All Forum Posts by: Crystal Dundas

Hi all,

Has anyone here had success purchasing a judgment lien foreclosure at sheriff sale? I am considering purchasing a property but I had a title company (westcor) tell me that as a general rule they do not insure those types of properties.

Any thoughts?

Thanks all. She actually ended up rescinding the contract.

So I need some of you geniuses out there with an understanding of timeshares to help me (really a friend of mine)  think a decision through.

Let me first say I have read all of the DON'T DO IT warnings for timeshares and I am taking them to heart. 

This weekend I found myself on vacation with a friend who booked our stay at a Vidanta timeshare that she owns. She set up a meeting with her account manager to discuss her contract and they basically started telling her they wanted to sell her an upgrade  into fractional ownership.

I'm not familiar with timeshares or vacation rentals at all but, I'm sitting listening to what they are discussing and apparently the contract they originally sold her had a clause in it that they would give her an option to upgrade to an ownership on a prop they could no longer sell bc they are sold out. SO they offered her one of their highest tier properties at the lowest tier price. 

So she went ahead and purchased what they claim is a $700k fractional ownership for a price of around $100k.  (5 wks of usage)

She does not have maintenance fees and obviously only pays if it is used. Privately marketed rooms in the tier she is renting go for of $5000/wk on the low end.  We looked on sites like vrbo, homeaway etc to confirm this.

She has 5 days to cancel and is anxious because all of the stuff you read online says stay away from timeshares. But is there a difference with fractional ownership? 

Obviously they sold her the Fractional Ownership with the premise that they would increase, not decrease in value bc it is an ownership and not a membership. Also obviously they state that they make no representation about the value of renting. She has 5 days to cancel and asked my advice but I honestly have no real background in this sort of rental.  

Would love to hear from anyone who has experience in renting high end vacation rentals if she really stumbled into a sweet deal or if you think it's just a complicated sales pitch.

 I agree. I need to set a clear intention which would make the decisions easier. And yes, only equity in my primary home.

That makes it clear as day. Particularly with the duplex. Thanks.

 I should have said, the duplex is cash flowing about $600/mo and the single family rental is cash flowing about $300/mo.

Thanks for those thoughts. I will spend some time crunching those numbers this evening.

Hi Guys, 

Have any of you ever felt yourself hitting a wall when it comes to your investing goals?🙋🏾♀️

I have been thinking a lot about finding an investment mentor to talk some decisions through with but for the fun of it I decided to pick the collective brains of this massive community... ok here goes:

So I have been thinking a lot about the strength of the current real estate market and whether it's time to sell my properties and take the proceeds to make some larger investments and go to the next level so to speak. 

I currently own three properties in Philadelphia:

Prop A: A duplex in the University City area (51st and Sansom) purchased in 2009. I owe about $168k on it and conservatively, as is, I believe it could sell for about $300k as is. This is a three story twin...not the typical three bedroom townhome that is made into a duplex.

Prop B: A single family in West Philadelphia 55th st between Cedar and Catherine. I rehabbed this property in 2013 and rented it out. It is in great condition. Has 4 beds, 1.5 bath, basement is clean and dry but not finished. I owe about $68k on it and believe it could sell for about $150k as is based on recent comps.

Prop C: Single family, my primary residence in the Overbrook Farms neighborhood of West Philadelphia. Rehabbed this property and I believe it has about $90K of equity as well. My neighbor sold her house last week in less than 7 days and my property is in much better condition.

Sooo here's the question. Given this scenario, and the prop locations what would be your next move.

My goal (at this point) would be to own a couple of larger apartment buildings or maybe even some commercial properties that could net me between $5k and 10k per month. 

Recognizing I'd need to make a few strategic moves to get there. I'd love to hear how others would approach it. 

The neighborhoods I'm currently invested in are hot, but I dont want to be so scared to sell because of the future value of my properties that I miss out on opportunities right now.

Thoughts??

I am under contract on a property in NJ.  The title company will not clear title because the seller's ex husband filed a judgement against her.  However, the seller's divorce decree clearly states that the property cannot be encumbered and the seller cannot be forced to used the proceeds from selling her house to pay the judgement.  Title company is still requesting a partial release.  Anyone encountered something like this before?  Advice to get around this?  We are thinking about trying another title company to push it through...

Just leaving my experience as well to add to the bunch.  Finance of America has acquired Jordan Capital Finance and it is now called Finance of America Commercial.  The experience I have is pretty identical to those listed above.  Terrible customer service, unresponsive, they will take months to close and though they could eventually fund, you will likely lose the deal in the meantime. Just don't do it... you would be much better off finding a different lender. I have however had a great experience with Direct Mortgage Loan Company in Philadelphia if you are looking for a company that works in that area. 

Mike,

Thank you for your response. That's very similar to what my hvac guy told me. I just needed to confirm because I didn't understand. Thanks for the explanation!

Crystal