All Forum Posts by: Ben Reiss

@Hattie Dizmond thanks, I knew it was hit or miss on them. I never went with them but I am still part time and working off of a yellow letter campaign and random dumb luck. 

I think you are thinking about a pre-foreclosure list. I believe they are available in some areas. I think it is a list of mortgages that have been reported late in the 30-60-90-90+ time frames. 

Maybe I was mistaken but I believe that is able to be searched. notice of default or lis pendens I think is the term. You may be able to find them for an area. I would think anyone at a bank who gave out the personal information about individual owners would likely lose their job. Even if that information was public in some way. 

Hey all,

Does anyone know a flat roofer in Philly area. I have a 3 story row home in the temple area that I need a patch on. It's only 7 years old so roof should be in decent shape.

I have one guy I can try but I was wondering if anyone had a guy they trust or have used a lot for this kind of thing.

Thanks,

Ben

Check out the DELRIA site. It is the Delaware investors meeting. They have one in Dover now I believe. Also I would look in and out of De. There are great opportunities outside DE. I grew up in DE and owned rentals on UD campus which I sold to move my stuff to Philly.

There are def some houses you can grab at good prices but the ones that make sense for an investor usually require some inside knowledge. Nothing that sells in UD area hits the MLS. I sold 2 and both went to people I knew. I don't really know markets outside Newark and Wilmington in De. but I have looked at Dover and Smyrna a bit and there may be some opportunities with the base.

If you ahve any questions feel free to contact me. I lived in Newark most of my life and moved to Wilm in the last few years. I invest in Philly (temple area and looking in a few others).

I believe these are basically "post and beam" which is where there are only a few load bearing beams making up the frame. Think Amish barn, there is a skelaton of major load bearing pieces. The other walls are simply put in to divide space or left open for the room.

Stick built is standard 2x framing build as individual floors where the load is distributed to many load bearing walls in the home. Each wall is built and raised and then the joists above are placed onto the walls to build the next up to the roof.

hopefully that helps/makes sense

Rick,
that's pretty close to UD but I don't know if you'd be able to get students in there. When I went to UD I didn't know of anyone living on the other side of the bridge. I think you might be able to get faculty or maybe foreign students.

OP,
Also remember with UD you have the grandfathered rental permits and they set the number of students. You have to have one from prior or you are only able to get a 2 students + 1 adult permit. (unless of course you are in the student zone, as per City of nerark zoning map)
UD houses are going more towards the new construction or very nice Rehabs now though. I sold mine on Chambers st a few yeras ago to buy a duplex in Philly. They knocked it down now and the owner is putting in 8-6bed town homes.
If you are going to do student rental there are better areas than UD.
I agree with elsmere and some parts of wilmington. I would rather be a landlord in trolley square area than any war zone. But again the numbers aren't great in any build up area of wilm. But at least in trolley you are getting young professionals. The turnover time is very low. Apartments get scooped up quickly there.
Like Rick said you can use the NCCde website and redfin to get solid info. I think redfin will usually list more info than zillow when you are looking into listings for current rent rates and all that.

If you really do intend to move into the house for at least 1 year then this isn't an issue for most of the loans I have seen/heard of. Read the letter of the first time buyer paperwork. I bought a house that was my primary at the time. I finished some rehab and after 2.5 years realized I did not need a 4 bedroom 2.5 bath home as a single man.

I had an FHA loan at the time and that was not an issue since I lived in it an it was my primary. When I moved out I turned it into a rental though. Which means I had to pay back the balance of my first time home buyers $7500 I received from uncle sam.

I have heard of people moving into a new place every year to buy on OO rates and loans. I don't see an issue with this if you are actually following the rules.

DO NOT LIE ON FHA loan docs. or any docs for that matter. But if you follow the rules I don't see an issue with using ti to buy a place that you would eventually rent out. I am a teacher and the Good Neighbor Next Door program lets teachers buy HUD homes for 50%. HUD gives you a second for the other 50% and pro rates it over 3 years. If after 3 years you move they don't claw it back. I have looked at this and if anything ever comes up I would want and I get a free $100K to live somewhere for 3 years I would do it in a heartbeat. But I wouldn't try anything over the 3 years.

Follow the rules and make sure you don't get bit in the ***. No one ever expects to get caught. But it happens. Insurance is prob the thing people forget to change that even when done legally can bite you in the *** (forget to switch to landlord instead of OO on the right day and something goes wrong on that day).

Just make sure you follow the letter of the law in this and don't take something in the spirit that could go to someone who is actually in need. If you are gonna move in and live there for the time period and just buy somehting that you would rent later I think you are safe.

Ben

The only way I would even consider this as a business deal would be if there was a set time frame. You will not be able to sell the property if there is a contract to let the family member live for free. So you will be locked in to this and not have an exit strategy other than rent at a negative cashflow.

Biz with family esp something where they are "gifting" you the property and then you "gift" them the rent can get ugly. If you ever have an issue on cash then you are the bad guy if you ask for rent or anything.

If this is someone in your family your care about like mom or dad then it's not a business decision and you are thinking of doing this to give them somewhere to live and then you inherit the property when they pass then that is another thing entirely.

How much is the house worth?

What would it sell for right now as is?

Where would they go?

Could you buy it form them at some discount and then pay then make a monthly payment on the difference?

I might be inclined to do this if they simply were holding back a note on the cash. If they would be able to get an apartment for 600-800 a month and we're talking a 100K difference in price then maybe you could work out an interest only loan where they sell under market but take back a second with interest only. I mean if they would take back the 100K then giving them 7-9% interest could be fair for both. they still get a place to live for life and you could write in that the mortgage is satisfied upon some such event or whatever.

RE: Lawyers,

I have not used a lawyer specifically on any purchase in philly, I hold in my own name and just use a title company where the owner of the company ( and who I deal with) is a lawyer. I do have my own agreement of sale that I got from another friend who had it drawn up. I adjust it accordingly.

If you need an AOS other than the standard realtor one you might want to meet with a lawyer to draw one up and go over a few things. prob worth the couple hundred bucks.

Chris,

Whenever you are looking to buy I have a great title company that I use. A few friends who invest in the area also now use him for almost everything. Great guy and also does some of his own investing. Mortgage wise I had a guy I like, he wasn't the best I can imagine but he knew what he was doing and his underwriters made sure I got everything through.