All Forum Posts by: Paul Hitchings

IMHO, the jack of all trades is a master of none. Consider getting a handyman for general stuff, a plumber, an electrician, and a drywall guy.  You wouldn't ask a plumber to wire your house, you wouldn't ask an electrician to put in a toilet and you wouldn't ask a sheet rock guy to install flooring...There are so many tools and tricks to the trades it is very rare that you truly find a master of all the trades. Good luck!

Get a full-time job. Don't get married or have kids. Put all your money into a few house hacks, build equity, borrow money or gather investors, move on to bigger projects.

Yes you could theoretically make some no-money deals work, and I'm not against them. But as a young adult, I think getting reliable income and continuing to learn are your best options.

I also highly recommend staying local for your first few deals.

Send letters to the neighbors asking them if they know anyone looking for a nice rental in the area

So seller has no equity and home needs $10K+ in foundation work? Where is the profit?

You can also get creative. As an example, look for granite off-cuts that might be worked into a counter, as opposed to higher quality "perfect" pieces.  Contact local flooring companies and look for items in low quantity and/or clearance.  Try local goodwill or used construction material store for fixtures, appliance, things the home needs but you might not want to buy brand new.  You make the house look new without breaking the bank, just need to be creative about it :)

What stage in the foreclosure process are you reaching out to them and what are your plans for preventing foreclosure and/or transferring ownership to or through you?

Beyond a short-sale, loan modification,  bringing the loan current or deed in lieu, a property in foreclosure has limited options.

FWIW - used to knock on doors with former Realtor boss. 9/10 homeowners wanted nothing to do with us, lol... 

If you network with some local investors, I suspect you'll find where local auctions are held. The trickiest part of the auction sales is that there is a big list of homes, strong competition from other investors, and you need to have all your due diligence completed before you bid. Depending on who is running the auction, they will require payment in cashier's checks, so you'll need a variety of denominations so you don't pay for a $150K auction property with two $100K cashier's checks, although often bidders overpay and are refunded later, or so I hear.

Most investors use online databases to follow up on local properties going to auction so they can do all their diligence before the auction. And just because a property is on the chopping block, doesn't mean it will even go to sale that day, there are a myriad of reasons a sale might be cancelled or postponed, but that's another story.

As far as liens, the only ones that will remain are typically superior liens, or liens recorded before the deed of trust that is being foreclosed on.  You can either work with a title company or the local recorder and accessor's office to research individual properties.

Regarding asking court employees about the location of trustee or foreclosure auction sales, you might find an answer. In my opinion, better to google "trustee sales Frankfort Illinois" or similar search terms. I suspect in less than an hour of online research and a few phone calls you'll find out where they are held.

A really easy way to find them is to pick up all your local newspapers, because the "Notice of Trustee Sale" will often be published in the local paper with an address and time. They might be mixed in with all the DBA and other county announcements, but I promise at least one of your local papers has them.

Lastly, buying at auction is not always a great plan for the beginning investor, though I'm sure some start out that way. I highly recommend working with local investors and even keeping track of companies/owners who buy auction properties and then following up with them later to ask how their entire experience was. Some will not want to share their experience, but you never know until you ask :)

That is a horrific story. I think you need to move from the area with haste, no matter what the cost.

Natalie, does your brokerage have attorneys on retainer?  If not, try the state bar referral service https://clarifi.org/node/244

Best way to sell a livable property is to list it on the MLS or send the neighbors flyers. Best way to sell an investor special is to have title in your name and go to some local Meetups.

If you want to sell something before you own it, consider asking a title officer, Realtor and attorney their thoughts on double ending transactions.

You can sell an LLC, I am not sure if that is a preferred method to transfer ownership. Lawyers and tax professionals can help you with that too.