Skip to content
×
PRO
Pro Members Get Full Access!
Get off the sidelines and take action in real estate investing with BiggerPockets Pro. Our comprehensive suite of tools and resources minimize mistakes, support informed decisions, and propel you to success.
Advanced networking features
Market and Deal Finder tools
Property analysis calculators
Landlord Command Center
$0
TODAY
$69.00/month when billed monthly.
$32.50/month when billed annually.
7 day free trial. Cancel anytime
Already a Pro Member? Sign in here
Pick markets, find deals, analyze and manage properties. Try BiggerPockets PRO.
x
All Forum Categories
All Forum Categories
Followed Discussions
Followed Categories
Followed People
Followed Locations
Market News & Data
General Info
Real Estate Strategies
Landlording & Rental Properties
Real Estate Professionals
Financial, Tax, & Legal
Real Estate Classifieds
Reviews & Feedback

All Forum Posts by: Mark Elliott

Mark Elliott has started 18 posts and replied 360 times.

Post: phantom houses

Mark ElliottPosted
  • Investor
  • west seneca, NY
  • Posts 376
  • Votes 211

hi wayne. thanks for the reply. i kind of figured this might be the reason. i have called the bank and to no surprise, they will not tell you a thing. i believe that legally, they can't. i think all i can do is wait and watch. i may locate the owner and see if they will take little or nothing for their intrest in the place and hope the bank drops it. it will then put it back into MY hands. who knows how long that will take but we all waste a little money in our lives anyway, right?   thanks for the reply. keep in touch

Post: phantom houses

Mark ElliottPosted
  • Investor
  • west seneca, NY
  • Posts 376
  • Votes 211

i have a question regarding phantom houses. i have bought and sold a few phantom houses. most of the time, i find it easy to find the previous owners and make a deal. usually, this involves a trip to the city or county record of deeds office. lately, i have found a few of these houses, but doing my research, i have uncovered nothing regarding legal action by the banks that are foreclosing. i have one house i have had my eye on for over a year, yet the bank hasn't even started the first step in foreclosing. the people have moved out, but that was in 2009. the bank isn't even paying the back taxes. no foreclosure proceedings have started, no judgement of foreclosure, no release of lein, nothing. 

another house, the owner moved out about 4 years ago. i know the bank is having a company called " corilogic" pay the taxes, but there is nothing in the record regarding starting foreclosure, no foreclosure judgement, no release of lein, nothing. 

my question to anyone who may know. " what is going on here"? are banks just simply kicking people out and doing nothing with these places? i know they sometimes drop houses for financial reasons , but usually you see some sort of foreclosure started and then a release of lein so the bank has no liability on these houses, thus creating the " phantom houses". 

anyone have any idea what is going on here and how i might get the bank to deal with me on a house that they no longer want? any info would be greatly appreciated.   thank you

well, that about " takes the cake". i have seen some pretty rough ones out there, but this tops it. question for you........... did you find anything of value???.......lol. i have done one that was similar. it is amazing how people will live. kind of makes you wonder if the human race has evolved from the caveman days or not. you have to post the " after" picture too ya know

Post: Tenant fried my grage panel

Mark ElliottPosted
  • Investor
  • west seneca, NY
  • Posts 376
  • Votes 211

i agree with jon holdman. nice answer. here is a possible scenario though. lets say for instance, that the compressor is wired direct into the sub panel. given the sub panel should be wired from a circuit in the main panel, this should be ok unless the compressor exceeds he load of the breaker in the main panel. but, what if the sub panel in the garage is wired directly into the main panel with no breaker?? this would give the compressor a direct link from the garage to the house. some electric motors ( which this compressor has) can force a back feed as though it were a generator. this would cause the compressor to back feed directly into the main panel and overload the whole house without passing thru the main breaker in the main panel. we could have a twofold problem here. a defective compressor and a direct ( wrong wired) connection. in any case, this tenant had no business messing with the electrical system of your house and could have cost you the house and perhaps some lives. this would be grounds for me to evict or not renew the lease. if there were no problems prior to this, the loss of his tv sets are his fault not yours. throw the bum out and for safety sake, have another electrician check things out completely

Post: Finding Home Owners Phone Numbers?

