All Forum Posts by: Fran Flanagan

If you decide to keep it, make sure you read the rules about refinancing and how long you'll need to live there. I wouldn't want to pay the FHA MI on a place where I had ~40% equity.

Your arguments are actually in favor of doing a more detailed analysis, and really earning your fee. You can present the deal as such, purchase price 60k.

Minimal repairs: 15k, ARV 100k
Add a bathroom plus necessary repairs, min-avg quality 30k, ARV 130k
Add bathroom, repairs, plus higher end stuff in bath and kitchen 45k, ARV 160k

If your numbers are reasonable, comps provided, one might expect buyers would enjoy working with someone who went through this effort... and look to do more business with you.

Originally posted by Brian Stone:

I have sent out 50 letters last week. I am planning on sending out 50 more. However, the calls I have been getting have been "I do not have a house at that address, it is an empty lot".

Did I get the list wrong, or is this standard mistakes that can be made by Listsource for absentee owned properties?

As far as I know, this list will simply give you properties (not houses) which are owned by someone who does not live at that property.

If you only want to buy houses, cross check your list with zillow to make sure that a house is there. The county property records website, if one exists, should also have details on the presence or absence of a house.

Find a different place to rent.

My relationship with my inlaws deteriorated significantly when my father in law begged to be our realtor. Trying to preserve family harmony, we gave him a try even though he had 2 deals' experience at that time. He had previously given his wife's cousin a 70% rebate on his commission and promised us the same. Once he got a whiff that my and my wife's income was higher than he previously knew, he smelled money... reneged on the verbal agreement and tried to trick us into signing a broker agreement authorizing him to collect full commission.

We switched realtors and tried to let it go, but in his mind we wronged him somehow and he thinks we're greedy. The initial unpleasantness that would likely have come from us never giving him a chance would likely be better than the current situaiton of not speaking to one another.

So what Jon said: rent somewhere else.

My area is popular with the late 20-something professionals. They all use craigslist, so do I. 3 BR houses in the area rent for 1500-2000, the two times I've rented it I've had 20+ people interested.

Looking at other craigslist advertisements on there I am constantly awed by people who 1) can't use a digital camera 2) don't post their 8 photos for free. IMO, if you can't take 8 decent photos of your house, you should fix it up a little bit.

I'm a little confused. You're saying that you're currently renting it, "they want to charge you $2000 / month" but what's your current rent? Do you have a lease in place? Did the property recently change owners?

Prices in New York are insane compared to the rest of the country. Depending on location within the bronx, 2k/month could either be insanely expensive or really cheap. Knowing what your old rent was, will help determine how crazy the new proposal is.

Regardless, I would never agree to exterior maintenance if I was renting. If the new owner wants to pay you to paint a room or two, I might consider that.

Originally posted by Deriane Cox:

When I key in the property address on the county's site it produce 0 results.

Enter less info. These county websites aren't usually the best. If its in there as "Ave" then "Avenue" might not work. Try just entering house number and street name. Basically the place exists, just search differently.

I'm new to landlording, but I work as a scientist in my real job.

Allergies can develop over time. Some we outgrow, others come with age. During your mid 20s is a common time to develop new allergies. Also different types of animals can impact allergies to varying degrees. Longer haired animals tend to be worse.

If no one else is affected, I'll bet you a beer that it's the cat. Just make an appointment with an allergist and get tested to be sure.

Honestly, I think the issue of back taxes is entirely irrelevant. This is money you owe, in that regard it's little different than a mortgage.

He's offering a price for the property. If this makes sense to you, sell; otherwise, don't sell.

If you countered at a number and then he comes to within $2,000 of that number, it would be absurd in my opinion for you to re-counter at $2300 higher than this.

I'm with Annette,

The guy is trying to make money off of something that he hasn't paid for or maintained. If he wants to do so, let him have the hassle of kicking her out. No reason for you to cut him a check then deal with his mess IMO.