All Forum Posts by: Scott Allan

Bingo...Buying cash then refinancing may be your best bet. Once you fix it up and get it re-appraised, you may be surprised of its "new" value. Thus, your loan to value will go more in your favor for a cash out refinance...that is if you can find one :-) They are out there.

I am experiencing some problems with Fannie also. I buy homes in FL and have been finding my best deals waiting for short sales. The homes I buy are built 2004 and newer so don't need much rehab work beyond simple cosmetic stuff. I've been turning around and flipping to cash buyers and USDA primary buyers and have been able to get good offers quickly.

FNMA, Homepath, B of A, now has a 90 day seasoning policy. I can't sell for 90 days after my purchase. Not to mention, FNMA / Homepath do not take investor offers for the first 15 days if its an REO. I understand it kind of, but whatever happened to the free market??? Still finding good ones though but they are making it a little tougher.

For those interested, Roger Campagnolo was sentenced to 10 months today. Totally separate crime. Article says he is cooperating in other cases to lessen the sentence. We'll see.

I can't think of anything else he would be cooperating on beside the Lang case. I don't care about Campagnolo as crappy as that sounds. I actually feel bad for him that he was gullible enough to do something with Lang and lie to his own good friends...which I was one of. ..I want Lang to talk candidly about what he could possibly do or did with all that money.

I think we are getting close.. I got a phone call the other day that gave me some good hopes that things are progressing.

I agree with Jeff. Although if you are a teacher looking for work in Lee County (Cape Coral), you will have a very hard time plus the salaries are probably not what you are used to. Cost of living off-sets the low salary however.

The job market in SW FL is scarcer than scarce. I love the area and live here most of the year, but if I were a corporate employee or union employee, I wouldn't start my search here. Investment property? Probably a safe bet right now over the long term, but if you need income to survive, you need to have a good 1 year cushion in the piggy bank.

Condos as an investment in Miami is a bad option IMO. As you said HOA dues are high. You know why? Because those buildings are likely 70% vacant and the HOA needs to collect expense money. In a stable market, HOA dues range from $250 to $350 per month. To some, even that is high.

The problem with Miami condo ownership is that banks are VERY reluctant to lend to condo buyers due to the HOA negativity and market saturation. Ever see how many condos are available within a one square mile area of your condo? Probably a TON of them. Give that market another 6-8 months. I think you will see prices much lower.

My brother is a big residential lender in the area and he is having a heck of a time doing condo loans. When all said and done, the numbers look terrible for an investment.

How about looking at Naples to Ft. Myers where you can get a single family house for $100k, low HOA, very low taxes, and decent rental rates. just a thought.

Here is what i did find out: Regardless or not if I am signed up for a class action, I am still entitled to recover any monies that are found in accounts seized or frozen just as those who are involved in the class action.

Carlos: The DOJ usually takes up to 18 months to fully investigate these, and that is a direct comment from a friend of mine with some experience in that field. An example is a local brooklyn Ponzi Scheme in NY. Took almost 2 years from the point of contact to figure it out. Fraud cases are very complex and difficult. I wish I knew more at this point but we are not entitled to that info until any possible indictments. I hope we are close.

Steve -
You are correct. There are no links between JPO and Title Connection. I live for the most part in Ft. Myers and have been in real estate since 2003 and I've heard of all of these guys. To clear things up on what the links are in my opinion:

As I was doing traditional business in Mississippi, I was persistently pursued by Roger C, as he was an acquaintance/friend of mine. I truly believe he had the right intentions, but I don't know if he knew about the Ponzi type approach from the beginning. Roger C worked with JPO, Garber, Lange, C & W Development, etc. He was also working on establishing his relationship with GCD.

The link between Title Connection and GCD is direct. The relationship between Title Connection and Roger C was that (from what I heard), any deal procured by GCD was going to be serviced by Roger C's mortgage business. Due to GCD's direct affiliation with Title Connection, the owner of GCD requested that all deals CLOSE with Title Connection from the title company standpoint. This puts Roger in direct contact with Title Connection, but JPO was totally separate. Although both of them are guilty of fraud (IMO), they are not directly tied.

It's like a big family tree. If you can picture it, Lange and Garber at the top. Then branches to Roger, Global CD, etc...then the title companies...etc..

I continue to get calls from disgruntled investors and groups alike and from what I gather, I wouldn't be surprised to see this scam hit $100 million.

Steve and Sharon, my question is this: You guys have all of your clients and are pursuing reimbursement through several routes. Being that the Feds' are involved, lets say they achieve warrants and freeze assets that they have located. Wouldn't those assets be spread and distributed in portions to the investors depending on proof of losses? What I'm trying to say is what if I have a client who hasn't spoken to an attorney, but is a victim. Is he eliminated from reimbursement if there is any at all? I know that with Bernie Madoff, they distributed regardless of class action or not.

Sorry for the length, but I haven't posted much in a while.

ROBERT!!! In NJ right now pal. I'll be in Northern NJ until 2/12 and back in FL then. You?

Hmm..I wonder if your inspector is a realtor doing the BPO. In Florida, most "inspections" are done by BPO brokers. I have spoken to many of them. In Florida, the bank REQUIRES the inspected home to be added to the open market/ MLS. They list it for the BPO advised price and wait for bidding wars.

Inspectors and Realtors doing BPO's cannot guarantee you at all that you can get the home at a "steal". At least here in FL it is very hard to do so.