All Forum Posts by: Benjamin Barredo

I know. I don't know what that's all about. Is there a rule against referring brokerage's to work with? I thought that was what this site was all about?

Hello,

I have been away from the forums for a few months. I have recently turned my attention to getting my license and I am preparing to take the exam. In the meantime I was told to start interviewing brokerage firms to figure out where I want to hang my license.

I am asking for some referrals regarding different firms in the Knoxville, TN area. I thought I'd talk to about 5 local firms and 5 franchises to see what they have to offer. Can anyone help me out there?

Also, can anyone tell me what I should be looking for with each firm as a new licensee? I'm also only available to do this on a part-time basis  until I save up (either through commissions, my job - but preferably not or else it'll be forever - and/or my wholesaling ventures) a year's salary. Then I'll go at both my investment and realtor duties full-time.

So I would like a firm that doesn't charge too much from me as I train or shadow. I don't mind splitting my commission with a mentor but I also don't want to have to pay outrages fees up front or at all if possible.

If I decide I don't want to be an active realtor and just want MLS access, I'll need some names of firms that will allow me to do that too.

Thanks in advance.

Okay, so in my town you can't pull probate information off the internet. Instead, you have to go the the office and dig through the files. 

I went on Thursday of last week but I had no idea what I was looking at and I was too shy to ask the women that worked there (I know, got to get out of the comfort zone - but look, give me a break, I'm naturally shy and I at least walked in and got to the files; that's progress). Well, I do plan to go back so if I can't get an answer that helps here, I'll ask them myself. 

So, they charge $1 per copy of a file but I didn't make copies. Instead, I broke the rules about no cell phone use in the office and took pictures of about 50 files with the name of the deceases, the petitioner and living relatives. 

Here's my question. Because these files were thick and I couldn't see where it blatantly said who was inline for the house, who should I send a letter to? I know the smart thing would be to send it to every single relative but the fact is I have very little money and need to be more strategic about this. Should I just target the petitioner? 

I actually found a website - Fixr.com - that breaks renovations down beautifully. If you haven't checked it out, do so. It's awesome. 

This isn't for me to do a rehab, it's for me coming up with an estimate to sell a house. 

@William E. Thanks so much. That's exactly what I wanted to get. What are you all using for a quick analysis. I know you're not going into a house that you are seeing for the first time and having the owner follow you around for 1 to 2 hours while you measure each room, walk the roof, crawl through the crawlspace, inspect the underside of the roof in the attic, checking each squeaky door, and so on. 

At least, in my world, when wholesaling, I'm mostly meeting  homeowners on a Saturday or Sunday at a house they own but do not live in and taking them away from their day off so my goal is to get in and out as fast as possible while building trust, asking questions, taking photos of every room, from every angle, as well as outside, and trying to make notes on my repair checklist in under an hour (2 at the absolute most), 

So, what I'm looking for is a ball park estimate to multiply square footage by in 2 categories - Exterior and Interior. 

The a different Multiplier on 3 levels of renovation (minor, major, and tear down to rebuild - is that new construction?)

Then I can add a 15-20% factor for safety measures. 

I know I know. There's no simple way to estimate repairs but there has to be a simple formula to get in a ballpark so that one can make a quick offer.

I like the idea of square footage multiplied by a price.

Does anyone in Tennessee have a price - maybe a different price per renovation level (cosmetic with appliances interior, one with exterior, and then more complicated flips up to stripping down to the studs) - that can be multiplied against the square footage?

J Scott's book says he can use a number of $12 x sqft for a simple cosmetic job. Considering he's in GA I'm going to say that that's quite close to us here in Knoxville, TN.

Anyone?

So i was listening to an old "Flip 2 Freedom" podcast with Sean Terry and he mentioned having a Marketable Title Clause in all Purchase and Sale Contracts but he didn't  really explain the reason or what it is (that or I was only half listening to it and my wife at the same time). 

Can anyone explain the benefits of this clause and what it does exactly? 

Just showing off my yellow letter. I'm easily amused

Thanks a lot everyone. She sounds like a sweet lady but she could be a con artist.

I got a call for a poor old woman that has a tough situation. 

In short, she deeded two of her homes to her son who was being sued by a construction company. The company found out about the properties, included them in what they were going after and the son didn't show up in court to fight the suit and lost. The woman, thinking she could save the homes, deeded them back into her name and got a letter stating she had committed fraud ( I guess this was sent by the same construction company and their lawyers). 

So, she has two houses she wants desperately to sell so she can move away from Tennessee. She lives in one and rents the other. She said she tried to negotiate with the company but hasn't heard from them. This has been in the process for a few years. 

My question is this - Could she sell the homes to someone else or would they have to negotiate the purchase with the construction company? 

What other information do I need to get from her to get a better answer? Does it matter how long the deed was in her sons name? What if it was a few months versus a few years? 

How would you handle this? 

Do you know anyone that I might be able to get her in touch with to get legal advice for cheap or free. She is having a hard time. Her lawyer deals mostly in wills and stuff. I think she might need a real estate lawyer or a trial lawyer, lol, idk. You tell me. 

I hope to get some answers. I'd love to help her out of this situation. 

The homes are "zestimated" at over 130k each. She's willing to give one of them away so I think if it can be worked out this is a potentially killer deal. 

@Jay Hinrichs @Ryan Dossey