All Forum Posts by: Amy V.

It's 3/2, 1425 sq. ft., finishes probably don't need to be high end to get market rate. I think high end might get it closer to the top of range, but these are cookie cutter houses with very little variation. It is a corner lot though, which is nicer in that neighborhood. There is a FSBO just kitty-corner (not a corner lot though) that's 1800 sq. ft, 3/3, with pretty nice finishes listed at $315K. But either way, these are not "high-end" houses, just average, but yeah, we're in Corvallis, OR, so there are very few "bad" neighborhoods, and very few opportunities for the traditional fix-flip or spruce up rental. We were hoping that the absentee owner list might find some old people with older, vacant properties but even those, they are expecting top dollar. Not a lot of really desperate people here - ha, I'd say unfortunately, but of course, I guess that a good thing, if not good for investors.

Seller is a 70 year old man, bought this property new for $144,500 in 1995, ARV is probably in the range of $275K to $285K, B to B+ neighborhood (6 mos comps are $250K - $310K).

He owes $106,000 on a refinance and rents the house for $1300 a month. He got our YL within an absentee owner mailing list, called, and he wants to work with us. Seems like a traditional sale for him would net about $140,000, if no repairs/work is needed. 

He doesn’t want to be a landlord anymore (he has property management), and he believes the current renters are going to leave because of a job loss. He says because he is old he wants to get rid of it, and he doesn’t want to list it with an agent. Also, his wife is in a mental institution with dementia (she’s not on the title). He says the house only needs cosmetic work like painting and floors, though of course we haven’t seen it yet.

He knows we are investors, he doesn’t HAVE to sell, but we’re trying to figure out if there is someway to work this out that’s a win-win. He is open to all options, for example his getting some kind of monthly payment, but what we don’t know yet is what his bottom line is. We have a phone call coming up to address that, but we want some options to offer him that might affect what he’s willing to accept.

Because we are not sure what kind of deal we could make, we don’t even know what would be reasonable. Could we do this subject to, get the renters out, do a traditional sale, pay off the loan and then give him the cash we negotiate, with some left for us, like maybe he gets $120K and we get 20K (minus whatever we put in for improvement, say 5K, so 15K net). Am I thinking about this is the right way at all? 

We have some cash, access to elbow grease for any work on the house, and great credit in case any financing is involved (but of course we're trying to avoid that). I provide this info as a preempt to those types of questions, if they are pertinent.  We accept that this may not be something that will work out at all, if that's the simple answer.

Any suggestions on how we should be thinking about this? THANKS!!

Hello, all, 

Is anyone here making "massive profits buying REO's and Notes Directly from Banks," as taught by Sue Nelson, the former art teacher turned real estate mogul? I would love to hear any stories about your experience putting her described methods into practice by contacting banks directly, in particular for commercial multifamily (30+ units), either REOs or NPN. Thanks!!

Has anyone worked a flip using CCC Holdings in Pittsburgh? Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks!

Thanks! 

Thanks, Xavier, I'd appreciate the contact. I've sent a separate message.

Regards, Amy

My partner and I are in Pittsburgh with the sole goal of landing our first flip. I grew up here, but have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for the last 20 or so odd years (my S.O. grew up there), minus 6 months over the last year that we spent exploring real estate possibilities in Tulum, Mexico. We found it was just too damn hot to think of investing much of ourselves there, so here we are, in a climate of extreme contrast at this date on the calendar. As for California, we'd like to go back, but we're here because we see Pittsburgh as a place that is turning around, I'm nostalgic for it like most true Pittsburghers who leave, and we'd like to be a part of this town living up to its great potential (not to mention, the Bay Area real estate market is out of control). We want to flip, as opposed to other real estate strategies, because the creative side of transforming a property inside and out really appeals to us.

We consider ourselves prepared financially (in that we are in a better place than those truly motivated investors who make a go of it despite no money and/or bad credit) and have flexible schedules to do what's necessary to find and make deals happen. HOWEVER, aside from introducing myself here, what I'd really like to learn is whether anyone in the area knows of investment savvy agents who recognize that the deals we are looking for are probably not just the lower-priced MLS houses in neighborhoods where there are no comps to support an investment-appropriate ARV.

Over the last two weeks, I've had no luck spending hours on end looking through listings sent from the MLS, or on local broker sites. It is so hard to tell which are really in neighborhoods that make good markets for quick rehab and sell. Actual sales numbers are all over the place, and the difference can be the condition of houses on one street versus the condition of houses on a street just around the corner, which you wouldn't know unless you physically go see for yourself. Pittsburgh's history produced a bounty of houses with the proverbial "good bones," and many of them beg for new life, but if I can't sell because "oh, that neighborhood, well, shootings happen there," or "we never go over to that area," those bones do me no good. On the flip side (haha, see what I did there), if I can't buy it at a price that fits "the formula," because the neighborhood is already so hot (I'm looking at you Lawrenceville and South Side) then that's no good either!! We found a great house, for example, on the edge of the South Side, which we could possibly buy/rehab at a price POTENTIALLY within "the formula," only IF that property would sell for what many other South Side houses have sold for - BUT our agent told us there are no comps for that part of the South Side, so the ARV is just a shot in the dark?!? Ugh, frustration, wish I could just rely on wilting under the overwhelming heat and humidity to call it a day and head for the beach.

Sorry for the vent, but ultimately, my question is, can anyone here recommend experienced, knowledgable agents or wholesalers in Pittsburgh willing to work with a couple new to real estate investing but who bring related real-world experience (I'm a member of the California bar/former City Attorney; he's a freelance IT infrastructure Project Manager/Network Administrator). We are anxious to move beyond wheel-spinning on the MLS, motivated to find a deal and close on it, and have the time and resources to apply toward reaching our goal. Any help would be greatly appreciated.