All Forum Posts by: Harry Metzinger

Thanks @Greg H. I have a pressure test scheduled for next week, so hopefully we get to the root of the issue.

@Greg H. as a follow up question, have you had any experience or success w/ getting water turned on to a property where HUD's initial stance was water may not be turned on? Perhaps could I pay additional $ to HUD to agree to turn on the water...or is there another (legal) way to go about it?

Good to know, thanks @Greg H. I called HUD's asset manager and that's what they said...but that seemed like a customer-friendly approach, and HUD isn't the most customer-friendly, so I had to confirm what I was told.

Hi BP, I have a HUD property under contract. I planned to buy this property w/ a conventional mortgage and stated as much in my contract. It is in better shape than most HUD homes I've seen, so pardon my belief that this property could be purchased w/ a conventional mortgage. HUD's field service manager informed me that they will not permit water to be turned on for an inspection and appraisal. Of course I told my lender about this two weeks ago, but now finally this week, my lender said they cannot lend on the property w/out the water turned on.

HUD requires cash transactions to close within 30 days and financed transactions to close within 45 days. My one question is, in your experience, if you have had to change your financing from conventional to cash, does HUD still allow you to close w/in 45 days? If not, do you have any suggestions for any other ways around the 30 day cash requirement?

@Robert Williams You can still hold onto one. Don't feel bad about not following through on one of the two properties. People have bids accepted by HUD and then bail on the purchase more often than you think.

Hi @Shawn Torsitano, it is still worth exploring. HUD may hold a hard stance for a finite period of time, but if no one bites at or above full price, they will eventually drop their list price. Stick to your MAO and don't be influenced by an initial asking price or agent remarks.

Hi BP, I am building my mailing list to start my first direct mail campaign, with the goal to place my first order with YellowLetters by Tuesday.  I know that I want to outsource the answering of the calls when motivated sellers first call in.  While I realize no outsourced call operation is perfect, I am leaning toward working with PatLive, at least to start.  

I have a Google Voice # already set up.  My question is if you currently use PatLive and have the calls going to a Google Voice phone number, how did you set it up?  I want my calls to go to a Google Voice number so that I control the phone number - meaning I can make calls from the same phone number listed on the letter/postcard and have PatLive answer calls on that same number.

Any help from someone who has set it up and gone through the process would be greatly appreciated.  I spoke with a PatLive rep today but, while he tried to be helpful, I ended the call just as confused.

Hi @Odie Ayaga, glad that you finally made the plunge!  I am a big fan of the podcasts too.  Not sure how many I have listened to but it's probably approaching 100 at this point.  Congrats on "house hacking!"  How is your rehab going?  From another Burlington County resident, wishing you lots of success!  

Hi @Malcolm Jenkins, welcome to BiggerPockets!  It truly is a great site, filled with information sharing and people looking out for each other's best interests.  I would recommend you check out the BP Podcasts.  Josh Dorkin & Brandon Turner put together a podcast that is educational and entertaining.  Their guests have achieved success in real estate in one facet or another - it certainly keeps me motivated listening to them.  Do you have any flips underway at the moment?  Looking forward to your success.

Hi @Skip Dell, welcome to BiggerPockets! Do you have enough equity in your house to take out a home equity line of credit (HELOC)? That's one consideration. Another consideration - some would agree with and others wouldn't - would be to take a balance transfer from your credit card. I've received a few offers lately from my credit card companies where I would have to pay 2% or 3% upfront for a balance transfer, but then there would be no interest charged on the money I transferred for 12 months. Those terms sure beat what you'll pay in points and interest-only percentages with hard money...as long as you pay off the balance transfer before the high interest rates kick in. Food for thought.