All Forum Posts by: Al G.

Any experience with Thom Garlock, Teton Land Development, his earlier projects results or his latest project ?

I'm considering investing with Hughes Private Capital.   

https://www.hughescapital.com/

Does anyone have experience with them ?

thanks.

"said that I am defrauding people"

Sorry to rain on the parade, but isn't this exactly what you (and other wholesalers) are trying to do ?

Aren't you attempting to purchase the property at a significant discount from the fair market value, resell the property quickly and pocket the difference for yourself ?  Your profit is coming out of the owner's pocket.

There are two types of owners that will sell at wholesale prices:

- Owner attempting to harm another party, such as a divorce.

or

- Owner does not know the property FMV.

In the 2nd case, the wholesaler attempts to convince the owner the property is worth far less than the FMV so they can purchase the property at a discount and make a substantial profit for themselves.

I just encountered an example of the 2nd case. An elderly couple had to move into an assisted living home due to health issues. Money was tight. The lady contacted a "Buy Your House" ad and was offered approx. half the property's FMV. She was going to sell the property at the highly discounted price. Lucky for her, I spoke with her and convinced her to advertise and sell the property in a public listing. The property sold for approx. twice the offer from the wholesaler. Even after deducting her selling expenses, she was far, far better off then selling to a wholesaler. The owner was thrilled. I slept well that night. Judging from the posted responses, most responders would not hesitate to pad their pocket at the expense of the elderly couple and would not have a problem sleeping that night.

Kudos to the owner who challenges a party attempting to defraud the owner out of their FMV equity. All owners should become more knowledgeable to avoid being taken advantage of.

Fyi, untruthful and deceptive ads are illegal according to the FTC.  Under the Federal Trade Commission Act: "advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive . . . advertisers must have evidence to back up their claims . . . Advertisements cannot be unfair".   I fully support prosecuting anyone involved in this type of illegal activity.

John, thanks for the response but you did not address the test ad issue.

Are test ads fraudulent and illegal?

The test ad poster is advertising something they do not have and have no intention to provide at that time. The sole purpose of the ad is to gather market data cheaply so they can potentially make money.

The test ad recommended by John Fedro is fraudulent and illegal. It's a scam. The poster is advertising something they do not have and have no intention of providing at that time. Search the web to confirm this. A few web sites confirming this are:

http://www.aconsumerfraudlawyer.com/false-advertising/

http://definitions.uslegal.com/f/false-advertising/

Each occurrence I find of someone using or recommending the use of the test ad scam is being reported to the FTC, FCC and Attorney General. This establishes a record of the people involved in the scam so they may be held responsible for their actions.

Everyone is entitled to run their business as they see fit, but they are also liable for their actions and complying with the law.

I am neither angry or frustrated. On the contrary, I am quite entertained by many of the posts. Some of the posts have been hilarious. I also enjoy the poster's contradictory claims, waffling and changing the rules depending on which side of the fence they are on. You've done more than I could ever do to support my claims. I pass my congratulations on to you.

I'm also waiting for you to post that when you don't like the Appraiser's Comp selection and value, you will wave your hand to the Appraiser, say "These ARE NOT the Comps you want to use", give the Appraiser your Comps, wave your hand, say "These ARE the Comps you want to use", grab your light saber and fly back to your Death Star. There are no limitations in your fantasy world when you are the center of the universe and control all other beings thru your superior negotiation skills. Keep up the good work and entertainment.

For the readers that would like to follow your policies, then I am more than happy to comply with them. As identified earlier, the delays and extra time required by your policies will be reflected in the increased fee $. The more they follow your policies, the more $$$$$ in the fee increase. I'll be happy to comply with their requests and receive the higher fee. I need to warn you that it may be cheaper to higher a therapist than pay the additional fees.

This was submitted by the same person who posted the following:

As I said earlier, you have done more to support my claims than I ever could.

