All Forum Posts by: Alex Rodolitz

Maybe I will look into hiring an agent and putting it on the market. I would love nothing more than to break even, but would be comfortable selling at a loss if it means being able to walk away from these headaches. Thanks for the replies everyone, I think I have my answers.

A few months back, my partner and I bought two properties at an online auction after having success with our first property that we flipped. These two houses are hard sells because they’ve had fire damage to them which we were not aware of at the time of purchasing them. On top of that, they deep within two separate “war zones”. I’m not opposed to buying properties in bad areas at all because I have made money doing this so far. Maybe it was out of luck that we were successful with the first one, but I definitely learned my lesson when it comes down to not doing my due diligence. When doing our first deal, we were on top of our due diligence game and it paid out tenfold. When we didn’t do our due diligence, we paid greatly for it. I’m going to recognize this as a hard lesson learned and use it to grow my real estate investing expertise from.

My question is really, what do I do with these properties now? I’ve been marketing them as I usually do on Craigslist, FB Marketplace, eBay everyday. There seems to be promise from a multitude of leads and then people lose interest with the properties. I’ve reduced the price greatly and offer seller financing for anyone looking to invest in the property at a discount. Does anyone else have any ideas of how I can get rid of these properties? I just want cut ties with these investments and move on to bigger and better things. Thanks guys and gals for your time!

My partner and I's plan was always just to turn around and sell the property to another investor anyhow. I've called the buildings safety engineering and environmental department in Detroit and asked them a few questions about how long I would have before the house itself would be demolished. The woman I spoke to told me to call the Land Bank Authority because the demolition department doesn't make that decision. So I called the Land Bank Authority and they told me that the house is not on the demo list yet - which I of course know it is not since the original clerk I spoke to told me that an inspector determined back in March that it may be structurally in tact and they still need to make that decision - the Land Bank Authority clerk than wondered why I was calling because the state didn't declare the property to be demoed. There is really a lot of back and forth on this house and confusion in general in Detroit it seems to me. As I said, I just want to pass this house along to someone else who is willing to rehab the property for a flip or rental. I think my question is really, how much time do I have before the city comes and demolishes the house so I know for my own peace of mind and so that I can communicate that information to any interested buyers?

Thank you Jim for your response. Glad you decided to rehab that property. Sounds like a great project!

Hello. I recently made a purchase on two foreclosed homes - one being in Detroit. My partner and I had come to find out after an extensive research session that many houses on the same block had been demolished over the past year or two. It turns out that in March of 2018, an inspector from the city had walked the property and placed the house on the list to be demolished with a provision to reopen the case due to the integrity of the house having some potential to be saved pretty much. My partner and I didn't put a lot of money into buying the house and figured we could simply resell it to another buyer who was willing to fix up the property, but we were also contemplating going through the paperwork and submitting the application anyhow and having an inspector come to take a look at the house and possibly take it off the list if the house meets their requirements of course. We are worried that worst case scenario the inspector will find something structurally flawed with the property and we will be out the money due to the fees of the application/inspection eating into our already tight profit window. Has anyone else dealt with Detroit houses on the demo list before? Do you think it is worth it to get the house off the list or just try and flip it to another buyer who is looking to rehab the property? If my partner and I were to go the route of trying to find a buyer to sell to, how long would we likely have to flip it before the city decides its time to demolish it? Thanks guys for your help!

I'm about to flip my first property I bought for pennies on the dollar. It is a distressed house and I'm about to sell it for 15K. What would be the best way to handle payment? Through just a simple wire transfer or would it be better to handle payment through escrow? Is there a better way? Thank you!

Thanks Gina. I am going to discuss things further with my partner. We'll keep in touch in the future for sure.

Thank you all for the great suggestions, I really appreciate all of the help!

I have my eye on my second investment property in Little Rock, Arkansas. Anyone know a good title company over there to do a title search or handle the title on the property? Also, anyone who invests there, what are general thoughts on the market. I was thinking about purchasing an additional property around Arkansas' Children Hospital. Anyone do business around there? Thanks for your time!

Update: 

I got in touch with the code enforcement agency and they said that the property is obviously uninhabitable. It is also not safe for anyone to be inside at the moment. However, they told me once I have my deed recorded they will do an inspection and tell me what the violations are and give me more information.

Thanks so Nicole for your response!

I recently purchased an out of state property through an online auction (foreclosure) and was informed that there was a vacate sign as well as a hazard sign on the property. I’m a little more concerned about the hazard sign on the door. Just wanted to know if its okay to give investors access to the property. Do I need to contact code enforcement before giving access to investors? Thanks so much for your time!