All Forum Posts by: Crystal Em

@Arnie Abramson since you seems so knowledgeable, I'd like to ask you this question I have:

I am in Harris county and am investigating a potential lead, but when I looked up the tax records on the assessor's site, the property's taxes are listed as "under judgment". Does this mean that the county has already begun the process of foreclosing the home? Is it still possible to purchase the property and halt the process? 

Thanks in advance!

ignore this

I'm a newbie looking to buy my first property very soon. I need an investor-friendly agent to help with purchasing both listed and unlisted SFHs to flip, as well as listing completed flips. 

I plan to work in all parts of Houston and its surrounding areas, but would prefer an agent who has offices in Southwest Houston since that is where I am located. Thanks!

If the wood trim has a decent wood grain pattern, strip and re-stain in a shade that co-ordinates with other wood (stair banisters, wood floors, etc) in the house.

I think the wood adds a nice richness, and I'm personally against painting wood unless it's meant to be painted or damaged or plain hideous. 

For the backplash, look at houses that have sold recently in the same area that were priced around your goal ARV and mimic what they've done.

Since you're in Connecticut, I have a feeling that a classic subway tile backsplash would be good choice, but then again, in your area marble and glass mosaic might be the thing. 

If you can get away with a basic white subway tile, think about using a darker grout (though not too dark) or laying it in a herringbone pattern to add some of that much sought after "pop".  

I felt such dread when I read the title, but I was SO happy you went with a bee-keeper instead of an exterminator!

Kudos to you for preserving the bees! Glad everything worked out! 

@DeAnna Nieves

I love that you kept that super cool stove! 

When I saw the before pictures, I was thinking, "Oh man, I hope she found someone to take that awesome stove." But you kept it in the condo, which is even better, and definitely not what I was expecting, lol. 

Congrats, @Claudia Bonaudo!

I lived in the Dallas area during my college years, and if the "ugly pink tile" is in decent condition, you might be better off keeping it!

The Dallas market seems to be pretty receptive to mid-century/retro style. I definitely remember seeing a lot of in-tact 1960s tiled bathrooms during my post-grad apartment searches.

Great work! The rehab is top notch :) I foresee this one selling in no time. 

Lenzy, the house has been on the MLS entire time. It was listed by the bank and can be found as an active listing on Zillow, Trulia, etc. This is part of why I'm so confused as to why it hasn't sold yet.

I should also add that other homes in the area, including both rehabs AND foreclosures, have come up for sale and sold while this house has seemingly had no activity.

Hello BP, 

I'm currently in the "research" phase of my journey to investing, but hope to get to the "action" part later this year. 

The market in my area is super hot, and usually in my research when I notice a good deal, it's snapped up within days (if not hours). 

However, I've watched this one particular REO house sit on the market for nearly 6 months. It's almost 3000 sq ft and priced at $115k in a neighborhood where rehabbed houses of that size can go for 200k-215k.

By my calculations, this house should have been snapped up 5 months and 29 days ago. 

There's no evidence of any pending sale/relisted cycle that would signal the house is scaring off investors due to needing lots of work.

 As far as I can tell, no one has made an offer on this house. 

Anyone have any ideas why this would happen? Is it an issue with the bank? Are they holding this property for some reason and not accepting offers? Or is the house potentially in legal limbo? And if so, why has it remained listed?

Curiosity has really got the better of me here. It's like watching people avoid an unattended stack of money and I just cannot understand it. 

Any knowledge or insight on this to further my education would be greatly appreciated.