All Forum Posts by: Douglas Snook

Jonathan

You are asking the right questions. You need to know what the carrying cost is going to be on the money and what the typical closing costs are in your area.

I think in your example, the deal would not work buying the house at 50k. you would want to pay 25k. Additionally you would be hard pressed to get a loan for the purchase price AND the renovation costs unless it was some sort of government backed first time home buyers loan and then you would not be able to sell for a few years. Hard money would only loan about 65% and would then want points etc as well , especially if this is your first deal. Once you establish a relationship with them, you may be able to get 100% purchase price.

Do some research here on BP about carrying costs, loans etc to get an idea of the costs and requirements

Just my two cents

Dan

The certified letter issue is nonsense. There is no such law/rule etc. However, that does not mean you did this the best way.

First I assume there is no lease. I don't know what the letter said that you presented on the day of closing. Hopefully it advised them that you were terminating their tenancy first off. Then you can offer them a new tenancy at the 1200 rate. If it did not say this then you may be on shaky ground.

You can give them this notice in hand as you did. You will just have to make an affidavit to that effect for the court if it goes to an eviction. The better route would have been to have a constable or sheriff serve them and have him make the affidavit as to service.

If you follow the rules you will get an eviction. Yes the court may extend the time for them to find a new place etc but they will have to pay some kind of use and occupancy (maybe the current 850, maybe more)

You may want to start over in this case. Just saying

If you wish to discuss this matter privately please feel free to contact me.

Doug

Great post! Thank you for sharing

Ralph most courts dockets are now on line but I don't think that will help you if don't know the names of the land lords.

Thursday is a big eviction day in the state. I would go to Boston Housing Court on a Thursday morning. (You might be able to get the list the day before if you ask)  Head to the clerks office and there should be a list of all the cases to be heard that day. It will list the landlord and tenant and docket number. You can see who might be present (as most wait in the hallway to be called for mediation etc.) then and make your pitch. However I think you will find it a crazy day. You might be better off visiting later in the day and asking for a copy of the list or at the end of the day ask if you can have a copy. (some courts will charge you $1 per page) You can try to use the public computer terminal and look up the docket numbers from the list and get the landlords name and address to send them a letter or whatever it is you want to do. Lots of times the public terminal is not working and the clerks will be working the files so they will not be available. You may have to go back in a day or two with your list. You may be able to access the information on line at home (I am not sure if the address will be available). Keep in mind that many landlords use an attorney so their name and address would be listed, not the landlords. 

Hope this makes sense. If not feel free to contact me. Good Luck!

I agree with Jim although I don't know about that estoppel letter. You may not be able to do that until you have actually signed the contract and are close to closing or even until after you own it. After reviewing the info from the seller, you may want to write it up and have the seller sign it under oath and give you an indemnity so that it a tenant says later he gave the seller a deposit that should have been held but it was not mentioned by the seller, you can go back after the seller for it.

You certainly want to know from the seller/landlord if there are written leases or if the tenants are month to month. Is there are kind of rental application showing correct/exact names, references, who should be living in the apartment.  Is the seller holding any kind of security deposits or last months rents (can vary by state) Is anyone behind, has the seller started any kind of evictions against any tenants. Are there any outstanding inspectional services issues pending or any other kind of lawsuits, like a slip and fall.

Also as mentioned, what utilities or other services are being provided by the seller as opposed to the tenant. For example, does one tenant pay less because he cuts the grass or shovels snow.

I understand a panic attack when realizing there may be more numbers then you thought. Is this the first time you have gotten this far in the process? Did you over come the attack and press forward?

Was this to be a fix and flip? What would you do if things went over budget? If this was a hold and rent, how would you over come this panic attack when choosing/dealing with tenants?

Don't be overwhelmed or discouraged if this didn't work out. You have gotten a lot further then a lot of people!

If the bank is giving a mortgage, they usually have a title search done prior to giving the mortgage and any issues should be cleared up before they go on record.

In you scenario you are looking at lets say the mortgage was given in 2005 to a Husband and Wife and the title was taken by H & W. In the last ten years several things could have happened. There could be a divorce and so a title change or they could have put it in to a trust or transferred to their kids as part of an estate plan. Now it is 2015 and the mortgage company comes to foreclose. The mortgage company does a title search as part of the foreclosure and gives notice to all the parties it finds of record. All these changes don't really matter as the mortgage don't really matter as the mortgage is superior to them. If you buy at the foreclosure sale or from  the bank later on you should be OK as long as the foreclosure was done properly. That is the thing to watch for.

(This is based on MASS law and your state may be different!)

I am sorry. Did I miss something? What was the wake up call? What was the hard lesson?Did the pre-approval not cover your offer or the amount needed so the deal did not happen? You have to kiss a lot of frogs to find the prince so this is one deal that didn't work for some reason. I am confused

I would be cautious about this. What are you doing about the landscaping now? How involved is it? Is it just grass cutting or are there hedges and flower beds etc. If it is just grass cutting and trimming, does he even have a lawn mower or do you have to supply that? Weed whacker? 

And what about taxes? are you going to take $20 per cut off the rent or will he bill you and then you pay him? Could be more trouble then its worth in the end

I can't see how they can even make that offer if they are a bankruptcy. A 13 is very structured and any additional money is usually taken by the court to pay other creditors. If they are sitting on $12,0000 (assume rent is $1000) that money belongs to the estate and the trustee can take it.

To do something like this in a bankruptcy there has to be a reason AND Court approval to enter into a new lease if they are not already your tenants.

Something doesn't sound right here. I think you need to look into this further. Maybe call their bankruptcy attorney if they have one. You do not want to run afoul of the bankruptcy court.