Had anyone on here SUCCESSFULLY bought short sales in Long Island, NY?

Question

I have been trying to hunt out a good first deal in long island for a while now, and I have almost totally given up on this area. But I work here and want to live her so it is really in my best interest to try like hell to figure out if there is some way that I can make profitable deals around here.

I have run into a ton of headaches pursuing short sales in this area. Here are some of the problems I've encountered:

1.) Brokers posting ads for houses that are not really valid prices. Example: Broker posts a house as a short sale, at a price of 224,900. After months of anguish, it turns out the bank really wants like 260k for the house but the broker/agent made a lowball ad just to generate interest/bids.

2.) Many real estate agents/brokers don't really seem to "get" how to even ATTEMPT to get a short sale approved. They claim they can do it but all they end up doing is wasting your time and for several MONTHS you are on the hook, because if that deal comes through you're committed to buy at the price you bid, which means you can't bid on or buy other property in the meantime.

3.) In the end the offer just gets rejected so you have wasted several months and lost other opportunities.

4.) Some of the promising deals vanish seemingly overnight, or never even get listed. I'm convinced some people have special connections and get the cream of the crop deals before us normal guys ever even have a prayer at bidding on them. I understand that's the way the world works but is there any way for me to crack into this secret circle?

Is there anyone on here who has bough short sales successfully? If so, I'd love to talk to you about it.

Chris Manteria · Answer

Hi guys,

I know it's been a while since this thread was active but I just came across it.

I'm a realtor and work in Nassau, Suffolk, Queens and Brooklyn. 1st let me tell you that despite what Michael thinks there are some great deals on MLS. A majority of all real estate that sells on Long Island sells through MLS with over 70% of all For Sale By Owner sales eventually going through a realtor, including the property owned by forsalebyowner.com's CEO.

The trick with Short Sales is having a truly competent person handling the bank negotiation. I always cringe when the person who is working directly with the bank is the realtor on the other side. When I take a short sale listing I always recommend that the homeowner hires an attorney that specializes in short sales.

When there is an attorney involved who handles short sales I have had transactions close in 6-8 weeks from start to finish, the same as a regular sale. Now that is not the norm but it can happen.

As far as working with a realtor, you can hire a realtor to work on your behalf. It is called a buyer broker relationship. In that case you would be setting up a contract where the agent works for you and in your best interest but there may be a cost associated with this depending on what the seller is willing to pay out. All of that would be outlined in a standard buyer broker contract.

I agree with Michael, you need to have a team in place that you feel you can trust and is working in your best interest. I have found that when we approach real estate in a non-adversarial way - the seller has a piece of property they want to sell, the buyer has a piece of property you want to buy, let's talk and try to make a deal that works best for everyone - instead of the "I need to get the best deal for me and everyone else be damned" approach then transactions tend to go much smoother and everyone ends up happy.

As far as attorney's go please make sure that you are using a real estate attorney. If you are using your friend who is a divorce attorney or mostly handles criminal defense then the transaction may be bogged down because they approach matters in a much different way than an attorney who is handling business and real estate matters as their primary business. If you need a recommendation please let me know. I work with 2 very good attorneys who have helped out many of my clients in the past.

I hope that the above information has helped. If have any further questions please let me know.

Steve Babiak · Answer

Not that I am attempting to purchase short sales - but every offer or contract to purchase real estate should have a hard expiration date.  That date can always be extended with an addendum, but at least that way you don't have to be as "committed" as you are saying in your post.  When you want out, and you have reached the expiration date, you just refuse to agree to any addendum that would extend things.

Michael Allan · Answer

Well said Chris.  Surrounding yourself with an experienced team is one of the most important factors.

Michael G. · Answer

Got it. I've been down that road with the unsavory character types. It helps to have a team in place that you can trust. Realtor, attorney, contractor, etc. Email sometime and lets talk via phone.

Corey Demuth · Answer

to answer the original question, I have been looking for either a strict investment property OR a 2-family house to both live in and rent one family out. I have zero interest in wholesaling at this point just has not worked out at all in my experience.

no I am not only looking at the mls. I do check it often but that's one of many avenues I have tried, including working with realtors, lawyers, etc. What I have found is, everyone is looking to help their friends or earn a kickback and screw you. You have to be very careful.

Michael G. · Answer

OK. NP but you still never answered the question. Are you looking on the MLS for your deals? Cause if you are then they arent really deals are they?  Once its on the MLS how could it be a deal from a RE investor standpoint? Your not on the inside. That may be where you want to make a correction in your acquistion strategy. You need to be talking to the owners of the properties BEFORE they get listed. Thats the start point of the deal. Right now you have absolutely no control over the deal and how the mechanics play out. I would hate for you to waste your valuable time looking for deals that dont exist. PM me. We may be able to do some business.

Corey Demuth · Answer

Talk to me in 6 months when you're still waiting to hear back on those deals ><

Michael G. · Answer

Corey - Maybe i'm missing something but its not clear if you are looking to a) buy and live in your self b) buy and rehab c) buy and wholesale to rehab investor.

I have 2 short sales in the pipeline now. They were both vacant properties in fairly decent working class neighnorhoods. I looke up who the owner's were, tracked them down and asked them if they wanted to sell. They both said yes.

I  had them fill out an ATRI so I could speak to the lenders on their behalf and set up a short sale. I then had them list the property with a realtor and sign a purchase and sale agreement with me.

We are still waiting for the approvals to come back. There are more moving parts to the deal but essentially thats a snapshot of how its playing out. The success portion remains to be seen and we will probably use Duane's company if we need transactional funding.

I could be wrong but what I'm hearing from you is that you are looking for your deals on the MLS?

Duane Ortega · Answer

I have funded several short sales in NY/LI area. I can give you some contacts that can possibly help.  My contact info is in my signature line or you can click on my profile.

Jake Kucheck · Answer

It works similarly here to what you describe.  From a listing agent's perspective though, if your client isn't making any money on the sale (which in a SS, they aren't), then your goal is to list it for the lowest justifiable price that will attract the most offers and still result in a lender approval, because this is what gets you paid the fastest.

Where you may have more luck is "pouncing" on short sales that have just been approved at a "hard approval" price, but the buyer has walked on.  If you can be the guy that listing agents call before the property goes back on the MLS, then voila, you've cracked into the "secret circle".

Keep in mind though that in order to do be the guy that listing agents call, they're going to need to know that you can perform.

Hope that helps.

Had anyone on here SUCCESSFULLY bought short sales in Long Island, NY?

Most Popular Reply