Mark ElliottPosted
  • Investor
  • west seneca, NY
  • Posts 376
  • Votes 211

here in the buffalo, ny area i use the county website to find the owner of a property. granted, it is not always the most recent source, but it works. then i google the owners name in this area. the county website does list the owners names and address, and sometimes they are out of area owners, so google them in their area listed where they live. also, i look to see if they own any other houses in this area, using the same website. if they do, chances are, they live in one of the other houses they own, or, whoever does live there will know how to get in contact with them. check your county to see if they have such a website. hope this helps

Post: Newbie in Winston Salem/Thomasville NC

Mark ElliottPosted
  • Investor
  • west seneca, NY
  • Posts 376
  • Votes 211

hi alli, and welcome aboard. i would read as much as you can. join some networking groups in your area, and look for other investors in the area as well. personally, i like the fixer uppers. very low buying costs and usually huge profit margins, especially if you do a lot of the work yourself. 

Post: What am I doing wrong?

Mark ElliottPosted
  • Investor
  • west seneca, NY
  • Posts 376
  • Votes 211

seriously guys, look into cheaper ways to buy. using the funds from a re-fi from one house to buy more than one new house is growth. growth is what you want to do. make your money work as hard for you as you can. finding houses that are dirt cheap is the answer. there are several ways to buy real estate that are nonconventional. 

several years ago, the federal government restricted the number of foreclosures a bank can put back onto the market. consequently, that forced the banks to hold onto the less than desireable foreclosures and market only the best that they have. that added to the carrying costs of the remaining houses that they could not market. finally, they had to make a decision; hold onto those houses until they could market them, or dump them in light of loosing the carrying costs. most banks chose the latter. 

so, now, you have thousands of houses that the banks just dumped back to the previous owners by filing a release of lein with the counties that they are in. legally, you have a house that the bank no longer has a claim on, and the previous owners either do not know they own it again or they don't want it. there is potential for a hell of a deal.

i bought one for $2000 on a tuesday and sold it for $10,000 on thursday. i also bought one for $2250 and picked up the back taxes for $4000. that one i am holding onto to rehab and will be worth $50k when i am done. 

tax sales are a great place to pick up extraordinary deals too. 

your problem is NOT on your cash end, its on your buying end

Post: What am I doing wrong?

Mark ElliottPosted
  • Investor
  • west seneca, NY
  • Posts 376
  • Votes 211

hi frank. you are not necessarily doing something wrong, but you are looking at things from a wrong point of view. in cashing out these places, i assume you are refinancing them. your tenants are paying for that mortgage with their rents, so, there is no need to " pay off some debts". Let the tenants pay the mortgage. 

there are better ways to purchase real estate at extremely low prices if you look around. if you want to increase your cash flow and maximize your use of the " borrowed" money, look into foreclosures that banks have written off and houses that the tax authority has repossessed for back taxes. these are ways to buy more than one place with the funding from one place. that is how you grow

Post: What am I doing wrong?

Mark ElliottPosted
  • Investor
  • west seneca, NY
  • Posts 376
  • Votes 211
Originally posted by @Frank Gigliotti:

I have been investing in 3-4 unit properties in Chicago for the past 4 years and everything is going great but I feel like every time I purchase a new property im taking two steps back. Like im taking from Peter to pay Paul. 

I have been buying in cash then cashing out on the property to get the next one. I have just recently finished a 3 unit and have it up and running and am now face with the choice  to continue on this path or slow down to pay off some debt.

Any advice?

Post: REI Meeting In Buffalo, NY

Mark ElliottPosted
  • Investor
  • west seneca, NY
  • Posts 376
  • Votes 211

hello everyone. my name is mark and i live in west seneca, ny. i am a licensed home inspector as well as a handyman doing all aspects of renovation and maintenance on apartments/ duplexes and rental homes. i am interested in real estate investing and i do some flipping of houses in the local area, please contact me is interested