All Forum Posts by: Brett Goldsmith

You can purchase it from the owner(s) as a standard sale or attempt a short sale if the home is upside down. You need the owners of record to agree to sell it if you are trying to purchase a property in foreclosure prior to the auction. 

You can call the trustee or attorney's office if you are doing a foreclosure status check. Typically this is pointless though if you are not already in contact with the owner of the property and simply doing research or checking on it for them. Typically we call these offices when there is a set auction date, but we want to check if it's active or on hold status.

@Stefania Booth If it's not listed for sale on the market and in foreclosure, you'd need to contact the owners to see what is going on. If you wanted to check on the foreclosure process, you could call the attorney's office or trustee, whomever is handling the foreclosure. You can get info on the foreclosure auction there if a sale date is set.

Auctions: You need to check title and understand who the foreclosing entity is and what position they are in, as that is the one you are buying into. Some people purchase 2nd or 3rd positions unknowingly and get screwed for various reasons. ( a 1st and 2nd can both be foreclosing at the same time ). Plus you are purchasing properties site unseen. Typically you need to be all cash and bring cashier checks in certain increments to the auction. 

You either need to contact the owner of the property ( if it's not listed ) to see if they are willing to sell, or purchase them at auction. I recommend not bidding at an auction until you fully understand the ins and outs of purchasing a lien position. 

Short sales are typically always listed on the market. Get a list of active short sales on the market from a local agent if you want to see what is available. You may find a house you are interested worth punting an offer on and seeing if it sticks. The other option is to market to distressed homeowners. I wouldn't recommend marketing directly to upside down properties. If you market to distressed homeowners, some will be upside down, and other's won't. Both can be good opportunities.

Short sales get done all the time. Sometimes at great prices, sometimes at fair prices, and other times at retail.

Many people get stuck wasting their time on crappy transactions though because they don't know how to identify which ones have a low probability to get done from the onset. I personally see agents take stabs at transactions that they waste months on that I know have a 0% chance of getting done by asking a few questions.

From a buyers standpoint, don't get attached and put all your eggs into a basket trying to purchase a particular short sale. Keep looking for other opportunities unless the transaction is likely to be fully approved. 

Most servicers quote 45-90 days for a decision once they have a complete package. If there is no active sale date you can typically expect 30 days to close. You don't "need" a contractor, but some people submit bids if work is needed on the property to support their offer. You can purchase a short sale based off the investors guidelines in relation to the valuation that returns. This varies on many factors. Sometimes you'll get a good deal and other times you won't.

Interesting idea, never heard of or seen anyone do it though. I will ask my attorney who does probates if the concept is possible. Will be much easier to just get heir(s) to cooperate. Potentially offer them some funds or pay for the probate. The challenge is that short sales are speculative and you may end up covering probate costs and then not purchasing the property as it's not a good deal.

There are likely easier deals and lower hanging fruit out there to chase. I personally only do probate short sales when they fall in my lap. Makes more sense to market to properties with equity if you are looking to potentially do distressed probate deals.

@Jimmy Le Yes, I agree. I've done some great sub 2's deals on properties that had amazing loan modifications in place. 2% interest rate's through maturity and deferred balance! 

Yeah, these are good people to speak to. This list would have considerable less competition than a foreclosure list. These borrowers though often fight to keep their home though and will attempt another loan modification or bankruptcy potentially if they do default again. Don't get me wrong, some of them obviously will sell when the timing is right or the stress is enough for them.

You can make a deal out of an upside down property. You'd need to purchase it as a short sale. I know this was a wholesaleconcept post though.

I use it, but I deal with people in foreclosure on a daily basis. Comes in handy for reviewing other title or public record related things too though. Negative equity if you are looking to find people who would need to do short sales. Doesn't make much sense to only look for people who have no equity in my opinion. If you speak to enough distressed homeowner many will have no equity and others will have equity.