All Forum Posts by: Jake Thomas

@Tom Martinez When I close properties from Auction.com I get a special warranty deed which would take care of any assessments such as past due HOA dues and such. The auction should state what type of deed you will receive.

@Justin Rivord ask a local realtor for a blank PA that their local association uses. If I am going to assign a contract I just use a normal PA and under the "other provisions" section I put buyer can assign contract to third party or some other sort of verbiage. 

@Mike Wallace @Keith Jourdan First, I hope there is a picture of the exterior on the listing. The inside looks nice but you would benefit from wide angle shots with a professional camera. Here is an example of listing I took over. My pictures are the nicer looking ones.  This helps get people in the door. The work you did looks nice and a good camera or hiring a pro will help show it off to a buyer. New buyers spend just a couple seconds going through pictures and they are attracted to the pretty ones :) I hope this helps. 

Their's

Mine

Their's

Mine

@Keith Jourdan give it at least 2-3 weeks before even thinking about touching the price. We are in the dead of winter and all of my listings are getting far less showings than they would have 2 months ago. Once the snow starts the showings slow down (from my experience) unless your property is a great deal. 

Are your pictures nice? For a flip I hope you used a professional or at least a professional camera to attract people. 

@Tom Martinez $2,500 deposit to make a bid (they just lockup $2,500 on your credit card) and refund it if you lose the auction.

5% buyers premium.

I have noticed the reserves for these are really high and the same property is repeatedly re-auctioned week after week. 

I bid two different ways. Determine what the highest you can go on the property for whatever you are going to do with it (flip, hold etc.) and place to bid at that amount from the beginning. Or wait till the last few minutes and make a bid wherever the next increment is. 

The bid increments will get much smaller once you get closer to the reserve amount. You don't have to hit the reserve to win, I won one last year without hitting the reserve.

Good luck

@Daria B. I did have it inspected. The house was a hoarder house so it was difficult to get see everything clearly. Also, I don't normally have the sewer line videoed in my inspections. The Ant problem was not obvious until we ripped down the drywall from a small roof leak that we did see. I suspected they might be there because of the leak but its a risk I took. 

@Carlos Enriquez I ran into a similar situation last summer. I bought FSBO and had them fill out a disclosures form which they basically filled in nothing and then a standard purchase agreement for my area (I am a realtor as well). 1 week after closing I find out the house has a massive carpenter ant infestation, ok no biggie have them taken care of. Then 1 month later I find out the main drain line to the sewer is all broken up and needs to be replaced because the sellers installed it themselves and did not do it right. I was upset but now I know my house is bug free and the drain line will never have to be replaced again. Chalk it up to the cost of doing business. Plus if you get a good enough deal who cares if there are a few unexpected issues. I can't ever remember a used house I bought that was perfect.

@Joseph Shevy While I agree with most everyone else's post I also have a counter view.  I am very open about being a licensed agent and investing with all my co-workers including my boss and his boss. By being vocal about it I was approached by my director early in 2015 and he asked if I could help sell his house and his mothers in the same month. Just by being vocal I was able to land two listings totaling about $600K. Since then I have also helped several other co-workers buy and sell. However, I understand that you only got the license to buy your own properties but so did I in the beginning. It turns out selling real estate is much more fun and enjoyable than sitting in my cubicle 40 hrs a week. I still do both but see myself quitting to go full time RE this year. 

This is just my opinion but I also agree that some bosses won't take it as well as mine.

@Glenn Mayo while this is a creative financing forum its not a creative get cash quick increase credit score fast forum. What @David Faulkner said is the best option. You need to have some cash $5-10K as no seller willing to go seller financed is likely going to allow you to purchase with no cash. 

I was in debt over my head just 3 years ago ($30K+). I decided to ditch the credit cards sell the car that had a loan and get a second job and focus on paying off any debt which also helps increase your credit score. I am now debt free and tons of cash in the bank ready for my next 20-25% down payment. After you take care of any debt and credit score issues you can likely buy a property the FHA route which is only 3.5% down and I don't see that changing any time in the near future.

I don't know anyone that invested while they couldn't afford to and was successful. It all takes time. 

@Krystopher Ferdinand I personally have never worked under KW but have met with them and I felt their commission splits were not favorable. If you are new to the business in general and need complete training they might be a good choice. I came into the business with a good foundation as I had already purchased many houses in the past so I chose to go with a smaller brokerage that charges a flat fee per transaction. My brokerage offers no training, no support and no office. I like this as it keeps my monthly costs down and I only get charged a fee when I make a commission myself, no added monthly costs on top of supra fees. I always suggest interviewing several brokers before making a final decision. 

Good luck.