. 

@Shawn Crawley

Do you mean a property that you have under contract and you're looking to assign the contract?