All Forum Posts by: Christopher Phillips

@Account Closed

Buying a home below market value turns out to be a gift of equity for the balance. It gets really mess and you should speak with an estate planning lawyer and an accountant.

 Yes. Anytime that you bring two unrelated parties together to conduct a transaction and earn a fee, that is considered to be brokering and you must be licensed by your state to do so.

@Account Closed

Welcome to BP...

You're mixing up different things. An appraisal looks at the current condition of the house. It can't be compared to other properties in the area without making an adjustment for needed repairs. Ideally, an appraiser would find 3 recently sold and 3 actives of similar size and condition. Sometimes that's not available. So, the appraiser would have to make the adjustments.

However, that's neither here or there. Offers on foreclosures for rehab aren't based on the appraisal. They are based on the following formula: After Repair Value - Rehab Costs - Closing Costs - Carrying Costs - Cushion for Overruns - Profit Margin = Max Offer Price.

What you need to determine is what the value of the property would be after all the work is done and then back into it based on the repairs needed.

A home inspector is there to find hidden problems like appliances not working, bad electrical work, leaks, roof issues, etc. They aren't there to help you evaluate the value of the home. If you are obtaining financing, the lender will require an inspection.

You wouldn't use the inspection report to give to a contractor. They can't tell anything about repairs because their costs are based on the size and scope of the repairs, which is hard to determine from a photo. To get an estimate of repairs, you have to learn how to do that, there are lots of videos on YouTube about this, or do a walkthrough with a contractor that will tell you how much it will cost to repair or upgrade each room. It's not an inspection, they are just going to give you numbers based on what you tell them you want to fix. Gut and rehab a bathroom = "X". Gut and rehab a kitchen = "X". Replace the roof = "X". Etc.

Once you have your rehab estimate, then you can back into your offer number based on what rehabbed properties are selling for locally.

 Maybe Accredited Mortgage Professional (AMP)

Unfortunately, none of those things you mentioned will generate much business. They will, but the ROI is near to zero to negative. Zillow has a 1% conversion rate, so you have to talk to 100 people to find 1 or 2 that are actually ready, willing, and able. Out of the 2, in a buyer's market you might not find what they are looking for.

Facebook ads aren't much better. The leads tend to be 2 to 3 years out from being able to buy  a home - usually bad credit and not enough money for a down payment.

Post cards and flyers have a low pull through as well, so you have a spend a lot of money each month for a year or two to get any really traction. 

The two most effective methods are still calling expired listings, FSBO, personal sphere, circle prospecting neighborhoods (cold or around just listed or just sold properties). Also, door knocking.

If you want to work with buyers (all sellers are potential buyers if they are staying local to you) talk to someone in your office that has a new or slow listing and ask them if you can hold an open house. Get an agreement up front about keeping the buyer leads for yourself and how to work buyers that submit offers for that property. If you circle prospect the open house during the week, you will get a nice turn out and potentially get buyer leads or even seller leads. You don't have to spend money for the open house. Just borrow some signs.

They only look at one month: DTI = Monthly Gross Income / Monthly Debt payments.

Debt payments are any payments that you can't pay off less than 12 months like a car payment, living expenses (mortgage, home insurance, property taxes), student loans, alimony payments, etc.

FHA loan like any loan has a down payment based on the % of the total borrowed. There are closing fees based on lender related fees, 6 months property tax and 12 months home owner's insurance for escrow. With FHA, there are upfront and monthly mortgage insurance payments.

A construction loan is when you're building a new home from scratch. Sounds like what you want is a rehab loan, which would be an FHA 203K loan that includes the purchase and the rehab funds combined.

Part of a 203K includes consultant fees to help with the project and a contingency for budget overruns. 

 Google their name and try to find a phone number. Ask them if they are considering selling their home. Many people own multiple homes. Just because it's vacant doesn't mean they are interested in selling it.

IF you can't find a phone number, try to find alternate addresses and send a handwritten note to all of them asking if they are considering selling.

 Yes. As a landlord you're responsible for making sure you comply with local codes. You can always give them a first pass this time, but next time you can take it out of their security deposit for repairs. It will also be ground for breaking their lease if they do it again.

 It's not Polybutylene pipe. That comes in grey. If it was, it's about $6K to $8K to replace the pipes in a house with PEX.

I'm guessing you mean 3,000 square feet for the roof. Cost of Asphalt Shingle Roof Installation in South Carolina

$206.25 per 100 sq.ft. (standard quality, overlay existing roof) (Range: $157.14 - $255.35). (from roofing.promatcher.com).

Air handlers shouldn't sweat. IF they do, it probably needs a professional to look at it. Could be from improper insulation, blocked air flow, and other age issues. Sometimes a dehumidifier can be added to help.

Yes. Cutting 1 tree is expensive. If you're cutting a large number of trees, then sometimes they will pay you do remove them. Also depends on the quality of the wood.