All Forum Posts by: Chris Piper

See if you can pull up the sales history or pull the PRC(property record card). It might work differently in your state, but that's how it is in Indiana. If you can't find it online, call the assessor's office and talk to someone to get the info you need.

@Michael Baradell If you are trying to contact the bank who is foreclosing on the property, go to your county assessor's website or office and pull the records to see what bank you need to contact. It will likely be the asset manager handling it, and they probably won't talk to you directly. You may have to find out who their listing agent is in the area and contact them. I have two different websites for you at the end of this post. They are the assessor's websites for Covington, LA.

If you are trying to contact the person being foreclosed on, send a letter to the address of the property, and write "Address Service Requested" on the envelope. That will make sure that the post office gets the letter to the person's current address that they have on file for them.

http://nolaassessor.com/search.html

http://www.stassessor.org/

You can pay for lists like list source or find cash buyers now, you can post craigslist ads, put up bandit signs, or go to your local REIA meetings:

Tidewater Real Estate Investor Group (TRIG)

Contact Person: Patti Robertson

Meeting Location: Hilton Norfolk Airport

Meeting Location: 1500 N. Military Highway

City, State, Zip: Norfolk, VA 23502

Meeting Time: 7pm on the 3rd Tuesday of every month

Phone Number: 800-874-4976

Website: www.trigofva.com

Email: [email protected]

@Sebastian Gast Find a good real estate agent. When you talk to them, find out if they have closed these types of deals. If so, then get all the need to know info from them on the types of properties you are looking at. All I know is that Fannie Mae properties require a 10% NON-REFUNDABLE deposit, at least from the investor side. Not sure if it is less as an owner Occupant.

As far as some banks, government agencies, or whatever having minimum occupancy times or "seasoning" requirements, the best way to get around that is by buying a property using a "Land Trust." Then, you just transfer the interest of the land trust to your buyer if you are wholesaling, or rehabbing properties.

@Lawana Anderson it depends on how you want to do it. I would definitely NOT use an appraiser. That will get expensive and will probably take too long causing you to lose out on some deals. A contractor will not be able to help you determine the ARV. You determine that by having a real estate agent pull comps for you, and by having them put together a CMA(comparative market analysis). They will do this for you for free. One VERY important thing is to make sure you already have a cash buyer's list, make sure you know exactly what kind of properties they want, and what they are willing to pay for them. This way, you already know which properties to look for. Only look for properties that your cash buyers want to buy. Don't buy anything just because it's a good deal or because it's cheap. If you do, you will be trying to sell it, without having anyone in advance who wants it, and might not be able to close on it.

Once you know what the ARV is, then you can run numbers to see if it's a good deal for you. So, here is the process:

1. Locate properties by: driving for dollars, mls searches from your agent, bandit signs, buy lists, advertising on craigslist, etc.

2. Look at pictures or have your agent take you to see the properties. You can determine the cost of repairs by either looking at pictures and ballparking it, physically looking at it and ballparking it, or have contractors meet you at the property when you go look at it. They will give you a free estimate. Always get at least 2-3 contractors to give you estimates. You can have all 3 meet you at the house at the same time if you want. This way they know there is competition and will try to give you the best price.

3. Run your numbers:

ARV X 70% - Repairs= Your Sell Price

ARV X 70% - Repairs - Your Profit - Other Fees or Costs(closing costs, interest on funding, etc.)= Max Purchase Price

4. Make offers

5. Get properties under contract

6. Market to cash buyer's list, online, and anywhere else you can.

7. Get a cash buyer to put the house under contract with you

8. Close on your scheduled closing date - double close(if wholesaling)

9. Get paid

You can pay bird dogs to bring you properties, buy lists, drive for dollars, or put up bandit signs. Those will all bring you motivated seller leads. Just know you will need to make a lot of offers. If you get 100 property leads, you will probably make offers on 10, and probably get 1 or 2 accepted. It's a numbers game. Make sure you aren't paying to much. If you are wholesaling them, figure out the ARV, multiply that by 70%, and then subtract whatever the cost of repairs is. Whatever price you come up with, is what you should be selling that property for.

I don't have any experience in sheriff's sales or quit claim deeds, but if you need a standard purchase agreement, look under the resources tab at the top of this page, then FilePlace, then on contracts. I uploaded a copy a couple weeks ago. It's the second one that comes up after you click on contracts. You might want to have a realtor or attorney look it over to make sure that everything works for Indiana. I am in Indiana also, but I typically just use the standard purchase agreement from my real estate agent.

@Eric Black there are three options:

1. Go get a real estate license

2. Find an agent that will work with you. Most agents know that investors will do a lot of business with them. If you aren't finding a good agent, keep looking. You will find one or several who will work with you. Also, you can work with listing agents. If you are interested in a property, contact the agent and tell them that you are interested in it, and that you would like to use them as the agent so they will get both sides of the commission, you are buying with all cash, and that you always close with no contingencies. They will LOVE you. Agents love money, so why not play on that emotion, and use it to your advantage. It will help you, and it will help the agent make more money.

3. Offer to compensate an agent for access to their MLS log-in and password. As of yet, I have not found an agent willing to give their access out, especially if you don't know them or have a previous relationship with them. At one point a few years ago, I asked my aunt, and she wouldn't do it. So, not likely, but maybe if you find the right agent. Another suggestion is to find an agent who doesn't produce. Someone who has very few listings, maybe with a small unknown company. Any chance an agent like that sees to make money, they may very well jump on the opportunity.

You make some good points @Shaun Reilly . From my experiences, I have found that when a cash buyer says "just send me an email" that it means they don't want to talk to me and have no interest in what I have to offer. It's just a way to get off the phone.

I also understand that when you have wholesalers bringing you deals, that most of the time, they are bringing you crap. Now, if they had spent 5-10 minutes on the phone with you the first time you spoke to them like I suggested, they might know exactly what you are looking for and you might be getting great deals brought to you now.

This is what makes me different than everyone else in my area, and a lot of other areas too. I take the time to figure it all out on the front side, and I'm not greedy and trying to squeeze $30K or $40K out of a wholesale deal. I leave plenty of room in my deals for the rehabbers or whoever I'm selling to, and I take a fair wholesale fee. If you bring an cash buyer good deals every time you call them, you'll have a buyer for life.

@Dev Horn no worries. I understand exactly where you're coming from. Big markets are very cut throat, and you might end up paying more than you should because there is so much competition. There are so many ways to make money with real estate, it's insane. Good for investors, but insane none the less.

As far as my formula and leaving enough meat for the rehabber, I think that is the absolute best way to be successful as a wholesaler. Most wholesalers are greedy and want to make $20k or $30k for doing very little work. If you aren't greedy, and can be happy with making a reasonable profit, while still leaving plenty in it for the rehabber, you should be very successful. Doing things that way came from some very insightful training I went through. The guy had great info and training.

Also, you didn't come off as pompous. With all the different types of jerks in the real estate business that people have to deal with, that was nothing. I wish you the best Dev, and hopefully we can connect and maybe work together at some point. Good luck.