All Forum Posts by: T Brown

I am always impressed by how willing everyone (or almost everyone) on this board is to help newbies. Thank you to all of you who patiently answer the same "stupid" questions over and over again! I hope that some day I will have the experience to answer them as well. :-)

Thanks for all of the great information. :-)

Sounds cool, Eric. Thanks for the information.

Thanks, Steve Babiak.

Thanks, Raymond B. and David Beard for the encouragement and advice. Good luck, David, in your new career. It certainly sounds like you've got a great system - thank you for sharing it with me. I definitely need to get more methodical.

What's missing from the dog's picture, btw, is the tea cup sitting in front of her, as she was a guest at my daughter's tea party. :-)

Steve Babiak - what strategy would you use if you were in my shoes?
TIA!

Thanks, Mark H., for the encouragement! I'm not expecting to buy anything now. Now I'm just doing market research (see what you can actually get for the money). I don't consider it time wasted, especially since it was so much fun and so educational.

We didn't go in yesterday because we didn't have the "breathing apparatuses" the signs recommended, and because I had my 7-year-old daughter with me and didn't want her to be exposed to anything harmful (believe me, she got a real education on stolen copper pipes and squatters as it is!).

I was scared off by the mold because I've never dealt with it before. It seems like remediation is extremely expensive. Have you worked with mold remediation before? What was the experience like? I'm open to it, if wary.

I'm still looking for my first property. Had a great afternoon yesterday looking at REOs and just had to share (no one else will understand my excitement, but I figured you guys would). I had picked five properties for my agent to show me.

One was now under contract, so no go.

One was in a nice neighborhood, but when we got there it had a mold warning on the front door, so another no go.

One was in a marginal neighborhood and needed work, but was only $25k. I don't think I want to rent in that area, so another no go.

One was on a nice street, had a nice layout, and didn't need that much work. We started looking around and realized the copper pipes had been stolen from it. Looks like the owners are trying to do something about it, though. They had put BathFitters in the shower, had installed a new security system, etc. Nice house, but still not a show-stopper at $54k. If I could get it for $40k, it would be a good deal. I'll be renting out at $800/month.

Last one was the real steal. Only $24k, nice street, nice house, great yard, great deck. Smoke damage from what appeared to be either a squatter or previous owner before they lost the house. They had been using candles to light the house (no electric), and there was minimal damage to a banister post where the candle had smoldered. All of the walls are streaked with soot and the carpets are a disaster. After we looked at it the agent looked at the printout and notes and said, "Oh, there are multiple offers on this one." Someone is going to get a really nice house and make a lot of money!

I'm sort of jealous I didn't get that one, but had a great time looking at the houses and I'm feeling good about the prospects. Looks like there's a lot of competition for the really good deals, so I'll have to step up my game. :-)

Steve Babiak -- since I am the newb who started the thread you mention above about exclusive buyer agent agreements, I can only say, "If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to serve as a horrible warning." ;-)