All Forum Posts by: David Zamarron

Ask the lender if they have a "portfolio" (in house) loan program that would allow you to close on the house, do the repairs and then refinance into a Fannie backed loan.

I'm a  practicing real estate and broker in Michigan.  The answer to your question is  yes, a buyer's agent can represent you in the transactions however in order for them to be compensated they should show the property to you in advance of submitting an offer.  The industry term is called  procuring cause.  Any competent buyer's agent will understand this concept.

Mike:  It sounds like the issue is that you have purchased/assumed an existing land contract and the occupants are not making payments.  In Michigan your position is termed "vendor" and the buyer is termed 'vendee."   A land contract cannot simply be voided.  The process of redeeming the property is called forfeiture, similar to foreclosure.  The law requires public notice of default and a judicial action. The vendee has redemption rights whereby they can continue to occupy the property.  The process in total can take up to one year.  You should consult an attorney skilled in real estate law to advise you on this process.  The quick fix is to offer the vendee a cash incentive to vacate the property and remove their personal property and debris in exchange for signing a quit-claim deed.  This can be a much quicker and cheaper process than a forfeiture procedure.  

Bill: What the VA doesn't tell you is that they in fact do a title search for their own benefit before placing their properties on the market. Although they don't provide an owners policy, they want to ensure they are able to convey clear title. I have been involved in 6 VA sales in the past18 months and all had clear titles.

Talk to your title insurance company. The VA conveys thousands of properties a year and I've personally had no issues reselling the properties. It's all about the title insurance company insuring marketable title.

Mike:  In Michigan, the foreclosure process on a land contract sale is technically called forfeiture.  It is essentially the same procedure as a foreclosure.  You have to publish notices in the newspaper, have a court proceeding and I believe  the land contract vendee (buyer) has redemption rights,  all very costly procedures to be sure.  A better solution is to offer the  vendee a cash incentive to sign a quit-claim deed and vacate  the house.  This is a legal and more efficient of getting the house back.  You can also condition the offer on them leaving the house in "broom clean" condition whereby they remove all personal property & debris.  Hope this helps.

Joey: I've been a broker for 25 years and the best advice I can give you to secure more listings is to step away from the computer and network with people face-to-face and diplomatically let them know what you do for a living. I like to tell this story: About 12 years ago a friend railroaded me into joining the Kiwanis club. I reluctantly joined and maybe six months later after getting to know my fellow members and them knowing what I did for a living, a newspaper executive said: "Dave, my company is transferring me and I want you to sell my house." Not, "Dave come over and interview along with three other brokers to sell my house." The light bulb came on. I estimate in 12 years I've spend about $500 a year to belong to the club and I have paid for my dues for the next 50 years with the sales I've made. This business is about establishing personal relationships outside the office. Find new networking venues and the business will follow.

Try and establish a relationship with an active Realtor working the immediate area. An experienced broker will know values in the area like the back of their hand but in order for them to share this information, you should offer them something. Perhaps request they add you to their buyers list or propose that you would like to consider having them market your property if it is a fix & flip. This is the most efficient manner to get a quick read of what the property may be worth.

I am a broker/investor in Mt. Pleasant. Let me know hoe I can help.

This deal may be more trouble than what it's worth. Resale potential in particular. Although there is an apprasial at 175k, there is no guarantee of what the market will bear. The year of market time is telling, The best hedge to offset these factors is to try for a very aggressive price via short sale. Maybe closer to 100k.