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

Hello Everyone:

I'm a newbie here. I've been reading the forums, trying to get as much information as possible. I do have a few questions, and I'm hoping by posting it here, I will get answers and explanations to these questions.

I'm going through Foreclosure Alert for my state, New Jersey, and in pre foreclosure/foreclosure status, there are different Document Types, which I need clarification and which is the better ones to go for.

Deed In Lieu Of Foreclosure

Bargain & Sale Deed

Notice Of Sheriff's Sale

List Pendens

Release of Lien/Lis Pendens

When working a short sale you can use a spreed sheet to show the banks that they should accept less for the house. I have added a worksheet below as attached the information.

Projected Net at REO Sale

Facts Concerning the Property:

Principle Amount of Loan: $0.00
Interest Rate: 0%
Interest per Month: $0.00
Back Taxes Owed: $0.00
Taxes per Year: $0.00
Back Insurance Owed: $0.00
Insurance per Year: $0.00
HOA Fees per Year: $0.00
Attorney Fees Owed: $0.00

Rule 2: Communication Skills

Rule 2.1: Lines of communication are critical.
Without lines of communication there can be no negotiation. Therefore, this rule is essential. Lines of communication are the life-blood of a negotiation.8 Master Negotiators understand this; novices do not. Novice Negotiators often focus on static elements of the problem, believe that they are "playing a winning hand", and throw down the gauntlet, only to learn later that the dynamic elements of the situation have changed, their leverage has withered, and they have burned their bridges.

Rule 1: Attitude

Rule 1.1: Everything is negotiable all of the time.
Attitude is critical. Novice negotiators do not understand that everything is negotiable all of the time. They give up too easily. If you slam your briefcase and walk out of a negotiation session, they do not understand that this is a tactic; they interpret it as the end of the negotiation.

Fundamental Elements of the Negotiation Process

"... negotiations commonly follow a four-step path: preparation, information exchange, explicit bargaining, and commitment. ... Negotiation is, in short, a kind of universal dance with four stages or steps. And it works best when both parties are experienced dancers." 3

One of the interesting aspects to negotiation theory is that even the fundamental elements of the process are subject to varying opinions. The quotation above breaks the process down into four phases. I prefer three. Let's review the basics before moving on.

Here is some great material by By Thomas Noble of Law Offices of Thomas Noble, P.C.

Introduction
"A negotiation is an interactive communication process that may take place whenever we want something from someone else or another person wants something from us."1

When you deal in mobile homes the lenders will do several things for you. They will provide the financing you may need to get the homes, give lines of credit to fix the homes and offer repossessions.

To get the banks that will do the financing on mobile homes you can ask park managers or brokers. They usually have contact to useful lenders. You can also find out where the title is kept for the mobile homes and from there find out who is primarily financing mobile homes in your area. You can then contact the lender to get financing and look for repossessions.

Just as cars have mobile homes have dealers. Dealers can be found by looking on the internet, in the phone books or asking around.

Once you know who the dealers are you will want to build a relationship with them. Get to know them, their dealings and how they work. You may even consider taking the dealers out to lunch.

Your purpose after building a relationship with them is to find about homes that they take as trade ins, what they do when a mobile home buyer does not pay and what do they do with the notes?

When investing in mobile homes we can establish that you will find most of the mobile homes in parks. The park should be treated as though it is a SFR in that you want to consider how close it is to parks, schools and other stores.
The demographics should not be forgotten about. Find out about the crime in the area by asking the police. Determine the average time to sell, the average selling price, how old people are that purchase and so on.

When purchasing mobile homes you will need to consider the mobile home park. Parks are rated just as hotels are rated. You can find ratings from 1-5 stars but in a sense there is only two types of parks:
Low end parks or high end parks.

Low end parks usually have higher crime rates with a higher turnover. Because of the rating of the park it may be more difficult to sell properties you may have purchased as well.