Buying Foreclosures, REOs. Short Sales, FSBO, MLS and More

Thanks for your comments. Just thought I would add that lease options are a good way to invest because:

1. For every cash buyer with >$100K in their bank account with a habit of investing there are at least a dozen people with crummy credit after the market downturn that had to declare Bankruptcy in the past 2-4 years that will be forced to rent or do lease options, and they are very easy to advertise for....just make sure they have at least $5k to put down on the front end so you get to make money up front.

2. Lease options will pay you three times, once up front, every month, and then usually a large chunk in the end since the end buyer isn't concerned about equity as much as not paying rent.

There is a REO broker in my area that has 80% or more of all REO listings in my state. My problem is I've been trying to wholesale here for quite a few years but have never closed a deal on my own. I have worked with this broker a couple of times in years past but from what I remember and it's been awhile I think she brushed me off because of factors like the POF letters we get from transactional funding websites, I wanted to assign contracts back when they allowed you to do it but didn't like it. I guess what I'm trying to say is she didn't take me seriously because I never closed a deal with her or the company she owns. Like I said I can't remember the details but I think if she saw my name on anything she wouldn't take it serious if she remembers.

Real estate has so many surprises for the first time investor it is difficult to describe them all in one article although I will attempt to give some insight into a different investment opportunity today. There are in real estate what is known as real estate owned REO lists and these can provide a investor with absolutely amazing opportunities and the returns from these type of investments can be very lucrative. Just be very aware of fraudulent schemes where people offer you deals which does not exist.

Starting a real estate business can be a bit overwhelming, especially for the new guy or gal. Understanding the process is a really big part of your success. So here is a quick over view of what real estate investing is all about.
First there are different ways to make money in real estate.
• You can buy and hold: which basically means that you buy a property and then rent it out.
• Flip: which means that you buy a property, fix it up and resale it. These are normally properties that need to be repaired so that they can be move-in-ready
• Wholesale: means you find a property put an offer on it (put it under contract with an Agreement to Purchase contract) and then pass it to an investor (with and Assignment of Contract)

A home was scheduled for foreclosure yesterday. The property had been vacant and needing repair for some time. There were no delinquent taxes due on the property. When I drove by on the morning of the sale, I found a vacant lot where the house had once stood with fresh red dirt and all slabs removed. After checking further, I found that the city had issued a demo contract to a private company. I called the foreclosure firm who had as their client the mortgage company. They had no knowledge of the house being demolished.
The house and improvements were being assessed at $56,000 and the starting bid at foreclosure was $56,000 also. This was a HUD backed mortgage. If a buyer did not do due diligence prior to the sale at the courthouse he would stand to loose a lot of money.

We have some properties lined up to wholesale and have them advertised different places but not on the mls. We had an investor contact us who we spoke to who thinks he wants them, and then his realtor called us and we spoke to her also, but after him. We told her we had no issues cutting her into the deal and taking care of her, whether its 1099 or on the HUD. She sent docs saying she wants her 3% and won't budge. Depending on how much the investors wants to discount our price, as well as if we need to double close and use transactional funding, will define the profit. We are not going to sign her forms and then have her take most of the profit but have no issues splitting it 50/50. How have you handled this if you have come across a realtor that does not want to budge?

Hey DG family...I remember that some of the speakers said to put different addresses of properties for sale in an area on a map to see where your hot zones are. Some speakers suggested using an actual map while others used online ones. I plotted a few addresses on Google Maps, but can't seem to find any way to save it. Does anybody know how to save a particular map on Google Maps? Does anybody else have a recommendation for an online map that you can save points on?

I am helping my father sell his rental property and plan on using my company to close the deal. My father owes 71k and we have an approved buyer offering 140k. I know I need to have and Investor Disclosure Agreement and Purchase agreement signed. Im just not sure if I should have agent who is representing both parties draw up the documents for us or how this works. I dont have a an attorney and this is my first deal, any information will help.
Thank You

There's no denying finding the right real estate agent to work with (and who will stick with you until the deals start closing) can be a challenge! You know we generally look for agents who work with other investors. This often works great, but not always.

As real estate entrepreneurs, our focus is to buy properties that create profits. If we cannot make a profit, we cannot survive as entrepreneurs. That means we have to learn how to find great deals. Even better, we must find them constantly. Foreclosures can consistently offer great deals in a buyer’s market, as long as you know how to find them.

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It’s important to understand that banks are not in the business of real estate. They are in the lending business. They lend money to earn income off of the interest – somewhat like a landlord does with tenants. Banks will lend with collateral. They want to make sure that if they lend money, and for some reason, the borrower does not pay as agreed on the loan, the bank can recuperate their money through the collateral asset.