Little pink houses of MN

[Chris Knapp]

Has anybody from Minnesota ever heard of a company called "little pink houses of Minneapolis? I'm selling a house in Maple Grove through a realtor, and the listing is expiring soon. This company contacted me about selling it "creatively" with roughly 6-12 month sale time, with their buyers. It seems strange to me. My town house is currently on the market for $382,500 and rents for $2200/month. If anybody has experiences with them, can you let me know how it went.

[Grigoriy Gorshteyn]

I haven't heard of them! I will look into that company. Let me know if I could be of assistance!

[Eric Beise]

From my research they are a lease to own company, so my understanding is they are going to find someone to lease out the property with the intent on buying it, therefore their buyer will start as a renter. A few questions I would ask are:

1. Who is holding the deed? As in, are you selling to the company or are they facilitating your purchase to the renter/buyer?

2. When exactly do you get the proceeds of the sale?

3. Is it going to be more or less than market value + holding costs?

4. What requirements are they expecting from you and how can you terminate the contract? Is there a cost associated with that?

That should give you a nice start for questions to ask, if you haven't already. 

[Dan Vleck]

Sounds fishy.

[John Woodrich]

Wouldn't be surprised if they dragged you along and you were in the same position next year. 

If you have your property listed on the MLS and you are coming up against the expiration date that is a good indication that your property is probably priced too high. There is still a lot of demand in the market.

If I am looking at the correct house online it is a 2br and 4 bath....  The Zillow estimate is $271,344.  Zillow is accurate in some areas and less in others but Maple Grove is a pretty active market.  The house looks nice but I would say you are overpriced, you are listed at the top of the townhome market in that area.

Also if I am looking at the right house it seems as if you could easily add another bedroom in the lower level in the square area next to the bathroom.  The cost wouldn't be that much and you would catch more buyers who may be looking for at lease a 3BR house.  If you add another on the loft side you would have a 4BR/4BA which is more desirable for more buyers.  I can't give absolute advice as I don't know the entire floor plan.

Good luck.

[David Stanford]

Hi, I can answer your questions, Chris. My wife and I are the Minneapolis affiliate of Little Pink Houses of America, based down in Jacksonville, FL. I've been a long time reader of BP forum and listener to the podcast. In fact, it was through a real estate investing podcast that I first heard about Scott Ulmer and Little Pink Houses of America and was the first step in a long process to becoming an affiliate.

We market real estate to a different pool of buyer's then you would for a traditional sale. We are looking for buyers that can afford to purchase a property and are a short period away from getting a mortgage. We help them with the process of getting mortgage qualified while they live in the house and make lease payments. Our program requires a sizable and non-refundable downpayment so that the buyer is committed to the house and the purchase. It's a great way to sell because we are often times getting full price offers and lease payments that aren't usually taken off the purchase price. This arrangement is done through a lease and option to purchase agreement.

Buyers have also been happy with our program. The biggest benefit is that through our program, they will get a custom blueprint in how to get mortgage qualified. Often times, we are following up with them on a monthly basis to track their progress. Another reason they like the program is that they get to move and settle-in to a home that they will ultimately own before they are mortgage qualified. Most of the buyers we work with are really great folks and make good money. A lot of times the buyer has had  some unfortunate life event preventing them from getting a mortgage. For example, I got a phone call a few months back from a father of 3 out in California, he works for Apple. He and his family were looking to move to Minneapolis to be closer to family. Him and his wife weren't able to get a mortgage because they couldn't keep up with the medical bills, their son and recently passed away. We didn't end up working together because we didn't have a house for sale in the location he wanted to live.

Hope that helps. I'd be happy to answer questions on here if anyone is interested. 

[Robin Edwards]

Hi David!

Are you still with Pink Houses? Checking in to see how that is going and if the model works as intended. What is average marketing time there? I am considering doing this for one of my rentals but cannot find any positive reviews. Thanks!

Robin

[Mohammad Kadiwal]

@David Stanford ,

Hi, I am also looking into Little Pink Houses. How has the ride been so far and would you still recommend it?

I did find some reviews here: https://www.bbb.org/us/fl/jacksonville/profile/ren...

Looks like they have had issues but tried to deal with them in the right way.

Thanks,

[David Doyle]

"Danger Will Robinson,,!!!Danger!!!!"

[Jonathan Jay Turner]

@DavidDoyle Can you elaborate on your comment a little bit.  I.E. do you have any personal experience with dealing with this particular company?  

[Manoj Mathew]

Hi 

@David Stanford Are you still involved with Little pink houses of America.

I would like to connect with you and know a bit more.

Thanks.

[Alan Grobmeier]

His profile does not have little pink houses on it, so I am guessing he is no longer affiliated. Looks like he has gone RE agent at this time.