All Forum Posts by: Pat Goodyear

I am a landlord/investor in Syracuse NY.  I am looking for a wholesaler for properties on the eastside.

check out easyrent. Its free and has a tenant portal

sorry I offered 140k not 104k

yes I did. Initially the REO was adamant that they were not negotiating or giving back my earnest money. I read the contract again and there was a clause we both initial that agreed to an arbitrator as binding. So I contacted the banks realtor and said I guess we had to go that route. Mind you I offered $170k to close the deal and they refused. A few hours later he called and said they didnt want to go to arbitration. And would refund my money. It went back up for auction. I put in a preauction bid of 104k which they turned down. It sold for 148k. To someone else.

Will, that is quite an experience!  I invest in Syracuse. If you don't mind me asking, what did you pay for them and what neighborhoods are they in?

I don't have "proof", but usually if they have another bidder the house would automatically go to them as a secondary. Also the way the bidding occurred, at the last few hours. (At least from what I've read on here)

My thought was pool $4000; roof $6000, interior $25,000 (floors, kitchen, bathrooms, move walls), siding repairs $2000. Then the clean up - conservatively $5000. There are barrels of oil from his vehicles. Once I add in the carrying costs, realtor fees...it would be a break even or lose situation. If I got it for $140k...different story. 

The ARV is around $250,000 but the repair/clean up costs I can't even begin to estimate. It needs a new roof, the pool needs a liner and mechanicals, the interior needs major updating, and then removing all the stuff. There are 3 or 4 tractor trailer backends there, vehicles, an industrial ice cream machine, old snowmobiles, a couple boats. All in unrepairable state.

Yes, I'm sorry I am not sure how that happened. Yes it is snow. Once it started melting the mess was even worse.

I don't consider myself a newbie; i have 15 properties and have always bought distressed homes off the MLS. I saw a home that was going to be auctioned on homesearch.com and was cash only "occupied". I will say i did not do my due diligence. I should have read the threads here before bidding, and done as much research about the property as i could. I did drive by it once and reach out to the homeowner's son to find out if they were still living there. (they were not). I bid early when the auction opened. (MISTAKE #1) i bid myself up to reserve (MISTAKE #2), thinking now they would have to take my bid of $140,000. Two hours before the auction ended, another "bid" was placed. I now know this was the auction company bidding. The bid went back and forth. My "limit" was $175,000; I ended up bidding to $180,000. After the buyer fee it was $189,000.

I went back to the owner's son and left my number. The owner called me. He happily showed me the house. Where he had removed all the doors. The in ground pool that was so gorgeous in the pictures was trashed with a ripped liner and no equipment. He mentioned he took the pole barn to his new place. Yes the 2000 sq foot building that was in the pictures, and on the tax assessment and in the MLS listing. And....there was dead vehicles and equipment everywhere. OMG. Now I had instant regret.

  The barn retails for $30,000 unbuilt. I reached out to the realtor. I sent pictures. My realtor assured me they would look at everything. A week later I was told that either loss my $6000 earnest money or buy the house. I had offered $170,000 which I thought was fair. The bank refused. Then, i found a clause that said we both agreed to use an arbitrator. So i called the realtor back and asked how to proceed with that process. They called about an hour later to say they would refund my earnest money. 

 It is now relisted. I put in a bid for $140,000. They turned it down. Oh well. I learned several very important lessons.