All Forum Posts by: Brenda B.

That's a great question and could explain the reasoning for some of their decisions- however, from the little I've been able to learn about them, I'm not sure if anyone is in charge and if so, even cares about decisions made.  We've been waiting impatiently for two properties to become active and it's been months. Each property is serviced by a different realtor, and neither knows what is going on, they just wait like the rest of us. I called Fannie Mae and the person I spoke with said that the only thing I can do is check the website, that there is no further info. Both houses were owned/lived in by men in their 90's, who both passed away, then the houses were foreclosed on. (I am suspicious that they each were victims of the reverse mortgage scam.) Both houses were a complete mess- so much hoarding by both of them. A mystery person hired two separate entities to clean up each property, and both "businesses" have done a terrible job that is still not even close to complete. It seems that this could be an opportunity to rake in some serious cash from the government for doing very little work, and nobody verifying the quality/completion of the work. Both houses could have been cleared out and sold months ago, but instead, they're sitting vacant, the govt is paying the taxes and not recouping any of their (our) money. If you find out any more info, I'd appreciate it if you could pass it along- I'm tempted to contact my senator, who ends all of his communication with "if you need help with a federal agency..." I told my husband that it seems like there's a person somewhere with a pile of paperwork on his/her desk, who slowly works through the pile, but no one knows who this person is and no one in the govt really cares. :-) 

@Colleen Cupp congrats on getting your husband and friends on board! I’m not an expert, but I have one successful deal under my belt and I’m working on the next one. I am hand writing my letters; I really enjoy the investigation and research process, and mass mailing by a marketing company would take the fun out of it, and what would I do if 20 people were interested in selling? For now, I’m targeting only specific properties that I actually want and that I have the resources for. I’m also not ready to be a full time investor- I’m lucky that I have a full time job working from home- I’m an RN and I’ve paid my dues working hospital shift work! So as of now I’m not interested in wholesaling and I’m not ready to compile a list of buyers, so targeting certain properties and hand writing letters fits with my current “business model.” Good luck and let us know how it’s going!

Hey William- we have been waiting months for two Fannie Mae properties to become available. It actually took all summer for one of them to show on the site but both state “coming soon.” We are in close touch with both realtors, along with the neighbors of the houses. We’ve called Fannie Mae and have been told that it’s a process and there’s nothing they can do so keep checking the site and stay in touch with the realtors. I spoke with a different realtor who used to handle Fannie Mae homes and he, along with the current agents, states that there is no rhyme or reason to what Fannie Mae does. He said they will have several offers on a home, one cash offer, another $500 over the cash offer but the buyers will be financing, and Fannie Mae will accept the offer requiring financing. He said that he’s seen Fannie Mae houses listed by out of state agents- it just depends on the roll of the dice and it’s a weird process. From my research, and from living your situation most of this year, I can hopefully save you some time and frustration by letting you know what we’ve learned. If you find out some secret, please pass it along because I really really really want these properties. :-) 

@Kevin Hoff Hi Kevin, thanks for this question, you received some really helpful responses. I would also suggest that you factor in the cost of an airline flight to your potential investment property. It’s much better financially and emotionally if you know you can hop on an inexpensive direct flight if necessary.

Hi- Did you find out any further info? I'm helping my daughter research homes and financing in Philly. They have the Home-Buy-Now which can provide up to $4000 in cash assistance- here is the link: http://www.phila.gov/homebuynow/employees.html . She can also get a loan for 3% down and no PMI if she buys in a low to moderate census area in Philly. She's not thrilled about some of these areas, but we're going to try to find something. I'll let you know if I come across anything else.

Thank you for the Floor & Decor tip! There's a store in Denver and I'd never heard of this place before!

I am able to keep an eye on what is being auctioned and what the results are on several county websites that I live near. 

I check out our local Restore/Habitat for Humanity Warehouse store- they always have nice appliances that are high end and in new condition. We just bought a dishwasher that still has the plastic on it- it would have been over $800 at Home Depot/Lowe's but we paid $125. It depends where you're located though-we live in Aspen, CO and people are constantly redoing second homes that have had very little use and donating the materials to Restore. We also are not high volume flippers and I enjoy the hunt for bargains. :-) 

I clean it up and cross post it to Facebook and Craigslist. One of the reasons I enjoy fixing up houses is because I'm "recycling-" taking something old and making it nice and new. It would defeat some of my purpose if I trashed anything useable and worse, paid money to take throw it in the landfill. It makes more sense for me to both make a little money and provide someone else with a cheap, useable appliance/fixture etc. 

I think that as long as the appliances look new then that's all that matters. Of course, if you want to advertise new appliances then they need to be new. We found a dishwasher at our local Restore/Habitat For Humanity warehouse -it still had the plastic lining on it and is still being sold in stores for over $800 but we paid $150. We also bought a stainless frig that would have cost us $2k off of Craig's list for $400 and a $1800 washer/dryer from FaceBook for $500. (Originally we were going to flip but we are now going to become landlords because we learned we can get much more per month than we realized-so I'm glad we didn't buy new appliances.)