All Forum Posts by: Thomas Goodwin

I agree you really need to speak to an attorney. My understanding is that, in Florida, the 1st lien takes priority, meaning the HOA foreclosing the property can't negate the 1st lien. If the foreclosure had gone through the courts, the 1st lienholder would have been notified, and generally they'll be at the auction and buy it back. So if the title has been awarded to the HOA, I would be suspicious of what happend to the 1st lienholder and their security interest in the condo.

Check with an attorney.

I seem to recall they're attempting to become a holding bank to take advantage of government bailout (TARP) funds, but are having difficulty.

I'm not really sure there are any banks left that have the resources to buy up GMAC/ResCap, even at a discount.

Hello, yet another Central Florida investor here. I live in Apopka and invest within a 30 mile radius, so far.

One of the problems in the auto industry is what they've quietly branched out into. Let's look at GM, they branched out into GMAC. Now, GMAC makes money partly from car loans. However, GMAC is also a major mortgage lender.

To make this worse, GMAC ownes ResCap, the huge mortgage servicing company. And whose mortgages do they primarily service? Fannie Mae, the largest purchaser of mortgages, currently under conservatership by the government.

So, the dominos start to fall. GM goes bankrupt, their suppliers go bankrupt or simply close, local dealers may also close. Then, since GM is bankrupt, GMAC is bankrupt. This deals a blow to the housing market (but this is a topic for another post). ResCap then is unable to continue servicing the Fannie Mae loans, requiring further bail out by the government.

Either way we do it, they get bailed out directly or indirectly. Personally, I would like to see some major restructuring of the auto industry, which almost always comes from serious financial difficulties. No one is bailing me or my neighbors out, and we're not frequenting the malls as before, so the mall stores are failing. It's a vicious cycle.

When I first started looking at foreclosures, I was a member of the database for a few months. I don't recommend it as the data was not current. Often a Lis Pendis was reported as newly issued, yet when I researched the property I found it had actually been sold back to the bank 3 month previously and the bank wasn't ready to list it yet.

I can't remember actually finding any current data from the lists. The propaganda's not bad though.

I'm not sure what other investors are looking at, but one of my qualifications for a property is the size of the home. Very small homes, under 800-900 square feet, seem to me to be just too small for most families unless its near a college or univerisity. I've seen 800 square foot 3 bedroom 1 bath homes that I could barely turn around in because of the size and layout. Many lenders also have a minimum size for loans.

Anyone else use this qualification for property evaluation? I generally prefer the 3/2 or a 4/2 as the statistics in my area show these are properties that are most often sold.

I would also add those who are moving into a nursing home or assisted living facility. And sometimes, they're having too many problems with the neighbors or crime in the area and feel safer living somewhere else.

Another thing to keep in mind about accounts you don't use - the lender will close the account for inactivity. I've had Citi close three credit cards because I haven't used them in a few years. My credit score took a tiny hit because of this.

I agree about not placing a photo. I use a clean logo and title, and basic contact information (phone, website, etc.). I have some with other information such as Se Habla Espanol, but its not my main card. Clean, simple and informative is the way to get your card kept.

I prefer the QuickBooks Pro, but I'm not currently investing in rentals (although I do have the rental add in). I simply setup each property as a separate entity. It does take some time and thought on setting up the chart of accounts.