We also have a quote from another poster:

The same poster also posted this a little earlier in the thread:

You've done more to support my claims than I ever could.

As I posted earlier, there should not be any surprises in an appraisal. As an investor, developer and owner, I require and get 100% compliance with my opinion of value for my properties. If the appraised value of my property is different then my opinion of value and the difference is to my detriment, then I've challenged the appraisal and won all of them. The difference between my approach and other approaches recommended in this thread is my approach is based on appraisal principles and sound business practices, not gimmicks like some people are recommending.

It's clear that many people involved in this thread do not understand the appraisal process and appraisal business. As such, they do not know how to effectively deal with appraisals.

As I posted earlier, my contribution to this thread was a public service due to the misinformation posted in this thread. While this has been entertaining and enjoyable, I have better things to do then continue to point out misinformation and inconsistencies on this thread. This will be my last post on this thread.

Cheers.

The Appraiser's "I don't know . . . " answer is correct. Most (if not all) appraisal assignments include a confidentiality agreement between the Appraiser and Client. The Appraiser cannot discuss the subject property valuation with anyone other than the Client. The "I don't know . . ." answer is a polite way to say this is confidential information.

This is basic appraisal info and further illustrates that you are not familiar with the appraisal process or how to run an appraisal business.

If the title of this post were, "How to make the appraiser's job easy," then I would have reiterated your advice in my original post. But, again, it's not.

My goal (my job) is to do whatever it takes (within the rule of law and ethics) to get my property to appraise at as high a value as possible. And giving all my information to the appraiser before I meet him doesn't necessarily accomplish that goal.

So, your action is to withhold info the Appraiser needs to perform the property valuation and which will supposedly increase the value of your property? You may want to review your reasoning. The Appraiser's valuation is based on the info available to the Appraiser. The Appraiser needs this info when he begins his research.

Including the property's improvements and improvement cost in an appraisal is std practice. During the inspection, the Appraiser will check each item on the improvement list and document the results in the report. The Appraiser needs this info up front when he begins his research and it is in the property owner's best interest to provide it at that time.

I have no problem giving the information upfront, but it's MORE effective giving it to him face-to-face.

This is because -- when I provide the information up-front -- I'm just a seller doing what a seller is generally expected to do. Psychologically, this wins me no points, adds no special significance to the data I'm providing and doesn't provide any context for the property-related information I'm giving.

But -- by providing the information face-to-face -- I'm doing more than "just what I'm expected to do." I'm providing context for the data; I'm solving actual problems that the appraiser is facing at the moment he's facing them; I'm making the data I'm providing not just a bunch of sheets of paper, but a significant part of the process.

After the inspection, do you sprinkle fairy dust on your unicorn, pull out your light saber, hop on your flying broom, save middle earth and celebrate in narnia?

There are so many issues with your fantasy. You need a reality check. For example, "I'm solving actual problems that the appraiser is facing at the moment he's facing them" is complete bs. You are withholding info required by the Appraiser which supposedly increases your property value, extending the inspection time and wasting the Appraiser's time.



I highly suggest you read my first post and follow it. Professional, competent and responsive behavior will outperform gimmicks.

cheers.

I wanted to clarify one issue that has been beaten upon and misrepresented.

Any Subject propety info you have should be provided to the Appraiser as soon as the Appraiser contacts you. Part of the research the Appraiser performs in his office before the inspection is to search for, analyze and select Comp Candidates. This reseach is based on the Subject information available to the Appraiser. The Appraiser also uses this information to plan his route and schedule. This includes performing the Comp inspections on the same trip as the Subject inspection. All Appraisers follow this business model. There may be minor variations but it is the std business model for all Appraisers.

Withholding significant Subject information til the inspection may invalidate the Appraiser's research, including the Comp selection. If you withhold significant Subject information til the inspection, then this may require the Appraiser's research to be redone, including new Comp analysis, selection, inspection and another trip.

