All Forum Posts by: Christopher Phillips

Pre-foreclosure is when a bank files a notice of default. If the owner doesn't remedy the situation, the bank moves to the court proceedings to foreclose the property. The bank might try to sell it to a third party at an auction. If they can't find a buyer (50% of the time they can't), then the bank will buy back the property. At that point it is a bank owned property or REO.

If you buy a property at the auction, it might be occupied, and you'll be responsible for evicting the occupants. It will still have any liens attached. You'll be responsible for those liens. Sometimes the liens are more than the value of the property. All liens are recorded at the county clerk's office where the property resides. Many counties have access to the records online, otherwise you have to physically go there. You'll have to negotiate or pay all of the liens.

If you wait for the bank to buy it back at the auction, they'll be responsible for removing occupants and clearing out all of the liens before listing the property for sale as an REO.

You would need to talk to the town. Every town has different rules on 2 family homes. They don't really like them due to the extra traffic and noise.

There are different types of 2 family homes you'll see listed. 2 Family by certificate of occupancy. 2 Family by permit, which would allow for a rented out space but has to be owner occupied. Mother daughter by permit, which can only be rented to a relative and owner occupied. Single family with auxiliary apartment for rent (which is another way of calling the 2 family by permit). 

Every area has different rules for each and how those can be rented. In some cases, like mother daughter or auxiliary apartment, they have to be owner occupied for the permits to be valid. The permits probably don't transfer with the sale of the house. In the case that the previous seller didn't have permits or it wasn't a 2 family by certificate of occupancy, they'll have to sell it as a single family.

If you want to be able to rent out both sides without being owner occupier, you'll have to figure out what the town requires for you to make it a 2 Family by COO.

Cost per square foot is normally reserved for things like office buildings.

For rehab work, you have to go room by room and area by area of the house. Kitchen, bathrooms, heating, central air, electric, roof, siding, floors, paint, etc. Square footage is okay for things like carpet and flooring and tile. Not for what work needs to be done in a room. 

@Selton Shakes Jr The taxes are already on Realtor.com you just have to scroll down to the bottom. If you are looking at a co-op or a condo, you want to ask about maintenance fees for co-op, common area charges for condo. Rents for the area you can get anywhere on the internet.

No one is going to know why a property is been on the market for X amount of time short of they had a previous buyer that fell through.

When you ask for more "information" on Realtor.com, you'll be contacted by a local agent (probably at least 2) that want to show you the property. If you explain that you are trying to run the numbers for an investment, they'll be happy to help in anyway they can.

Numbers vary state to state, some states are low closing cost states. However, this is a high level look: Each side pays for Costs they generate during the transaction. Buyer - inspection, lawyer fee, appraisal, property survey, loan origination fees, underwriter fee, loan doc fee, points, first month's payment, title search and lender insurance, recording fees, FedEx, 12 months of home insurance, 6-12 months property tax, misc Seller - agent commissions, transfer tax, title search and owner's insurance, mortgage close out fees, recording fees, lawyer fees, FedEx, misc

Tax delinquent lists are held at the county level. In theory, you can go to the county office to get it, but most county people won't exactly know what you're talking about. However, when properties come up for tax auctions, then the list of delinquent properties is available. The trick is to get the list before the auctions come up so you can approach the individual owners about their situation. I've had a couple neighbors lose their properties over being in arrears on taxes. Traditionally, people would go to the county tax assessor and do the research. How that is done depends on the county and what records are searchable.

An equity mailing list is when you're looking for properties that have a certain percentage of equity like 20%-40% so you can target them for direct mailings.

Yes. You need an EIN.

Fed believes the economy is heating up, so their plan is to continue raising rates. A 1% increase is only about $57 per month increase in monthly payment for every $100,000 borrowed. The Fed has threatened to raise rates all year. As long as the economic numbers showed any positive movement, they would raise the Fed rate.

On a related note, keeping the rates so low has caused a lot of negative yields for some investors. So, these low Fed rates weren't sustainable without causing longer term issues.

Assuming there is a better offer, you would have to increase your bid... You'll have to find out how much better is the other offer. Sometimes you only need to be a little higher since you've gone through most of the early process... Also, you do not have a fully ratified contract (signed and initials by both parties) binding the seller to an agreement, so you can't sue for specific performance.

Yes. That would be a case where they would have the proceeds to pay off their mortgage at the sale. So, in theory, that would work.