All Forum Posts by: Derek W.

Hi, I live in your area and have been an investor for years. Send me a college request. 

this is a bit off topic, but there is this program called photoshop that's really cool. Ok, back to your thread. 

It sounds like Texas and California are different enough, I better bow out of advice. 

Hey! Just got my 400th post as a member since 2008!

Hopefully those much smarter than me can help @Rick H. but since probate was never opened, no powers were given to anyone, therefor sole heir or not, she doesn't have any signing authority to sign anything enforceable to "tie up" or get the property in contract. I'd suggest possibly as one option, walking her through getting probate opened, petitioning for special powers to be able to put a loan against the property. Then any money you give her to help is secured against the asset. Then if heirs show up, you aren't in an equity position, you are a secured lender and win whether you buy it or not. 

@Marcus Mccluster you have been starting threads a lot lately. Maybe you can take a minute to complete your profile so more of us are willing to take our time helping with your questions. Just a suggestion. 

Offer the realtor a service in exchange. Maybe you can put up their for sale signs on a new listing? Or pass out flyers for their open house. After providing a service and building a relationship, just maybe...they would give you your own access so you can look up comps whenever you want. 

I have always felt that the most important skill an investor needs, whether a wholesaler, a flipper, a land lord etc is to know the market better than anyone else. If you get a call on a property,you should know better than anyone else what it's worth. If you don't, you need to work hard to learn your target market. Get MLS access. Drive comps, study the real estate ads in the local paper, Craigslist etc.

Hopefully you aren't really using Zillow to determine your ARV? If you are, there are a whole bunch of steps you need to do before making an offer.

I think what everyone is politely trying to say is "this appears to be a big waste of your time!"

That's why I asked what the numbers were. I wanted to see if you saw a play that we all are missing. 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but currently the loan and the liability all lie (no pun intended, hehe) with the deceased. If there is no money coming to the heirs, I'm not sure it's in their best interest to transfer that liability to themselves. You really need to think beyond profit and make sure this is a win win for everyone. 

Short  sales rarely produce discounts all things being equal. If you can buy it for fair market value, do capital improvements and sell at fmv and have a spread, it works. But you will get greater discounts dealing with motivated seller. A short sale is not a motivated sale.