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

We received a call from someone that saw Jill in a store with a "We Buy Houses" shirt on & called the number. I spoke with the woman, who turned out to be an investor that bought this house in 2004 for $ 61,200
& wanted to sell it at $ 49,900.

I found a neat article that talks about advantages and disadvantages of buying old properties. Depending on what part of the country you are from this may be more important to you in your investing. I hope it helps you like it helped me.
The Pros and Cons of Buying an Old House
By: Anne Miller

Warm and lived-in, with a majestic fireplace, wood craftsmanship from another era, and a crooked old apple tree in a beautiful garden—only an older house comes with its own personality.
But that personality could come with a steep price in upkeep and renovations to meet the needs of your family and your modern tastes. How do you decide if an older home is worth it? Consider our list of pros and cons:
Con: Outdated building code compliance and other maintenance

I'm a cash buyer in Southern California. If you have property under contract contact me. I'm looking to buy at least 5 more this year.

We just finished Project #76; a 2 bed/2 bath/1 car Fannie Mae foreclosure that we bought for $ 36,350. Replaced kitchen cabinets, counters, appliances, vanities, toilets, paint & carpet. Have about $7,000 in materials; Had an Open House today, good turn out, even 3 real estate agents came to preview the property. It took 6 weeks for Jill & I to remodel this house. Selling it for $ 64,000.

A little-known niche in real estate investing is working with Chapter 13 Bankruptcy properties that have fallen out of bankruptcy protection.
In case you are unfamiliar, a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is a personal restructuring bankruptcy, in which a person gets to keep their personal residence, and is committed to a repayment plan for up to 5 years, including all debts, secured and unsecured.
The payment plan is typically about 1.5 times their mortgage payment, so if they have a $1000 per month mortgage payment, the repayment plan amount is usually around $1500, and includes payment toward all their debts.
The problem is, if they weren't able to make their $1000 payment, they probably will become delinquent on their repayment plan.

Would you like to buy a house for one dollar?

Zombies are soulless corpses, the undead; an apt metaphor for abandoned homes that could become nightmares to the owners of record. Homeowners who get a foreclosure notice often walk away. They think that despite the hit to their credit, they are finally free of the burden of trying to pay for a house they can’t afford, but, like the living dead, a zombie property can come back to bite you. Here’s why…

Some tips on making property viewing enjoyable can work.
Property Search tool

Every tenant has own priorities while looking for a house. So short-listing is the first step by making sure that the property to be viewed ticks all the boxes.

Using a Property Search tool will be effective in crafting the criteria and to make a good start. Desperation comes when a property is viewed and does not fulfill the basic criteria.

Remember that no seller will negotiate on the basis of a buyer’s criteria and reduce the price because it does not fit the budget of the other party.

Property Coach

just wondering what you guys prefer? do you use an llc for your wholesale deals without selling the llc at the end? or do you close all deals in your own name?

So you think you found a great deal on your first investment property, but how do you really know? If you haven’t looked at the numbers, and I mean more than what the sale price is, then the fact is that you don’t know.

There are several key components to look for, starting with the gross rental income for the past year. The gross rental income should be based not on what the seller tells you the monthly rent is per unit, but rather on actual rent collections for the past year. If there are non-paying tenants in the apartment, you will never know if you base your gross rental income on the leases.

Investing