All Forum Posts by: Charlie MacPherson

@Justin Megna I see people selling off their businesses every day. 

Most often it's seller's who are ready to retire.  Less often, but still common, are sellers who are selling off to go after a new opportunity.  Every now and then, I find sellers who have their hair on fire and come to hate the business they've built and want OUT.

Until you know the seller's motivation, it's really impossible to say whether it means anything about market conditions.

@Jeff Wirth I had to go after a deadbeat client who owed commission and refused to pay.  My amount was much lower ($700), so I went to Small Claims Court and it eventually worked wonders.  You'll have to check to see if $8,000 is within the limits for SCC in your area.  Here in Maine, it's $6,000.

We had a hearing.  He failed to show up, so they scheduled a second hearing.  He failed to show again, so I was awarded a default judgement.

They scheduled a payment hearing to see if there was a reason he couldn't pay.  He didn't show up.

The Magistrate said I could have a Capias (civil arrest warrant where a sheriff or constable would arrest the bum and physically bring him to court) or an execution (sheriff or constable can seize assets and sell them to satisfy the judgement) - or both.

I took both.  I sent the deadbeat photos of the orders and gave him a deadline to pay, which of course, he failed to do. (Seeing a pattern here?)

I went nuclear.  His wife was also named as a party on the lawsuit, so I told him that if he didn't pay by a new deadline, I was going to have his wife arrested at work and brought to court.

*BOOM*  A nearly instant payment.  Funny how that worked.

In Massachusetts, where all this took place, judgments accrue interest at 12% per year.  The deadbeat would also be responsible for additional costs, including sheriff / constable fees. 

If that's true in your jurisdiction too, that ever accruing interest might motivate your deadbeat.  1% per month forever - and that's a long time!

Good luck.

I got licensed 8 years ago and those rules were in force until I left the profession a year ago.  I can't speak to when these rules came into force.

It could be that the inspector didn't see the window or maybe even chose to ignore it for his own reasons.  Some, but not all of the criteria are explained here: https://www.valoans.com/eligib... and here: https://www.militaryvaloan.com...

@Zachary Canada  Step one is to ask your broker.  He or she will likely refuse as wholesaling is indistinguishable from a net listing.  See: https://www.trec.texas.gov/use...  It appears that you would have to get your seller to "require a net listing".  I don't know how you could do that honestly.  You would have to explain how something that is obviously not in their interest is in their interest.

You would also have to explain to your broker (or the real estate commission) how selling for less than the seller could get from a standard MLS listing is ethical - especially if you're taking a bigger fee than a commission would bring. That's really messy.

The underlying issue is that wholesaling takes advantage of sellers who are either ignorant of the true market value of their property or are in such a bad jam that they'll take a garbage lowball offer to get out of whatever the situation is. 

There is literally NOTHING that a wholesaler can do for a seller that a licensed agent can't. No matter how bad the condition of the property (a standard wholesaler excuse), an MLS listing will find cash buyers just as fast as a wholesaler, and will probably find more because he will expose the property to millions of people instead of the handful of "buyers" on a wholesaler's list.

Go ahead and get your license.  Work hard, serve every one of your clients like they were your mom or dad.  You'll build a great reputation that will get you repeat business and lots of referrals.  It will take some time, but if you stick with it, it will pay off - and you'll be able to sleep at night.

Good luck!

@Stephanie Caruthers  There are a couple of BIG problems with that plan.

1. If you tell the lender that you will occupy the property and don't, you have committed mortgage fraud, which is a felony.  You'll have to sign an affidavit of occupancy as part of the loan package.

2. VA loans require a very strict inspection. There is a huge list of items that will cause a loan to be rejected - cracked window, uneven sidewalk, loose hand rails, even a small amount of peeling paint, etc.

That means that you won't be able to buy a property that needs repairs with a VA loan. Your goal should be one that needs updating, but not repair.  VA doesn't care if you have avocado appliances, faded wallpaper and shag carpeting.  If you can find a home that hasn't been updated since the 1960s, you can buy it and live in it while you update.

@Stephanie Ro There's already a lot of good advice here, but in my experience, it all comes down to one thing - PRICE.

The other factors mentioned here are all valid, but I promise you that if that properties here were listed at $10.00, it would sell as fast as it takes to write the P&S. If you list them at $1M, they would sit forever.

Somewhere in between those numbers is a price that will cause it to sell and in a seller's market (assuming that like the rest of the country, you're still in one), those properties have not found that number.

One other bit of conventional wisdom.  Homes that initially list too high will not sell until after a series of price cuts finally attracts a buyer - and that will be at a price that's lower than if it were priced correctly at the start.

The moral of the story is for Realtors and sellers to run comps - and not those garbage automated comps.  Do the work and take ALL of the factors that influence value into account.  Price it right the first time and you'll get the highest possible price.

@Chris Hamrick It sounds like some of the copper pipes may have been stolen.  Drug addicts do this quite often and sell the copper for scrap value so they can get their next fix.  If that's what happened, you might take a second look at the neighborhood crime stats.  You should also check to see if they stole any of the copper wiring.

Assuming you mean piped-in natural gas and not propane, be sure to contact the gas company to see what it takes to get the gas turned back on.  Most likely, just a pressure test, but you want to be sure.  Luckily natural gas pipes are normally iron, so not worth stealing.

No lender will fund a residential loan on a home without all of the major systems working, but you should be able to fund it with an FHA 203K renovation loan. Check with several mortgage brokers or local banks and ask if they handle these.

The 203K will fund both the acquisition and renovation costs at 96.5%.  $35,000 in renovation costs or less is done with a simpler "express" loan.  Above that is a little more complicated, but can still be done.

Good luck!

@Michael Ballard  There's a reason that the inspection report pointed it out.  

Research lead pipe plumbing in Flint Michigan and see what you think.

@Destiny Dunbar  Just to clarify, you're asking how you can find an ethical person who violates real estate law by practicing unlicensed wholesaling?

This one answers itself.

@Ethan Cole When I was a Realtor in Massachusetts, I saw downtown Boston parking spaces listed on MLS. Single, uncovered parking spaces went well into 6 figures. https://stuartstjames.com/bost...  

These are for sale, but you might try MLS, Facebook, Craigslist, etc. to see if you can find a renter.