All Forum Posts by: Derek Faller

A realtor can only handle sales in the state they are licensed. I have never heard of a bank or lender doing a short sale without a realtor involved in the process. The bank is looking to recoupe as much of their money as they can so they usually have a realtor list it at the highest price they think they can get, which is usually around market value depending on the condition of the house. I don't see a lender agreeing to sell to an investor for 80% market value if they think they can get more for it.

Title companies can run reports for you that give you addresses of all absentee owners. Usually they give them to realtors, but you might be able to buy a list from one. If not I believe you can also buy a list from the RealtyTrac website, though I think you have to buy a membership first.

I enjoy looking at bad real estate photography and there seems to plenty of it out there. My favorite are the people who are too lazy to get out of their car to take pictures and just snap a blurry picture through the window.

Welcome to the group. It is nice to see someone else from the Bend area here. There don't seem to be that many that are active on this board.

Rental property that cash flows is hard to find in Bend, but there are some good opportunities for wholesaling, and rehabbing/flipping. Most of my rentals are out of state, and I just stick with rehabbing and flipping here locally.

I would be happy to chat with you about the Bend market, just shoot me a message.

The reserve requirement is common with a conventional loan unless you already have a rental agreement in place. They want to make sure you can make 2 different house payments. Like Tom mentioned you could go with creative financing as an option.

You would have to know what a bedroom is worth in your market. Your realtor may have an idea, or you would have to find a comparable neighborhood that has some 3 bedroom homes and 4 bedroom homes that have sold recently. Then you find some that are similar except for the bedroom count and see what the average difference is in selling price.

So the area that you have a 3 bedroom house there was no sales on any 3 bedroom homes in the last 6 months? Are there other homes in the neighborhood that have 3 bedrooms or are they predominately 4 bedroom homes? If the area is mostly 4 bedrooms and you have a 3 bedroom it is going to make a bigger difference then if it is an even mix of 3 and 4 bedroom homes.

The check should be written to the escrow company for your benefit of being able to get it back without a potential lawsuit if the seller doesn't want to give it back if you back out, but your contract has to spell out what is going to happen with your earnest money.

I usually go with around 1% of asking price though I usually round up a little. i.e: for a $280k house I would offer $3000.00 in earnest money.

I would recommend just getting a conventional loan on the new rental property. Rates are a little higher if you aren't using it as your personal residence, but they are still pretty good.

You legally only really need a real estate license if you are buying or selling a home for another person other then yourself for profit. Like John said, you do gain the advantage of access to the MLS and ability to make commission on sales. Unless you are planning on also working as a realtor and helping other people buy and sell homes it is costly and maybe not useful unless you do a lot of flipping or rehabbing for yourself.

I am not sure what you mean by "hidden" status? Are you referring to pending listings or expired/terminated listings? I am licensed in Oregon so I don't know if "hidden" is a specific term used in the California MLS.