All Forum Posts by: Brenda E.

Could try Community Bank in Memphis - apply on-line.

Are there any duplexes that you can find in your area for $70K - $90K? I ask because, if it were me, and I could find something in that price range, I would refinance the original for 30 years and buy a duplex in cash. Your mortgage would drop about $250 a month ($135K @ 6% vs $135K @ 3%), giving you over $500/mo. in cash from the triplex and you would own the duplex outright; ie: all positive cash flow. I suggest doing it that way because if the market crashes, you lose the triplex, but own the duplex outright, because there is no loan on it. 

I know I sometimes think negative, I prefer to call it thinking safely.

Lynnette is right. You'd need to honor her old lease; maybe she thought the lease did not have to be signed until the old one was up.  You didn't mention that she was disrespectful and destructive in the past when you first spoke of her; but you did mention how move outs cost money. You need to see if her old lease is up: either treat her in the same manner as your letter is coming across here and lose a tenant at the end of the month, or politely call her and inform her of her "oversight."

2 things to keep in mind: if you are not pleasant, she could make it difficult for you and make you remove her, which could take months; also, it may not be a good idea to have all your tenants' leases start at the same time, because then they end at the same time and any given year, you could have every tenant leave at once, which would not be good. 

I would check the Zoning Department, Planning Department or Building Department and find the original plans to see if the town approved a 12 or 13 unit complex. If it was 13 units, assessors may have just made a mistake; if it was approved for only 12, your best bet is to have the building inspector approve the 13th and make it conforming. Before the crash, you would have had no problem with the bank, now they want proof ofthe legality of the units. Better to face the music now and pay a penalty to the town (probably 2X what a building permit would have cost to construct it) than after you buy it and there's a fire, or other disaster and you're being sued because someone was living in an "illegal" apartment!  Besides the town will appreciate it if you bring it to their attention to cure the previous error, which, will ultimately give them more taxable property!

You can try, but very doubtful. I'm not from NY, but in general, Water Departments' operating budget is based on the total number of users paying the minimum usage fee. When people go over that amount, charges are for additional oversight, chemicals, purifiers, etc., for additional water.

They more likely will agree to a payment plan, not a "settlement." Also keep in mind that if you don't pay and they turn off your water, some towns' rule is the water dept. then calls the Board of Health, and the Board of Health would then deem the property uninhabitable (because there is no water!).

What about refinancing Corona to a 30 year mortgage, pulling out $100-150K equity and use that to put down on a place in Irvine? With the extra time, even with the $100K pulled out, you're payments would drop and you could cover Corona (with taxes and ins. included) and have a smaller payment in Irvine.  Then when you are done, pick where you want to live (probably Corona), sell the other for top dollar, pay it off, and slap the extra on to the other and refinance again if you need to.   

***

If you're not knowledgable about rehabbing, and you are going to trust it to a contractor, make sure it is a contractor you can trust and get EVERYTHING in writing, and make sure it's close enough for you to stop by to see what he's doing! I am not trying to be negative, but there are many frauds out there.  Make sure he's licensed; ask the building inspector(s) in the town(s) where he works, about him. If he is bad, the building inspector knows him.

Before you hire contractors, you have to know how much is the going rate for something is. Then it's simple math: Does the sum of the parts equal more than the sum of the whole?  House: $100K, bathroom $5K, floors $10K, kitchen $10k, new windows $5K, paint,$3K, landscape $2K and 20% for error ($7K) - Total $142K; that's your breakeven point. If you can sell it to cover that and make yourself the profit you need to compensate for all the headaches that you'll have had encountered, then do it. 

And make sure you know your market. Where I live a 3 bedroom 1.5 bath, 1400 sqft ranch goes for $325,000 in one town, but 15 miles down the road either way, you're lucky if you could get $250,000 for the same house in the two abutting towns. 

Okay, I've read this thread and I was in a similar predictament. The property next door got eaten by this monster, but I had an issue with my property that was being caused by theirs. I went from Caliber Homes (OK), to Hudson Homes (TX) and finally to RESICAP (GA). Hudson Homes told me they wouldn't be selling it anytime soon. I've been in email contact with RESICAP for 6 months. First they said they'd be fixing up the property and renting it out. I explained my problem; they asked me to send photos, quotes, plans, etc.; which I did. Finally they suggested I make them an offer to buy it, which I did; which they declined. They finally asked me to give them a couple of days to get someone to get back to me to handle it. They put it up for sale 2 days later and haven't got back in touch with me! Can't tell you the outcome, because I'm still battling with realtors (but that's specific to my case). Contact info to try:

REO at HudsonHomesMgmt dot com They copied their response to the Management company. cc'd on that email were:

general at wripm dot com , HAM_REO_General at hudson-advisors dot com

I then got an email from an employee at RESICAP who I think got my email from the general at wripm dot com. RESICAP website has a contact page (resicap dot com) and area code four zero four - four six seven - four two zero eight. If you call them, only call them to get a name; their email addresses are theirfirst initial, last name at resicap dot com. For example, Jane Doe would be JDoe at resicap dot com

DON'T call~you have no records of what they say! Email, and if they don't respond, put "2nd Request" or "3rd Request." They actually are pretty good in responding.

Good luck! I'll come back and let you know what happens with me!