All Forum Posts by: Matt Vargas

Obviously I would do that if I could. This is an exterior BPO with tenants still living there. They are the type of tenants that sit on the porch all day listening to music. Not to mention these tenants have no idea they are being foreclosed on. I dont think they would let me in, and for a $45 BPO, I dont think I want to go in. I was scared enough driving by to take my pictures.

Hey everyone, I have a BPO due and I absolutely cannot find any kind of information on this particular property. I tried MLS, Zillow, Trulia, county tax records, etc..I am just looking for basic information that you would find on MLS including square feet, # of beds, baths, and a property archive report. Could someone PLEASE tell me other sources to find this information, or maybe even help me look for this property? This is the address:

5120 Ennis St., Houston, TX 77004.

I drove by and it looked like a multi family apartment complex. I would say a 2 unit complex.

Thank you so much for your help!

I am pulling comps for a client and I found that a particular house sold for $300,000 when the listing price was only $294,900. What could be the reasons for this? I appreciate your help.

Thanks for the help!

I am trying to complete an exterior Broker Price Opinion, and I need to get information about the property without actually going inside. I usually use MLS, but i cant seem to find this property on MLS. I cant even find it as a previously sold property. I kept my search range open (i only entered the address into the MLS search, no other criteria), but nothing seems to come up. What could be the reason for this? And where can I find the information I need (# of bedrooms, interior features, square feet, etc. basically all the information that you would usually find on MLS.) PLEASE help me figure out where to find this type of information, as the BPO is due in 2 days! Thank you!

I have a service that provides me with a list of properties that will be up for auction the following month. Ive noticed that some of these houses are being foreclosed on due to HOA defaults. Some of these houses get sold for VERY little at the auction. What happens to the first mortgage if the HOA forecloses? Thank you.

I have read that alot of you order large quantities of post cards to send to owners facing foreclosure. I am assuming that if you are purchasing so many, the text is the same on all of them. Is that an effective way to go about contacting owners for the first time? Would it not be better to make it more personal? I know that it would be costly and time consuming to create a personal post card to each and every owner....so if it is a "universal" message you are sending, what do you include in it? What kind of tone should the post card have?

I know that with an actually letter and envelope I can get more personal and go into more detail, but alot of owners wont even bother opening them.

Thank you for all of your replies.

I guess maybe I am being too picky when deciding which properties to be interested in. Here are my criteria:

The value must be in the $100,000 - $200,000 range. I feel like even with the economy being how it is, this price range will be the most likely to sale when I put it back on the market.

I like to have an equity of at least $50,000. This way when I pay the owner 50 cents on the dollar for their equity, I will still make some profit there. (Any reccomendations on that? I've read that offering 50 cents on the dollar for equity is a fair amount)

I look for houses with the smallest amount of loan balance left. Less than about $75,000.

Of course, I am looking for a property with no property taxes still owed.

Am I being too picky? As I said before, my first deal MUST succeed or I will not have the opportunity to do it again.

Here are the numbers for a particular property I am interested in.

Yr built: 1979
Sq ft: 2044
Est. Prop. Value: $142,340
Loan balance: $27,456
Equity:$114,884

Well, I like to find out information on the house and get all the numbers I need before I bother contacting the owner. That's why I have collected to much information so far. I guess it wouldnt hurt to start sending the letters out before I do all the research, to see if the owners are actually willing to make a deal.

And yes, I am only talking about 1 property. Maybe I am just trying to be more safe than sorry, but this will be my first pre foreclosure investment, and I need it to be successful or I may not be able to buy another.

I am interested in buying a pre-foreclosure in Texas. I've collected information such as loan balance, equity, property taxes owed, property value, loan type, loan term. Is there anything else that I should investigate before sending a letter to the owner?

If so, where could I find such information?

Thanks for your help.