All Forum Posts by: Donna Smolinski

It seems that almost every decent property requires over list offers these days. Profits have certainly shrunk for flippers. In alot of areas, it doesn't make sense to try to flip anymore. Alot of flippers wil need to start holding and becoming landlords for a year or so before selling. I've seen alot of properties selling way over list, that required MAJOR rehab expenses... and they still got a whole bunch of over list offers in the first week.

Time to adjust & think of new strategies AGAIN. One thing we can always be certain of in this industry is..... change!

We just closed on a FHLMC property that had a tenant in place (not the foreclosed owner). Nobody was bidding on it because of the rental agreement in place AND the property couldn't be viewed (interior) until after an accepted offer. We were actually able to buy below list, at a very reasonable price. We had to close with the tenant in place, but hopefully they will move within the timelines spelled out in the rental agreement (30 day notice to termnate tenancy).... we'll see. Anyway, this was a new strategy we decided to try, since vacant properties are getting overbid way too high.

Thx for sharing Joshua. Our laws here in CA are just as crazy as NJ. Landlords and PMs really need to do their due dilligence in tenant screening because it can be a nightmare to get a savvey tenant evicted. Thank goodness, most professional squatters don't have the legal knowledge that this guy has!

It's just as tough at the courthouse steps these days too. We use to buy all our properties at the Trustee sale, then competition got really tough about a year ago, so we started buying REOs thru the MLS. Now, as everyone knows, that's a tough place to buy too. We've recently started going back to pursuing Trustee Sales. It's gotten worse, not better. Hedge funds have gotten into buying now too, which intensifies the competion. The big question... is this a short term competitive market, or will things get back to normal again sometime soon?

GERI... your experience was as bad as mine! OMG, I couldn't keep from laughing while I was reading your post (forgive me). It's nice to know I'm not alone here (LOL).

I guess B of A will NEVER get their act together if they wish to engage in business with inadequate 3rd party servicers. In the future, I'll refuse to use their servicers.

DON... You too, are elegible to join the B of A fan club :)

USRES is the AMC on this file. It's the first time I've had an escrow with them, and I'm not sure of their performance history. For all I know, they might have a good track record, but there isn't anything good I can say about this transaction (LOL). All I know, is I've been involved in many REO transactions. and they aren't typically handled this poorly. However, escrow is to blame for most of the inefficiencies on this one.

[/b]Thanks for the replies!
Request for cancellation was already sent 2 days ago, requesting refund of all monies. Let's see how long it takes to get it back??? The asset mgr never signed and returned the first two Time extensions back to us. I (the buyer) generated them, since the listing agt & asset mgr never generated one, even though it's the seller and seller's escrow who hasn't been able to close (not our default). For some reason, it's not very EZ to get signatures from asset mgrs beyond the initial contract phase. It's very frustrating, but just the way it is in the world of REO transactions.

The reason I am so ticked off at the escrow company, is because of their constant lack of response on this file AND once I finally made contact with the escrow officer, [b]I was told that title was clear. Therefore, I assumed that #11 of the prelim was already handled internally, (Item#11 referred to title obtaining a copy of the assignment of deed from "x" to "X" to "x"). In hindsight, I should have investigated this much deeper before wiring $233,000 for closing funds. Nevertheless, escrow should have advised us that there was an unresolved title issue "before" the scheduled closing date. The first two extensions were caused from escrow delays (a bunch of missing escrow items). It wasn't until the new closing date, that I got the call from the listing agent saying that the seller now was asking for 3 more weeks extension to take care of a title issue (after our monies were wired to close). In a previous conversation with the listing agt, I asked him to please forward an email of mine to the asset mgr, complaining about the total lack of response from the escrow officer and missing documents from escrow. This is when he said BofA owned the escrow company and he wasn't going to jeopardize his relatioship with the seller by complaining about their own escrow company (hmmm). Maybe he has incorrect info about the affiliation between the two companies. I haven't been able to find anything online that shows an affiliation between Orange Coast Title and B of A.

Anyway, this whole escrow is a nightmare and I'm so tired of BofA and all of their games and inadequacies. I use to be an REO agent, so I do understand the workload, challenges and alot of behind the scene complexities with the asset mgrs and the banks. But MANY lenders handle their asset sales with profficiency and within the law. B of A and their choice of 3rd party asset management companies seem to always have their own set of challenges above and beyond the norm and they seem to constantly be testing the legal limits and ethics in the industry.

Dion... We are not owner occupying the property, but even if we were, the banks NEVER allow a buyer possession prior to closing on a REO property. We renovate and sell our properties. These kind of time delays have a very negative affect on our total annual return.

Thanks for letting me vent my frustrations!

We purchase all our properties in our Corp or our LLC. The LLC is our Self-Directed IRA. We never purchase in our personal names. There's always less risk, in the event of a law suit or injury which could occur on the property. Our Corp was set up as a "S" Corp, rather than C Corp, based on advise from our CPA (this may not be the best strategy for everyone). We do not set up an LLC for each property individually, however, we do not have long holding periods. We buy them, renovate them and sell fast. Rarely do we own a property for more than 4-5 months. You should talk with your CPA and attorney to help you determine the best strategy if you don't want properties in your personal name.

FNMA/FHLMC First Look Initiatives - I wish everyone would write their Congressman about this (I did). These negative marketing practices against Investors are COSTING TAXPAYERS A BUNDLE AND SHOULD BE BANNED. I have seen many, many FNMA/FHLMC properties sold to owner occ buyers for considerably less than they may have sold for, if it was marketed to ALL buyers from the onset of the listing. If they want to give the owner occ buyer priority over the Investor, I'm OK with that. But the owner occ buyer should have to match the price of any Investor offer. After all, it's us taxpayers who are supporting the losses on these properties, so why is FNMA/FHLMC not offering these properties to all potential buyers to encourage the highest price possible and less losses to taxpayers? Then to add insult to injury, they add the 60 and 90 day deed restrictions for the Rehabber that just spent many thousands to improve the property, as well as improving the neighborhood! You think they'd be appreciative of Investors improving neighborhoods and helping stabalize prices, rather than penalizing them.

I'm furious... we're in escrow (B of A REO property). We agreed to allow seller to select escrow/title services. We are having SERIOUS escrow problems. The escrow officer has NEVER returned a phone call or email and has never sent us anything EXCEPT the opening pkg. We already agreed to 2 extensions due to escrow delays. FINALLY, escrow sent us everything needed to close, along with the Est HUD and wire instructions. We wired $232k to escrow for funds needed to close. The following day, we were advised the seller needs ANOTHER 21 day extension due to a title issue on a previous deed assignment on the property (possibly a robo signing issue)??? And now, escrow can't return our funds that were wired for closing without the asset mgr instructing them to do so! The listing agt mentioned that B of A owns Orange Coast Title (they are handling the escrow and Landsafe Title is handling the title). B of A only disclosed an affiliation with Landsafe. If they also own Orange Coast Title, or have any affiliation with them, they are required to disclose. Does anyone know if B of A and Orange Coast Title are affiliated? If I do not get my monies returned soon, I may find it necessary to file a complaint with HUD for RESPA violation, but I certainly do not want to do that without being certain of a business affiliation between the two companies (I did not see Orange Coast Title) on B of A's public 10k report, so I assume it is not a subidiary of B of A. Any suggestions?

I don't know about other parts of the country, but in San Diego county, it's getting really tough to find deals with a decent profit margin. Banks are getting tighter and tighter on prices here. What are others seeing in other areas?? :cry: