All Forum Posts by: Chris Jones

hi everyone

i wanted to know how does an investor find a homeowners mortgage loan balance, like is this some kinda service you have to signup for or some website you must go to and etc.

the reason i wanted to know this is so i could put together reasonably offers, because i know most homeowners aren't gonna come out of pocket (if selling for less then what they owe) at the closing to just sell you their property

than i was told by another investor to just ask the homeowner up front, but i've found out that works best if at all, when the homeowner calls you, which some times they still give you resistance. but when your as proactive as me and are also calling them, their is a whole lot more resistance from the homeowners to give you this info ((i guess they look at it like your gonna steal their equity or something if their is any to begin with))

or maybe i'm asking for this info the wrong way, probably because i can't really back it up to them why i need that info in the first place

but anyway if anyone knows of a way to find a homeowners mortgage loan balance please let me know i'll be so thankful, because on some investing audio i heard two investors saying they don't even ask for this info because they can so easily find it through a simple search ((HOW))

hello, does anyone have the following contracts/material below that their willing to share with a newbie investor looking to tie properties up to wholesale them.

1. basic lead sheet - with some basic questions to ask the seller to see if their is a deal to be made

2. purchase & sale contract - a basic simple to understand one to two page contract, with some good built in out clauses

3. assignment contract - a simple contract that'll be easy for me and my investor buyer to understand and fill out.

if anyone can help that'll be great, whether if its just giving me the contracts and etc, or if its just pointing me in the right direction to get them myself

thanks for the responses, but anyway as far as the double closing thing goes i've already found a title company that knows how and is willing to do them.

and far as the seasoning issue thing goes when dealing with my end buyers conventional lender, i've already found out a way around that to, so that isn't and issue either

so i have three more questions to ask:

1- when should i preform this title search, especially with my county not having online access and the recorders office being 20 minutes away? the reason why i ask this question is because i have lots of distressed homeowners calling me ((which i can basicly work with all of them, if their willing to work with me because i'm not looking for equity spreads because i know how to do short sales)). so first i get some basic info over the phone and then i actually meet with them at their property to get the rest of the info and i explain to them how i can help, and to also have them sign my paperwork and etc (so i can start working on the short sale and etc)

2- above you said when doing a title search to look for two different things, liens/judgments against the property (parcel #), and liens/judgments against the actual homeowners. so my question is right i should only be concerned with liens/judgments on the property i'm dealing with? so say the homeowner has a judgment against them but was placed on another property will that make a difference

3- what liens/judgments shouldn't i even try to get discounted? because i heard that basicly all types of liens and etc can be discounted, because almost all of these lien holders are in junior postion so if the senior lien holder takes it back at the auction, chances are they'll all get nothing

i even heard IRS tax liens can be eazily discounted (which i was told they even have a dept for this)

HELLO everyone!

i am a beginning investor focusing mainly on pre-foreclosures, i currently understand the whole foreclosure process along with what the banks are looking for to accept a short sale.

so my question is WHEN and how do i do a title search (for liens and judgments) to figure out if i really have a deal or not?

now i know title companies or attorneys have the ability to preform this action for me, but i know all of you investors just don't go around throwing $200 or more just to see if the property you are looking at or working with is a deal even without your short sale getting accepted yet and etc

and i heard of getting a preliminary title search say from an real estate agent, but is this something pretty good to go off of to see if a deal is potentially there? i even tried actually going down to my court house/records office to research liens and judgments on properties and man u have to do alot of work just to find all this stuff just for one property so i know it has to be a better & faster way ((plus my county isn't on-line, so i actually has to go down there to research))

now my next question is, the way i plan on selling these properties once i get my short sale accepted will be in a double closing (so i don't have to bring any funds to the table), so i was wondering should i still get title insurance on the property even when i'm flipping it right to my end buyer when they'll most certaining will get title insurance on the property?

hello everyone, well anyway i'm a new investor and after some research i decided to focus on pre-foreclosures.

well anyway i was told of a strategy that i could use that didn't involve the use of any of my money or credit and will allow me to actually retail these properties to end-buyers and not just wholesale them for a small profit to other investors, it sort of goes like this.

1- locate and market to the people in pre-foreclosure, 2- once they contact me setup an appointment with them, 3- setup a land trust with them ( which they will be the beneficiaries and either me or a disinterested party the trustee)and have them sign a "warranty deed to trustee" doc which i will record at the my local court house, 4- also have them sign over there beneficiary interest to you which you'll store away for protection of problems that might come up in the future 5- start marketing the property as well as working on the short sale with there lender, 6- once i have my end-buyer (and hopefully my short sale is accepted in time) have my title company perform a double closing to pay off the first lender as well as myself, and to give the end-buyer clear title without any seasoning issues coming up (which i was told there has to be two separate HUD's, two separate escrow accts and etc)

so my questions are:

do i have all the steps down correctly or am i missing something?

how in the world do i explain this double closing thing to a title company, like how do i explain to them how to do this paper shuffle ? because they either know what it is and they just don't do it or do, or they just don't know what it is and need you to break the whole process down for them.

hello everyone i need a little help in starting out in my real estate investing business, well first of all i've read multiple books, posts, listened to multiple audio CD's, and have talked to lots of others at my local REI club, now i've done all this and have only made a little progress.

now i understand the concepts behind how all of the different creative real estate strategies work (subject-2's, lease options, OF, wholesaling and etc), but the problem i'm having is that i don't know or have the paperwork/contracts that are needed to preform these strategies, (or know or have the supporting paperwork needed as well).

now when it comes to getting the paperwork/contracts i figure i have three options, 1- purchase some real estate program for a $1000 or so, 2- hire an attorney to draft these contracts for a couple thousand, 3- use forums like this and network with others that are willing help and send them to me for free

now i know some contracts i will need an attorney to look over and make some small changes to to make the contracts legal for my state or county, so my second question/concern is does anyone know of any tactics to keep the cost down when having an attorney work on your contracts

thank you both for your wise words, well anyway i guess i'm just so anxious to do my first deal. especially a deal like this were the homeowner is in distress and states to you how much equity is in the property (i know i'm a beginner, but i don't see how he'll benefit by lieing to me about the amount of equity in the property, because he already stated he doesn't want to sell the property, and i already stated to him i'm gonna view the property/mortgage paperwork)

well anyway i must say i agree with you both, from first look it seems the best way to do this deal (thats if all the number are right) will be to purchase the house for the amount left on the mortgage, and give them moving cash and etc (this way i'll have alot of instant equity within the property, which i could either wholesale to another investor or put it on the market at a small discount and sell it retail because of the properties perfect condition, then i could even try a short sale to build up more equity to make the two above tactics more profitable for me)

now the only tactic i can think of that would work, were they will get to stay in there house and will be profitable/beneficial to me as well is to then purchase the property real cheap (whats owed on it) and offer to lease option it back to them at a higher interest rate and at a higher property price, but i think this tactic will be risky with this individual because of his credit and the nature of work he's in (construction were some parts of the year your without work and tring to collect unemployment)

so this is what i plan on doing, i first plan on putting together a list of questions i must get answers to at the tuesdays meeting i plan on having with them, then i plan on explaining the whole foreclosure process to them and the uphill battle they face (which i hope will change their position about not wanting to sell their house under any cumstances), then i plan on making a smooth exit and letting them know i'll be back in contact with them to let them know what i think their best solution is to solve their problem (this tactice is to buy time, so i can really cruch the numbers and speak with others to really figure out the best win-win for everyone, thats if their is a deal their)

if anyone has any other suggestions please let me know

hello everyone i need a little help in figuring out what i should do next in this pre-foreclosure deal that has came to me.

well first off the way this deal came to me was i went to my local sheriffs dept and picked a list of the foreclosures, i mailed them all a letter stating how i can help them and etc.

well one of them actually called my number and left a message, so after two days had passed (yah i know i was nervous and etc) i had called the homeowner who left the message.

so i started speaking with the homeowner and started building rapport and etc. well anyway the homeowner was very upset and told me from the start that he doesn't want to lose his house (he has four kids), he told me he had got a mortgage on the house for $180,000 and now he has it paid down to $90,000 (so there is alot of equity there), the property is also in perfect condition, he also told me that he had fell on hard times because he works in the construction business and he had broke his wrist and something else and was out of work for awhile.

then he told me that he was back on his feet and has been working now for a year, but the bank doesn't care because they want all of the back payments and etc up front.......so i told him lets setup a meeting at his house this tuesday to go over all of this farther (but i told him i will not be giving him a decision at this meeting, that will come later, i did this to buy some time and etc)

so anyway, what should i do? i'm a beginning investor and i've read alot of books and material but things are always different when they are real, so what should i do (like what info should i get, what contracts should i bring in case, and like what should i say), because i don't want this guy and his four kids to lose there house, and i don't want his house to go to the auction because it will sell fast because of the equity in it

thanks for the reply, i really appreciate you taking the time to actually answer my long list of questions.

well anyway i just have three short questions to ask you

1. how do you get paid by your buyer when he buys your contract? now i know the buyer must have cash because a conventional loan from a bank won't work because of the seasoning issues, so how do you get paid, like do you get paid up front in cash (wire) before you assign the contract, or do you assign them the contract and then wait to get paid in cash (wire) at the closing between your buyer and seller

2. how do you deal with these type of properties when they're listed with a real estate company, because for me its extremely hard because the agents want large earnest money deposits and proof of fund letters before you can even think about getting the property under contract, so what do you do

3. in one of your responses you had mention a "Note or Memorandum", i'm sorry but i didn't understand you when you said i need this, so could you please explain again what this is, and why i need it

hello everyone i have a couple of questions to ask about wholesaling

1- what contracts are needed to do wholesaling? is it just a nice purchase agreement with many exit strategies (contingencies), and a assignment contract so i can assign the deal to the end buyer.

if there are any other contracts besides these two will someone please let me know what they are, and explain how they work.

2- what do you guys think about purchasing these contracts i may need from say an online site like UsLegalForms? the reason why i ask this question is because i've read some post that stated using a lawyer and etc to draw up contracts which cost alot to the investor starting out with little funds, but forgot to mention or comment on the purchase of these U.S State specific contracts from well known online sites

3- in a wholesale transaction once you have the contract signed (the purchase agreement) with the seller how do you protect your self from the seller or other investors from going behind your back to make a deal? now i've heard that once you have a signed contract with the seller to record it at your local court house which they say will put a cloud on the seller title which will show your interest in the property and will make it hard for this problem to happen, is this true and is this how all of you do it.

4- and my last question, from my research on wholesaling what the investor is really do is turing their purchasing agreement into a option agreement, so my question is what strategies and tactics do you guys use in your contracts or conversations to by time to find a buyer for the property ((which i know your suppose to have a buyers list but sometimes your buyers may not be interested or are to busy with other projects and etc))

i even read some past post were people said they wouldn't even go into a contract with the seller if they didn't already have a buyer lined up for it, now i know i'm a beginner but to me that can be smart but also very stupid, especially if you know your getting a great deal on the property (see all property and property conditions are different, for example you might not have buyer/investor in your list that likes rehabing burnout places and etc), so if your not risking much on the earnest money deposit i think who cares and just tie the property up and search for a buyer

the reason i ask this question is because from my logical way of thinking, i think the seller of the property would think if you were interested in their property and their price and you have cash, why don't you just straight out buy their property a.s.a.p instead of waiting at some later date, so what are some ways to explain your late closing date to them so you can hold up a closing before your contract expires to find a buyer

i hope i'm not asking for to much info, i will appreciate any response. thank you