All Forum Posts by: Paul Amegatcher

If the county records show that the investor agent recently purchased the property then I will follow Patricia's advice and move on but if you find out that they have owned it for longer the 18 months then it would be worth it to inquire about selling. Many times would be investors start a renovation and then realise that they are in over their heads and stop. Sometimes they run out of money you never know. But it all comes down to when they purchased the property. Good luck in you endeavors.

Depending on location. I find that redfin.com has some good data buried within their sales algorithm. Best way to do it is to use it is to search by zipcode then narrow it down with the filters to get an accurate assessment of what houses sold for in a particular location. Check out this youtube video on how to do it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wpeHpX3tMM

Definitely take @Ross Nussle's advice. Also ask your contractor about the foundation. Based on the information that you gave I would question the experience of the contractor. His vagueness of the foundation bothers me unless you didn't give us all the info. I would pass on this project especially if you are not sure of how to repair or what the cost is going to be for the foundation.  The old adage is true you will have to look at 100 houses to find deal. Not every seller is motivated and not a house is deal. Wholesaling takes time and perseverance. Good luck.

 Jeremy,

Lydia is correct that most homeowners in pre-foreclosure or foreclosure would rather stay in their homes and want to figure out how to stay there. The only success that I have had with pre-foreclosures/foreclosures were when the homeowners had accepted their fate of losing their property or they had already moved out of the property. Those individuals are more willing to entertain an offer and resolution for their problems. I remember calling pre-foreclosure at the beginning of my career and talking to folks and they would tell me they were resolving the issue with the banks meanwhile they were doing nothing. 

If you want to find quality leads as a newbie I would focus on Driving for dollars and cold calling the vacant leads that you get. This is the tried and true way of getting a deal in 30 days. Once you start making some money then you can invest in Facebook ads or direct mail. 

@James De Stefano

Please don't confuse experience and education with balls. Most serious investors have paid the price and know what to look for. We make decisions based on experience and information and hopefully not on balls and courage.

@Shawn Thompson

Write down the addresses and then research them later. You can skip trace the owners to find contact information. Search for driving for dollars on BiggerPockets for a thread on what to do when you find vacant property. Also I'm in Dayton as well so if you want to chat about how to track down owners then hit me up.

@Anthony Wick

Im going to steal this if you dont mind.

Contact other investors in the area and just ask for references on contractors and also about typical costs for remodeling different items. I know in my area a nice bath using contractor grade or big box materials and labor is $3500-$4000. Sounds like you may be dealing with a retail GC with high over head costs. 

Bruce is a class C neighborhood.

 Contact a title company and order a title search on the property. It should cost you less $300. The title search will list all the liens and judgements against you and the property if there is any. Once you get a title search done then you can formulate a plan.