All Forum Posts by: Austin Snyder

Hey @Preston Dean

Thank you for the response. To clarify, I was wanting to set this up as a land contract instead of a novation. But it's sort of similar. I'm paying them cash to leave, then I'm essentially just fixing it up really quick and selling it. I was going to get them to sign a land contract outlining the terms, so me being authorized to make the payments of the current mortgage, allowing me to renovate the property, and allowing me to sell the property on the MLS once it's renovated. I was going to record a memorandum for the down payment and outlining that we have an agreement that I get the full profit of the deal once sold.

Hello I'm hoping to get some insight on if this deal structure makes sense. I've bought properties before via "Subject-To" but I've never done a novation or a land contract. 

Deal Details

I have some sellers who are falling behind, but they have a good mortgage at 3.25% interest rate. The property needs some work but not much. Planning to give them about $10,000. Take over mortgage of $125,000. Put about $20,000 or less in repairs, then sell it on MLS for about $220,000.

My plan was to "self-perform" a land contract by filling out a purchase and sales agreement for a land contract that specifies I will take over the mortgage payments, get authorized on their mortgage, and be authorized essentially to fix up the property and eventually sell it on the MLS since the land contract will give me that control/equitable interest. So I was going to start title search first, then if it comes back clear I'll give them about $10k cash for them to move out and catch up on bills, then fix the place up really quick and turn around and sell it on the MLS. Then payoff their mortgage/liens and I take the rest.

If I structure it this way I've been told I don't necessarily need to go through a title company and formally "Close" on the property which would save me a few thousand bucks. I think it would be lower risk than a novation since I'll have more control. Instead I would just need to do the title search first, then once I pay the down payment file a memorandum for the amount I paid them, and then record the purchase and sale contract/land contract with the county so it's on record and clouds the title for extra protection.

Does that sound like I am doing this right or should I just buy the property subject-to with maybe a one year balloon, then just bite the bullet and close on the property and once it's fixed up turn around and sell it again. My biggest concern other than the closing costs was that if an FHA buyer tried to come buy it my understanding is they would need to wait 90 days from when I bought it and I think it would only take about a month to fix it up. Any insight here is greatly appreciated!!

Hey Sam, did you ever get a response for this? My thought was the same that you said. Put a tenant in place for 6-12 months, refi with a DSCR loan, and then you would be able to sell on a wrap. Did that work for you or what ended up happening? Thank you.

Thank you Bryant that's extremely helpful. I'll see what I can find out next week.

Hello all,

I have previous experience with real estate, but first timer with both raw land and tax auctions in Texas and I'm realizing now just how little I know when it comes to land. I'm hoping I can get some tips or pointers from anybody with experience in land development or buying land off tax auctions. The property I bought is about 7,200 sqft in a gated subdivision near a lake/boat slip with many other plots of land nearby that are around the same size. Houses built in the area are in the $1-2 million range. 

The extent of the research I did was that I saw the previous owner bought the land in 2007 for $37,500 and I bought it for $7,000 cash. I know bare minimum I could turn around after the redemption period and just sell it for a higher amount. However, I don't know if there's been soil tests, building plans, I don't know if there's utilities in place underground, if it's in an HOA, etc..

My question was this, to save time and money, is there a place I would be able to see if a previous soil test has been done, building plans, anything? Would the county have record of that, or a 3rd party website maybe? Should I try to get in contact with the previous owner? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated as I'm hoping to buy a lot more property through tax auctions but I'm a young padawan with much to learn on this strategy.

P.S. Also open to any recommended resources or people who are knowledgeable on Texas tax auctions. Thanks so much in advance!

Happy holidays BP family, 

I have a unique situtation and wanted to see if someone more seasoned might have any advice on how to approach this. 

There's a plot of land that I've found which is owned by a company. The land has 2 buildings on the same plot of land. However, the company is only using 1 of the buildings. The second building, has been abandoned for at least 12  months and is quickly becoming delapidated. I was curious how someone might approach this.

My idea was I could work with the company to "severe" the land or split the plot up and see if they would give me the building at a discount since it appears they have no use for it, and then I could put a tenant in it or flip the property to someone else. Any guidance on if that would be possible or any better ideas are greatly appreciated! 

 Thank you that's a huge help! 

Hello I'm newer to working on pre-foreclosure properties and I'm working with a seller to try to take over their mortgage "subject to." Their payment used to be about $400 but it's jumped up to $1,400 with about $1,000 of it going to escrow. They have several thousand dollars in arrears. I'm hoping I can get some ideas as to why that would jump so drastically so I can try to get it back down to the previous $400 so it will cash flow. Does anybody have any idea what could be happening here? It's just a home in a small town in Texas. 
Many thanks in advance for any help on this one! 

 Thank you Russ I'll look for one to get more information. Appreciate the response 

 No I don’t think so but I believe it’s similar. This is USDA rural development housing