All Forum Posts by: Mark Rowan

Welcome to the site and also welcome to the Fire Fighter Brotherhood. I also started my real estate investing journey at the beginning of my career as a firefighter, and this site and its members have been a ton of help. Just like in fire fighting, never stop learning and reach out to the veteran investors. It's easy to tell who the good ones are. They will lead you in the right direction. Stay safe Brother. -Mark

I am looking at purchasing a foreclosure with the previous owner still living in the house. He says he is involved in a lawsuit with his mortgage company for fraud. The bank is asking 15K and the property is valued on our county website at 100K and comps in the area are between 80K and 120K. My questions for everyone is, do you think it is worth the hassle of going through an ejectment to purchase this property and, if this person eventually wins a lawsuit against his mortgage company, is it possible that we could have to give up the house? Any advice would be appreciated.

I am looking at purchasing a foreclosure with the previous owner still living in the house. He says he is involved in a lawsuit with his mortgage company for fraud. The bank is asking 15K and the property is valued on our county website at 100K and comps in the area are between 80K and 120K. My questions for everyone is, do you think it is worth the hassle of going through an ejectment to purchase this property and, if this person eventually wins a lawsuit against his mortgage company, is it possible that we could have to give up the house? Any advice would be appreciated.

We are getting ready to purchase our second multi unit property! It will be our first in the Pittsburgh area. It's located in McKeesport. Can anyone recommend a property management company for this area? Thanks!

After watching a house up the street from me get rehabbed after a fire. I started thinking that I might like to look for properties that have fire damage both for rehabbing, and wholesaling. I'm a firefighter, so It is easy for me to find where the fires are. My question is this, How do you tactfully approach someone who's house just burnt down and say, "hey, do you want to sell your house?" I just don't want to look like I'm taking advantage of their bad situation. So, if you have purchased fire damaged houses, how did you approach the owner? Thanks.

@Brett Russell I agree that this is not the typical wholesale deal. it is also not what i would want to do all the time. This lead came from a Craigslist ad looking to build my cash buyers list. I'm just looking to make this opportunity work. My thought was to find the property, negotiate the price down and reassign the contract for a profit. So, you're saying that if I find get it under contract, the contract protects me from the buyer bypassing me and just buying from the Realtor/seller. But when the buyer comes to look at the house, he will find out the list price and see that I'm bumping the price up on him to make my profit. Will this be a problem? Remember, i'm very new at this.

I posted an ad on Craigslist hoping to locate cash buyers to build a list for future wholesale deals. I have received a few responses and have a question on how to proceed with one.

I was contacted by a gentleman who is moving to my area in the next few months and is looking for a house for him and his girlfriend. He is a cash buyer with a nice budget for this area. My questions are;

1-Can I wholesale to someone who is looking to live in the house, and not fix and flip or rent it out?

2-How can I arrange for them to see the house without the real estate agent taking over and selling them the house?

3-Would it be structured the same way? I put the property under contract, assign the contract, and do a double closing?

This would be my first wholesale deal, and i'm feeling like i bit off more then i can chew.

Thanks in advance for all responses.

Mark Rowan

Jay M. Welcome to bigger pockets. I am also from Pittsburgh. Maybe we can meet up sometime. Talk to you soon.

Thanks for the replies. Looks like I just have to get creative and get someone in there. I like the storage unit idea. There is also a full basement that I thought might be good for the storage for tenants, and maybe others in town that need to store some things. Thanks again.

The tenants did know that we were considering buying the property. They were told upfront by the management company when they have them 48 hrs notice for us to get in.

The property management co. Is charging 10% of the monthly rent with no up front fee because all units are rented. There is a finders fee equal to one months rent. ( anytime there is a vacancy)

As I said, I'm as new as they come at real estate, so anyone else who reads this, is that typical for property management company's? We stuck with the company who was already managing the property.