If your information is not significant, then it does not matter since it will not affect the appraisal outcome. This may explain why the late submittals identified in this thread have not been raised as an issue by the Appraiser, i.e. the submitted info is insignificant and has little or no impact on the Appraisal.

There are many other issues in this thread, but they've already been addressed (several times in most cases).

Some posters on this thread claim to be be knowledgeable about the Appraisal process, yet their posts indicate they do not understand the Appraisal process or how an Appraisal business is run. Sorry guys, but you are doing a huge disservice to the readers with your misinformation.

When reading this thread, there are two different views:

- Someone who is not an Appraiser and claims they are knowledgeable about the Appraisal process.

vs

- Someone who is an Appraiser and performs this job daily.

The reader should make their own decision on who they want to believe.

cheers.

I find it interesting that when the roles are reversed and the Seller is the one who is required to redo work and expenses, then your approach doesn't apply. You require the Inspector's info up front rather than after you perform the repairs. I've been requesting the same thing with the appraisal info but you do not want to provide it upfront. Appears your rules change depending on which side of the fence you are on.

I also find it interesting that you use your "integrity and skill in order for him (inspector) to be more forthcoming". This is exactly what I've been suggesting, is common sense, doesn't require any special skills and you do not want to do. THE SELLER MUST PROVIDE WHATEVER INFO THEY HAVE UPFRONT SO IT MAY BE CONSIDERED BEFORE THE APPRAISAL RESEARCH IS PERFORMED. THIS AVOIDS HAVING TO REDO THE RESEARCH AND RELATED WORK.

Definition of "suck up" from the original post:

"From a Building Rapport standpoint, if someone knows you and likes you, they are going to want to help you. Ask the appraiser about his family, ask about his business, ask him questions that allow him to feel like you appreciate his "help", and (if it's true) insinuate that you may want to use his services in the future. We don't like to let our friends down, so the goal is to get the appraiser to feel as if you're a friend in the short time you're together"

As identified in my original post, my responses were a public service to clear up some of the misinformation included in this thread. In summary:

- Be professional, competent, prepared and responsive.

- Provide any info you have upfront so the Appraiser can consider this while performing the research and preparing for the inspection.

- There should not be any surprises for a typical home appraisal. As a property becomes more unique, there may be more variations in an opinion of value.

- The Appraiser's Client is whomever hired him. The Appraiser's responsibilities are with their Client.

I've fulfilled my public service duty and will end with this post. It's up to the reader how they run their business.

cheers.

Consider the following scenario:

You purchase a property with the intent to repair and resell.
You call the local inspector and inquire about the repairs.
The inspector says he will meet you at the house when you are done.
After completing the repairs, the inspector meets you at the house.
During the inspection, the inspector inquires about your family, your spouse, your kids, your dog and your friends. The inspector also tells you what a fine job the local inspector does and and how qualified he is. It's clear that the inspector and you have established a very good rapport.

The inspector then tells you that you did not comply with the local repair rules and you need to redo all the repairs.
When you ask why he didn't disclose the local repair rules earlier when you first spoke with him, he again brings up how good your family, spouse, kids, dog and friends are.

You are required to redo all the repairs and associated expenses because the inspector did not disclose these issues up front. But the inspector is your buddy, so it's ok if you have to redo the repairs?

The same situation exists for the appraisal.

THE SELLER MUST DISCLOSE ANY ISSUES OR PROVIDE ANY INFORMATION UPFRONT. THIS INFORMATION IS NEEDED BEFORE THE APPRAISER BEGINS HIS RESEARCH.

IF YOU WAIT TIL THE INSPECTION TO PROVIDE THE INFORMATION, THEN THE RESEARCH HAS ALREADY BEEN PERFORMED AND THE APPRAISAL MAY NEED TO BE REDONE IF THE INFORMATION YOU WITHHELD IS RELEVANT.

Professional and competent behavior is required to run a business.

"suck up" behavior is primarily used when professional and competent behavior is lacking and one party tries to cover this up.