OfflineBack about 5 months ago I found a house listed by a realtor in one of the subdivisions that I am constantly farming. It’s a home that the owners are still living in, that’s why I didn’t see it coming. I called the realtor that had the house listed and I waited and waited and she never called me back. So I called again and left her and her office the message that I was interested in knowing more about this particular house. She called me back after about a week later and told me that she didn’t really want to show me the house because in her estimation is not worth buying because it was a big mess. I told her that those were the type of houses that I was looking for. She reluctantly agreed to show me the house a few days later. I told her that I was going to put the numbers together and I would call her in couple of days. It took 2 weeks for her to call me back after I had left her various voice messages and a couple of emails. At this time I told her that I wanted to do business with just her office so that way the commission, what ever it was, did not have to be split. She told me that we would have to meet so that I could put my offer in and that she would call me to set this up and hung up. I didn’t hear from her again. So after 2 weeks I called my realtor and explained the situation to him and he did some research and found that that particular realtor had a reputation for that. If the money was not enough they really didn’t go after deal. They, her and her partner, like the big-ticket items.
So I put in my offer through him. He also contacted the bank and requested info on the property through them and explained what was going on. Talk about being P………..
We put in various offers and it took weeks for her to get back to us. But we finally got her attention that I wanted the house. There had not been, not even 1 offer in 285 days when I put in my first offer. (There is a no wonder why) We went back and forth for about 2 months and the bank finally accepted my last and final offer of 40K. Now we are waiting on her to get the paper work going so we can close on it.
I've always heard that short sales are a nightmare but I think that this is an extreme case. After this one I'll try one with my own realtor to see what happens.
When we finally close on it, it will be one that I will rehab and then put it up for sale right away. It’s in a neighborhood that the average house sells for 85,000.00 to 95,000.00. I rehabbed one, on a corner lot; in this same neighborhood (for another investor) about 1½ ago and he sold it for $105,000.00 in just 6 weeks.
I have got three other houses in this same neighborhood that I am looking for the owners and trying to put these under contract, so let’s see what happens.
Till next time.
Gene.
"It's not what happens to you that determines how far you will go in life,
it is how you handle what happens to you.
Zig Zigler
Gene,
that's great that you stuck with this property; it is unbelievable that even though the bank had not gotten any offers in 285 days that they would still counteroffer yours!
Have you met the homeowners? sometimes it may help if you offer them some moving money in exchange to leaving the property clean; that way they are less likely to destroy it before they vacate...
Thanks for sharing,
Valerie
“And will you succeed? Yes indeed, yes indeed! Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed!” ― Dr. Seuss
"I believe in angels, the kind that heaven sends; I am surrounded by angels, but I call them friends" - Unknown
My journal: http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/investing-journals/59110/...
I hold Eugene up as a great example of an investor who works hard and knows how to get his questions answered. He has bee a delight for me to work with on a regular basis. He gets out and finds properties that he can use to make some cash.
Follow his posts, pick his brain and you will do well.
Roy Voeks
Official RE Coach
Hey Gene,
Short sales will always be a pain when you aren't in control. The best short sales are the ones where you have a relationship with the owner yourself and can list it with a realtor who you feel is competent enough to do what is needed. Otherwise you are at the mercy of other realtors who may not even know how to do a short sale, but still took the listing on anyway. This realtor obviously didn't have the seller's best interest in mind, because they were jeopardizing the seller's credit and future by not working as hard as possible to get the house sold through short sale.
We only do short sales on properties where we have people call us from our marketing and we can put our own experienced short sale realtors on the listing. Either way you can still expect a short sale to take 3-6 months on average from start to finish. Some may go quicker and some may even take over a year. I closed one short sale that took 15 months for the bank to finally take our price (they were in un-realistic and then the note/mortgage changed lenders twice).
When getting involved with a short sale just have reasonable expectations and do everything you can to set yourself up for the best success. Also if you are looking to buy them for yourself only target short sale properties that need a good amount of work. Otherwise the bank will rarely go low enough to make the deal work for you. Always try to meet the Bank's BPO agent/appraiser at the property too. Whether your agent meets them or you meet them it will greatly improve your chances of getting the price you need.
I hope this helps you.
To Our Success,
Larry F
The Flip Kid
Check Out my blog at: http://www.theflipkid.com
"We succeed because we pay our dues to meet our goals, and in doing so we expand our personal genius"
Larry F.
The Flip Kid
Yes I have met the owners, it's an elderly lady with her son. They know that I have been trying to buy the house and they have already told me that they will not do any further damage to the house. It's one of those properties that really has not been maintained and it needs a lot of work.
I plan on going in there and cutting out all the kitchen & baths. They all need complete upgrading. The house also needs a new roof which I already have 2 estimates on. I have my whole rehab list & budget set up for it. I'm hoping that we can get in there and in3 weeks have this ready for sale.
Thanks,
Gene
"It's not what happens to you that determines how far you will go in life,
it is how you handle what happens to you.
Zig Zigler
Congrats on your perseverance! I'd like to offer you an idea about possibly using a law firm to manage your shortsales. I know of a case here that they did for a large one and completed it in record time. I would like it to be put to the test if you're interested.
Also, I'm interested in what you'll be doing about the absent owners and finding them. Those homes are a dime a dozen and I'm anxious to do business with them. Would you be willing to share info on that?
Thanx!
Cheers
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My Responce was: I will also be posting this on the thread for the benefit of the DG family:
Sure! What I do when I find a vacant house first I check the mail box if there is just junk mail then I know that the first class mail is being forwarded then I try to speak to the neighbors, sometimes I find that one of them keeps in contact with the previous homeowner and they either get me in contact with them or they will call them for me and give them my info off my card. Next I look up the property in the county records, if the only address that I find is the vacant site I will send them a letter with "Address Service Requested" under my return address. This tells the post office that I want them to forward this to the new address and that I am willing to pay them .50 for this information. When I have that, I follow through with a new letter to that address. I send them a letter every 2 weeks until I hear from them one way or another.
As for the law firm, I have also heard that but being that I have really not wanted to mess with short sales because of the length of time they take, I’ve shy’d away from them for now. But I may try that down the road a bit.
There is a lot of inventory out there right now so I try to go after the ones that I can do quickly.
Thanks for your input and questions.
Gene.
"It's not what happens to you that determines how far you will go in life,
it is how you handle what happens to you.
Zig Zigler
I agree completely Larry.
Thanks for those tips.
Gene.
"It's not what happens to you that determines how far you will go in life,
it is how you handle what happens to you.
Zig Zigler