All Forum Posts by: George C.

In 2004, long before most people knew what "REO" meant, I bought one in Luzerne Co PA for $3K (they were asking $10K) from PNC Bank. It was a steal. I put less than $1K into it. It was clean when I got it, too. I was able to rent it for $425 a month. It should rent for $625 today. It was a 1K sq ft half double house, basement, two floors and a walk up attic, 3/1. The neighbors were shocked when I told them what I paid. The old lady in the other half would run out and tell anyone looking at it that it was condemned, oil leaks, etc.. to scare away a buyer who would rent it out to bad neighbor tenants. Apparently she was terrorized by the tenants who caused the foreclosure. It was empty and for sale for five years before I bought it. It had a retail value of $25K when I bought it for $3K. I sold it a few years later as a package with some others in the area.

It's the left half of the green corner house in the pic. The addition & patch of grass to the left side was mine as well. Property taxes there were like $500 for the year.

@

People like that are just asking to be harassed. Talk about not being the least bit intelligent, he makes a recorded terroristic threat to shoot someone & he can't speak without uttering an "F" this or that...

If my kids were a little older, I'd play it for them, to show how the words you use & how you use them are a window into your intelligence, or lack there of. It would be a real teaching moment.

One thing to keep in mind is what stays online about a house that buyers could see later, such as "DANGER MOLD, DO NOT ENTER" or unflattering pictures in a listing. In NJ (and probably everywhere else), the old expired listings stay on the MLS for agents to look back on & show their clients. So even if you bought the place and cleaned / fixed the mold, or whatever the problem, will you be ready for all the questions about it? Chances are most buyers will drop interest and move on, instead of chance that you did things right. You might end up with a beautiful home all fixed right, but how many people wont even bother with looking because of the old listing? It could lead to a longer sell time and or a lower sale price to unload it.

After a certain time the old listings were locked, so even the original lister couldn't go back and change anything, so it looks like they may be there forever.

As an owner, my ease of maintenance & utility affordability by tenants & I will only come from a modern newer build. Who wants to deal with the lead, asbestos, mold & God knows what else to come down the pike with older housing stock?

I have a couple places built in the 70's that have ok insulation & original double pane windows, but the new homes have even better insulation (R19)& windows (low E) & doors. My new house is twice the size of my old house, but my new house costs half to heat & cool, that makes a huge difference in the cost & ease of ownership.

Nicole,

I've bought with a quit claim deed from a bulk REO buyer-reseller (econo homes). I paid a local title company to do a search and INSURE it for me. It was a very good deal, no surprises, just a two month lag in time to wait for the deed to be transferred. The house was worth $45K, I paid $21K. My house was bought in purchase of 100 homes all over the country, they paid $12K for it. I had just missed the bank trying to sell it at $39K when they bulk sold it.

Quit claim deeds are norm with these large companies, they are just pushing paper and money and are not invested in these properties enough to warranty a deed. Sure some might have title problems, but a local search you pay for should find it, or insure it if everything is ok.

What good would it be getting a warranty deed from a corporation that might not exist in six months, two years, etc... A warranty deed isn't everything in situation like that if the corporation vaporizes and a title claim comes in, that's where your title insurance comes into play. In theory a seller who warranties a title is supposed to make you whole if an issue arises, I wonder how often a seller has "fixed" a major title issue that pops up long after a sale?

Alton, Oh man, you got yourself in a pickle. I've been there, done that with family & rentals...99% of the time it doesn't work, and trust me you'll be the bad guy.

You're the boss now, it's your call if you want to invest more money. I've painted with tenants in place & put flooring in, but they were good tenants paying market rent.

I no longer will rent to family or anyone that I know. It's strictly business, I don't get too friendly with long term tenants either, I'm friendly, but they don't know anything about me.

He should be suing his inspector if he's looking for a someone to pay. He should be looking to his insurance company to be made whole as well. Sure the Magistrate could do something silly, but doubt it, he's got to get elected again, right? Even if he tried to get you to split it, you could appeal. I've had a Magistrate try to see how flexible I was on eviction matters, like timing of getting out, I held my ground to the time established by law and he had to follow my lead. The magistrates don't want things to go to appeal, it makes them look bad.

The facts are the facts, he bought a used house, you gave no warrantees, he did his due diligence with an inspection, the freakish winter / spring weather we had, etc... case dismissed.

Did you use a Pro Roofer? did he give a warrantee? I know a lot of times we use guys with no warrantees, the buyer has to rely on his inspection. That's what it's for, it's not like you prevented him from getting an inspection.

$940? That doesn't seem right either, that's not going to look good for them.

Nice building & interior, I would've carried the wood flooring into the kitchen, too. The front does need help, that first impression thing is so true, they won't even drive by with the pics of the front the way they are. I would put a stucco of mortar over those front steps, some flower pots & a bench in the front yard, make it look inviting. Color matching thumb latch opener & kick plate on front door. I would try to hide the chain link fence as much as possible, maybe paint it black? I've seen painted chain link before.

The back, I'd go over the concrete with sleeper 2x4's & decking, I'd put up 6' stockade fencing attached to the chain link to make it private.

I'd play up the basement, paint it, close off the utilities with a little partition and stage it with a ping ping table & a couch or two. The comps most likely won't be end units with big windows in the basement, so I can see the extra value in your property, but you have to make them see it.

We are assuming that what you're seeing when you look at the place is only two apts, right? If so green cards aren't applicable. It might have been a three family in the past, or just in a three family zone. Ask the building dept for clarification.

I once looked a a three store front building that had two apts above. The local inspector told me that there was no inspections there being that it needed three & over living spaces (apts) to fall under that ruling for inspections.

Make sure the attic is ventilated well, if your living space is that hot, what is all that heat doing to your shingles? Your attic floor should be well insulated to keep heating / cooling costs reasonable. Even if your not paying for them, if it's too expensive or uncomfortable for tenants, they'll up and leave.

My first plan of attack would be insulating the attic floor, then maybe an attic fan if needed. I've seen plenty of homes where the attic was pretty sealed up by people siding over gable vents, so maybe you've got that going on. Most homes are ok with out an attic fan, so I'd be looking for good natural venting first.