All Forum Posts by: Bill P.

@Account Closed

Be careful in looking for a subject-to. Without complete understanding of the pitfalls, you may find yourself with problems. But as long as you know the downside and are fully prepared to meet the challenges, good luck with your adventure. I might add that you could be better off using a sandwich lease option to minimize your risks. They still have some risks but are much more easily contained.

@Lauren Farquhar

Best of luck to you with your new project. It seems to be a very nice house with a lot of promise.

@Mitch Rice

How many square feet of painting is the painter quoting? Only then can we help you get a feel if your quotes are out of line.

@Ken Cooper

Assuming that this is all the information you have to go on and the fact that 1) you have to rely on a property manager for decisions and 2) the arrest is probably a minor infraction and they are not convicted; I would simply protect your self by using a fair security deposit and move forward. When buying properties out of state, you will drive yourself nuts if you start micro managing.

@Zion Greenfield

Congrats on wanting to be an investor but it appears that you have left too many unknowns in this story. With your note, you should either have a 30 yr amort with a 5 yr balloon OR pay interest only for that 5 yr period. Second, you indicated that you are having an agent write up the deal after you seem to do all of the work. What is he getting out of this and how does that cost you $$$. Could you have done it without an agent and only asked 5% down thereby eliminating any agent fees?? Third, I know you are planning on making this a two family but is the area zoned for that? Fourth, you say you have all of the materials for rehab but experience will show you that rarely happens. Fifth, what yardstick are you using to know if you received a good deal? And lastly, and I do mean this with respect: Not handling the deal's parameters properly will hit you right between the eyes as sloppiness is never rewarded in investing.

Welcome @David Telp

Cute little town, Red Lion. I happen to have a property there that was sold on 12/31/14. Hope you enjoy real estate as much as I have over the years.

Mortgages have no bearing to the value of the property. Historically, they are lower than the value of the house but through the housing crisis, many home were (are) worth less than the value. Many techniques can fix this (or ignore short term) such as subject2, lease option, short sale, etc. There are plenty of forum posts on BP that can help you in this matter. Now with that said, mortgages can impact a seller psychologically as a seller often times thinks their house is worth more than the mortgage.....but that is in their head only.

If the Realtor has agreed with the mistake, consider getting the $3K directly from the Realtor after closing and/or go to through his E&O insurance he carries. People need to be accountable for their errors or they'll never learn.

Perhaps you could get an investor to buy the condo at the loan balance through a contract for deed and get out of managing a no-win property from a distance. A local investor might see this as an opportunity to add a property to their portfolio. We purchased one like this about a decade ago and it has worked out for us; even through the housing crisis it was always rented. Now with the loan balance diminished and the property value up, the spread has made us have a good return... especially since our down payment was $0.