All Forum Posts by: Ibrahim Hughes

C & J - Market to local builders by checking your tax records for companies with "development" or "LLC" in their names. Look at the tax rercords and see if they are owners and builders of vacant land.

Also have a Realtor pull comps of all vacant lots that have sold in the area in the last 6 mos - 1year. Cross reference the properties with the tax records to find the current owners and market your properties to them.

In regards to your comment on Attorneys, realtors and doctors - all of these industries allow crooked practices, imo:

Attorneys - spoke with a woman yesterday on her way out of being dismissed from a BK she should have never been in. Thought her payments would be lower. They weren't. Basically the same PLUS the Trustee's fee. But the lawyers got paid.

Realtors - no requirement by buyer's agent to disclose bonuses paid by seller; dual agency.

Doctors - I worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 5 years. You think your doctor is recommending a drug because it helps? Why not recommend a generic drug that saves you money.?Or better yet, tell you to drastically change your diet (organic, low sodium, sugar, etc.) and exercise? Because they get bonuses, wined&dined, etc. by the Pharm companies for pushing certain drugs.

Yet all of these industries require licenses so as to protect the consumer. Really?

I'm wondering if there is a site, like Postlet, that allows you to create non real estate related graphic html for emails, craiglists, etc. - In other words, if I wanted to create a postlet like ad for the real estate services I offer (i.e. I Buy Houses). Anything out there for FREE (like Postlet)?

Confirming that (generally speaking) a property owner will likely have to report any cancelled debt from a short sale as income? Any way around this if true?

DEFINITELY answer the phone everytime it rings and be as warm and friendly as possible when you do.

I would take the 50 returns and dig deeper to track them down. If you can't reach them on your first mailing, neither can your competition. But most of them are moving on while you should probably check to see if they're deceased, living somewhere else, etc.

Great advice from everyone. If you're going to be a wholesaler Dennis there's some skills you're going to HAVE to pick up:

1) Become a skilled negotiator and not a skilled negotiator's victim. I once was. Get a GREAT negotiating course from Roger Dawson.

2) Learn to solve problems. Don't run when the going gets tough. That WILL ruin your name and get you in trouble with sellers who are relying on you to cash them out. Instead get creative. Look at the moving parts. Who is likely to take a discount and who SHOULD take a discount to get this deal moving. My experience tells me that you can approach the 2nd lien holder and let them know that they can either take $1500 to make this deal fly or you're on to another deal. I also like the idea of confirming that this lien is valid (check with your title co. as they should be familiar with the statutes concerning the lien).

3) I'm a believer that ALL real estate Investors and Realtors whould learn how to do their own title searches. It's best to know ahead of time (before spending $$$ on a title search and getting folks' hopes up) what mortgages, judgments and other liens are out there so that you can be proactive and deal with them.

Understand that the fact that the seller agreed to sell to you, out of the thousands of other potential buyers, is a privilege (at least that's the way I look at it). Thus for the seller's sake you need to make this work. Even if, as the WORSE case scenario you end up walking away with $0. You shouldnt have to, actually. But if walking away with nada means you preserve your good name (and maybe even get a referral from the seller sometime down the road), so be it. Good luck and keep us posted.

Glad everything turned out ok. In NJ, parents are liable for their children's actions so you may want to pursue this in civil court as well. Consult an attorney as I am not one.

I would like to add a piece of advice. YOU and not your PM meet with the Inspectors and fire marshall for now on. From your posts you seem to have a better response when you deal with them personally. And some city officials view the use of a PM, Assistant or other person on your staff as a sign that you're personally too busy and important to deal with such trivial matters and are therefore handing the situation off to peons who work for you. Handle it yourself until you get this problem solved.