All Forum Posts by: Ivan Poon

Thanks for all the help guys, i looked up the 2% rule, interesting stuff, guess this newbie has a lot of reading up to do!

Wow... in that case i don't think i'd be able to buy anything here! This town is expensive!

Savings on tax from depreciation doesn't come into play either? I'm in the 25% tax bracket at the moment, i think.

edit: sorry, when you say the max i could pay is 100K, is that the maximum purchase price? Or Maximum down payment?

Hey guys,

I'm looking to buy a single family home in fairfield county in connecticut. It's about 50 minutes drive (assuming no traffic) to NYC so property values are pretty high around here.

There's a deal on a foreclosed home for 360K. The FMV is probably around 420K. Property is in pretty good shape, though i'll just have to replace a hole in the wall (in a closet) and replace a wooden door. Taxes are 5500 a year. I'm looking to put 20% down. I could probably get 2K monthly in rental income.

What do you guys think? Thanks!

edit: almost forgot, it's almost 1700 square feet and has a pool in the backyard, if that makes any difference.

Thanks a lot guys... yeah it'd be for a new buyer (ME :P)

I decided to pass on it because the bank wanted 30K more for it than my real estate agent thought

http://www.flickr.com/photos/iypoon/sets/72157622393275751/

I know it's kind of hard to tell based on just a few photos taken, but just a ballpark would work.

Basically this is a 2000 sqft raised ranch in a pricier part of the northeast. Holes were punched in the walls, the vanity in the bathroom ripped out, the cabinets/sink were taken from the kitchen, carpet ripped out, sliding door to the deck was removed and glass shattered, graffiti on the 1st floor, etc. etc. The outside of the house is nice... the back yard (which is quite small) needs a little landscaping though)

My realtor who's listing this says it'll probably go for 250K (was sold in '06) for 560K so this is a 'good deal'. Just wondering what a rehab will cost roughly, worst case scenario).

Hey guys,

I talked to my RE agent (who specializes in foreclosures/short sales) a while ago and he told me that he has to put up his short sales on the MLS and can't just do a private short sale between me and the seller/bank.

Is that a requirement by banks? Maybe i just misheard him... i'm going to ask about it again with him.

I'm having real bad luck with foreclosures, so i wanna try short sales where i might not have to compete with other people.

Alright, well, thanks for your help guys. I guess i was just wondering if the listing agent violated some law or code of ethics that her license dictates of her.

Hi Guys,

Here's the situation. We're first time homebuyers looking for foreclosure homes in CT. It's real pricey here because of the proximity to NYC.

We have a real estate agent that specializes in short sales/foreclosures. We had found a property that just appeared on the MLS last thursday or friday for about half of what zillow.com said the house was worth (based on comps, zillow was in the ballpark) and we quickly submitted a cash only offer for asking plus 7 days inspection yesterday.

We lost the house today to someone who a) bid a higher amount (other agent wouldn't say by how much, but there were 6 other bidders) and b) offered a no inspection contingency.

There was NO chance to counter offer (i would have waived inspection now that i knew the competition was pretty fierce and i would have upped my bid by as much as 18% higher if i had a chance to counter.

I suspect the listing agent wouldn't be interested in us because we're represented by an agent ourselves so the commission would have had to have been split. Also, i tried calling them 4 times yesterday and today and all i got from their phone number listed on their website was a voice mail and they never called back.

What do you guys think? Should they have let us counter offer? I have half a mind to call the bank that owns the property

:cry:

ok thanks for your help guys!