All Forum Posts by: Mike V.

Most banks that are going to sell off the mortgage (fannie/freddie) will refinance you immediately but only for 70-80% of the original purchase price regardless of improvements/appraisals. If you want more than this then expect to wait 6-12 months. Best bet is with a local bank that will keep it in house - then the rules are far more flexible. This is all based on my experience of trying it several different ways over the last 18 months but the rules change weekly so call around and see what the story is this week.

Jennifer,
Investors are not going to pay retail value (appraised value) whether it is a short sale or not. We are typically looking for deals that are 50-70% of appraised value (for me to wait for a short sale it has to be closer to the 50%). There's just no way to profit and every way to lose by buying at appraised value regardless of how nice it is.
Having said all that you might be able to find an investor who is very experienced in short sales and can negotiate the bank to a number that will work for them.
Good luck.

Southside investment club - SSIC
We meet the 2nd Thursday of the month for a meeting and 4th Tuesday of the month for a happy hour. The holidays are changing that schedule a little so we are having the next happy hour this Tuesday. Let me know if you need more details.

Here are the speakers that I remember since attending meetings since March.
1. Marianno Favaza - St. Louis City Clerk - elected official that runs the clerks office gave a great talk on evictions.
2. Mayor Francis Slay - Spoke about the issues and opportunities that the City faces.
3. Forgot name but he runs a company that assist in Short sales - very good info with no sales pitch.
4. Local insurance guy and local investment advisor gave a short summary of what the existing insurance was available for landlords and rehabbers and the current state of economy.
5. Local hard money lender spoke on how the process works as well as the recent changes in conventional lending.

Welcome Craig, always good to see another St. Louis investor on this forum.

George,
I was there, typical guru stuff. A certain amount of truth, mixed with a lot of fluff, all rolled into a big ball of BS - all for only $1495 ($6800 if purchased seperately).
Having said that, I'm still impressed with this rei club - this is the first monthly meeting since I started attending in March that has featured a speaker that was selling something.

Nothing intentional just thought about my last 2 years purchases. 1st - short sale, 2nd - HUD, 3rd - REO, 4th - HUD, 5th - private owner. My intention is to keep buying so throw out some more categories.

Not qualifying for FHA could either be some major defect in the home that will not pass the FHA inspection or it may not be seasoned yet - current owner has owned it less than 91 days. If its just a seasoning issue then it will not affect a buy and hold investor such as yourself. If it is a major defect they will have to disclose it. Ask more questions on this one.

Check with your local banks. I am on my 6th mortgage and had to get the last two thru a local bank. They also let me do construction loans so if I buy well enough and stay within budget on rehab then when I refinance the construction into a conventional I don't have any of my own money in it.

Jose,
One was a HUD home with a flooded finished basement and the other was a REO with 20lbs of dog poop in one of the bedrooms. Both very undesireable homes to the retail market but in a great area that always sells.