All Forum Posts by: Tamara Elliott-Deering

There are a lot of these on the east side. I have attended a meet up group that is sponsored by 3rd angle and I seem to recall that they have done some conversions before. These guys are really friendly shoot them an e-mail and see if they can point you in the right direction

I bought my personal residence in Bastrop through the HUD online auction. Also, I have made bids through Home Search.com. Most true foreclosures get listed on MLS so you can look that way as well, I think zillow may even have a search for that. Don't pay for lists, they are posted for free at the courthouse or you can pay for a copy, many jurisdictions post them online as well. As long as you are firm in your own mind about your maximum offer auctions can work out but you need to be able to meet the closing terms of the auction which often includes all cash. This is an area that is dominated by people who are really good at it so I usually leave it to them, there are wholesalers who specialize in reselling auction properties and they can be a good source.

If you want to door knock go ahead but I wouldn't talk about their foreclosure. I would lead with something like, Hi, I'm a real estate investor that is interested in this neighborhood. Are you interested in selling your home? I can close very quickly and you won't have to pay any commissions. Then see where the conversation goes. Always leave your contact information and ask if they know anyone in the neighborhood that wants to sell. After you leave knock on a few more doors, you never know what will come of it.

@Jake Ridley

Most foreclosures that have gone through the process are sold on the MLS in the Austin market. Most of the properties that are on sale on the courthouse steps are bought back by the bank that holds the note, usually the note amount is higher than the value. I would not recommend the courthouse auction as a first property for anyone. Lots of competition.

Because you are looking to purchase your primary residence I would look on the MLS for deals that are great for owner occupants but the margins are too thin for investors. There are plenty of properties that you can purchase for 80-90% of ARV that will give you instant equity and a more comfortable first purchase.

A 203K is a great option but you have to call a fair number of lenders to see if they do them. I'm not sure Randall Brooks does, call and ask. If you want more help or advice please feel free to contact me directly. 

Standard disclaimer I am not an attorney so do not consider this legal advice but I hold my LLC in the state that I live and I invest. There are numerous types of LLC's so I would recommend meeting with your attorney to help you figure out the best type for your situation, your accountant may be able to help as well.

This is when the Realtor says I am not an attorney you will need to consult with one for the best answer. In my experience there are always ways to fight city hall but they aren't cheap or easy, so get with an attorney and see what they can do.

Wow, that is a huge!!! undertaking. I worked for a developer who did subdivisions and the paperwork alone took up file cabinets. My first step would be to visit your planning and zoning department. Set up a meeting with them to go over the steps you would need to take and see if it's really something you want to do. If it is then your next step is to find a geo-tech engineering firm and an environmental engineering firm. And that's it - I'm out of advice. Hopefully it's enough to get you started.

@Chermaine Chiles

Why else would you use a Realtor? By definition a realtor works on the retail side of the business, wholesalers margins come from getting a great off market deal and passing it on to another investor who then turns the house into a retail product. If you have no intention to fix up and resell a property for retail I'm not sure what a Realtor could do for you. The one thing that we realtors have, at least in Texas, is that all sold data is considered proprietary information so the only way to know for sure what a house sold for is to go to a realtor. If you are in a full disclosure state, one where sales data is public record you might not even need a realtor to pull your comps. 

Realtors are also a great source of market data but that is all stuff you as a wholesaler should learn yourself because you don't want to trust your success to someone else's data.

Terrible, horrible, awful things, walk through bedrooms. Not that I'm opinionated or anything...

Your biggest reno should be eliminating the walk through however possible. You may have to shrink one room to make a hallway or maybe figure out a way to change it to a 2/2.

Welcome to the site. You will find a lot of great resources here. You are on the right path by acknowledging that you need to learn to evaluate properties, you have to buy right going in or you will pay for it throughout the investment. Financing is not that complicated but there are numerous options as long as you figure in all of your costs you will be good to go. Good luck to you.