New member from Chicago

[Mike B.]

Hi everyone,

I probably should've browsed the forums a little more before introducing myself, but I have zero knowledge about real estate and I'm experiencing information overload trying to find answers to my questions. I've been reading BP for a few hours and it seems like there is a ton of great information here as well as a lot of friendly and helpful members.

A little about me: I have a background in residential construction and I always found the idea of rehabbing SFH's appealing. I'm currently renting an apartment and am hoping to become a first time home buyer very soon. So I found BP to try to educate myself before diving in to the biggest financial decision of my life.

I was able to get a small loan from a friend at 4% interest, so for the last two weeks I've had a real estate agent that my sister recommended send me MLS listings. Unfortunately I've only looked at one property. It's a 2/1 quad, REO, and the asking price is $57K. The ARV is $80K and it needs $6K in repairs. I'd be doing all the rehab work myself. So compared to burning my money every month renting, this seems like a pretty good starter home for a first time buyer. If I get it my plan is to rehab it and live there and then rent it out and repeat the process or maybe try to sell it if I can get a high enough offer.

I have some questions before making an offer that I hope you guys can help me with:

1. How much less should I offer because I'm paying cash as opposed to financing? I know a cash offer is more appealing to the bank, but I'm not sure how much more valuable it is to them.

2. Do I need a real estate attorney or can I use a title company? Maybe this is something my real estate agent will have recommended for me, or I should shop around for the best price?

3. When do I look for homeowner's insurance? My auto insurer is a small company that gets me a great rate, so maybe I should start with them to see if I can get a discount? And if I can choose a larger deductible to get a lower rate, should I do so?

4. Sometimes I'll see a foreclosure on zillow and it will say it's been on zillow for 30 days or whatever and to go to a paid site for details like foreclosure.com. How can I get the details for free? And when I find out what bank owns the property should I have my realtor contact them or try to buy it from them directly?

I plan on spending a lot of time here on BP, and hopefully soon I'll be able to contribute to this great site! Thanks for reading!

Mike