All Forum Posts by: Brian Wall

Hey George.

Do you have a contact at a title company? If not, get one! it is invaluable.

I ask for "farm lists" from my title company all the time.

About once a month, I ask for all title transfers in the past 90 days (there is a lag in reporting time, so I always get overlapped time). One of the fields you should get is "type of transfer", it will have values like Quit Claim, Grant Deed, Warranty Deed, Affidavit of Death, etc. Another field is value/sale price.

Now, regarding your specific question, I would go after the Non owner occupied properties (property address is different than mailing address), especially focusing on the properties with zero price. Those are properties that are likely to have been inherited.

I personally go after all non owner occupied properties where the owner name is not an LLC or other type of company name, in my target area.

Hope this helps.

Brian

Can't really tell from the pics, but I opened up a wall in a house, and found that the wall was full of black tar like stuff, and it ended up being an old bee hive.

Brian

Hi Guarav,
I am in agreement with Marie, I do not see the comps coming up with the value you estimate. Are you sure you are you looking at similar size houses, within a half mile? How did you come up with that value?

Regarding financing, you do have to pay 100% cash for the property at the trustee sale auction. However, you can get financing after the fact. Also, sometimes there are hard money lenders that MAY help you buy a property at the auction, provided you put 30-35% down payment.

Are you looking for a place to live for yourself, or as an investment?

Thanks,
Brian

In my area, it seems like the banks are doing a quick rehab, where they slap on some paint, and carpet, and then are able to sell for retail value. For the REOs that need a lot of work, where the previous owner "reconfigured" the layout of the house, they are pricing the house extremely low, at start, then selling to the strongest buyer.

I talked with one REO listing agent, stating that the bank had accepted 6 offers, but once the buyers did their inspection they backed out. When I saw the house, it was listed at 60% of ARV, but even at that, it was not a deal.

Brian

I would also agree with James.

What I have done successfully here in my area, is to network with the local hard money lenders. They want you to succeed, because then they get to loan money. Many times they will even help you line up a buyer.

Brian

First - the listing agents knew what they were signing up for when they took the listing for a "fixer". (remember I only go after fixers). So, I don't feel sorry for them, they are earning their money, just like I am. I also have to conform to all the special requests, and forms that the banks, and listing agents ask me to fill out, just for the privilege of them viewing my offer. Only because I have not physically drove across town, spent $10-15 in gas, not to mention a few hours in traffic, just to see a property that I know how it looks, and how my client would fix it up. There are really not that many "unique" houses, in my target price range, here in Los Angeles.

Second - No, they cannot justify not submitting my offer just because I have not seen it, what if my offer was the "highest and best". Now, if their client tells them, I will only review offers where the agent has seen the property, then okay, but I don't believe most sellers (even banks) would require that. They really don't care. And if they did, the l/a needs to state that in the agent remarks on the MLS. I have seen it a few times, but rarely. The ones I do see, I comply or I don't submit the offer. Now, I did not waste my time or theirs.

To be fair, I would agree that there are situations where their are investors "wasting" the listing agents time, by making unrealistic offers, without doing their homework, and blindly ignoring any specific instructions in the MLS.

What makes you think I would "back out too". I am looking for those properties especially. Those are the ones I can get the biggest discount on and make the most money, and are also the most "pain in the butt" for listing agents, and the ones they want to get rid of the quickest.

If it is an "easy" rehab, then an amateur investor will most likely pay too much for the property, put too much money into it, and then not make any money. That is okay with me.

So, help me out, how would you recommend I go after those deals?

Brian

Thanks for all the great feedback. I will take this all in and prepare a more comprehensive "cover sheet" for the offers I submit for this buyer.

That is a great idea Steve, did not even think of that!

Brian

Well, its a good thing I am not offering full price!

Regarding the EMD, we typically put $10k, not what I would consider "not much earnest money".

Ok, so I get it.

What is the alternative?

If I go see every property personally, is that still "shotgunning"?

Brian

J Scott - Thanks for the feedback. That is what I am expecting (and has happened a few times). Where the listing agent tells me, "your offer is in the ballpark, but seller wants you to see the property before considering it". Then, I will go within 24 hours, usually same day, to see the property.

Joel - Depends what you mean by "shotgunning". Most people interpret "shotgunning" as mass sending out offers, without evaluating comps, etc. That is NOT the case here. I am spending time evaluating each and every deal, and making an intelligent offer, based on sold/pending comps in the area, as well as, an estimated rehab cost, based on what I know about the area.

As I said, we don't need to go "under contract", and spend a lot of time. I am willing to put a non-refundable deposit, if we come to agreeable terms. I have done that several times, and have closed each time.

So if a listing agent comes back and says,"Ok, seller will agree to your terms (or close to it), but wants a non-refundable deposit, you have 24 hours to respond", I will drop everything and go to see property, and most of the time, I will accept the terms, and open escrow.

I am looking at it from this perspective. Lets say I am a "regular" buyers agent, and I send out postcards to 1000 renters, asking if anyone wants to buy a house. Then, George responds to my postcard. Now, lets say George lives all the way across town. Am I going to drop everything, and drive all the way across town to talk to George just to show him I am "serious"? No, I am going to talk to George over the phone, and "prequalify" him. If I call him and find out, he just lost his job, and filed bankruptcy, then I know he is not a good prospect. By calling and "screening" him, I found out we were not a "good fit", and minimized my time and his.

Would you consider that "shotgunning"? Most people would call that marketing.

I don't see much difference here. I see a listing on the MLS, but I am not sure we are a good fit. So, I send over an offer to "prequalify" the listing. Then, if there seems to be a good fit (we are close to mutually agreeable terms), I will do more "follow up" by going to see the property, etc.

Maybe what I need to do is explain that better when I send the offer. Just come clean up front, and let them know we have not seen it but my client wanted me to submit offer anyway, and if we are close on terms, we will go see property.

Or maybe just "play the game" and go along with the program and hire an assistant to go to each and every property.

BTW - I just love BP!!

Brian

So, I recently started making many more offer direct off the MLS than I have before (I am an agent submitting for an investor client). I am getting a lot of "resistance" from listing agents saying they will not submit my offer until both I and my client have seen the property.

I am only submitting offers based on ARV (after repair value) taking into account an estimated rehab cost, based on pictures and/or description, and assuming I will do a "normal" rehab. So, I know on average what my costs will be, for a 3/2 in a certain area.

I really don't care what the property looks like, until I know I have an accepted or at least close to accepted offer.

Once we have an accepted offer and open escrow, we then inspect the property in detail. A very high percentage of the time, we do not "adjust" our price. The only time we do, is if we see any foundation or other major structural issues, that would not have been seen without walking through.

I made over 100 offers in the past few weeks, these were all "fixer" properties. I could not possibly go see all these properties.

BP Nation - Help me out, what is a good response to those agents that want me to go see property. I want to be courteous, but also tell them my client doesn't really care about the paint color, carpet, etc, because he is going to rip it all out anyway. All he cares is the area, and the property has a solid structure.

Thanks,
Brian