All Forum Posts by: Jennifer McElliott

what about just reaching out to the actual homeowner to see if they'd take a cash offer so it doesn't get stuck with the banks waffling on the decision?  So in this case, I can see that the homeowner purchased the home for around 150K some years back and today it's listed as a short sale at 199K... could I just send her a letter telling them I could offer her say 175K and she would just sign the home over to me?  

I've never had any success with a realtor wanting to make an offer on a house listed on the MLS as a short sale... i was wondering if it'd be possible for me to contact the seller directly and make a cash offer (possibly under listed price)... are they bound to sell it after it's listed? Is what i'm asking to do even legal?

Thanks in advance for the input!

i was in a similar situation back in 2010, except it was with the addition of being underwater on the place... so this was one of those places that i had purchased as a primary residence at the peak of the market, 2005 and by 2010 the value had dropped by maybe 40%. The upside was that I still believed in the area... this was the bay area in CA after all, so i thought if i could hang on to it long enough, prices will come back. We were set to move in 2010 and I didn't want to take the huge loss on it, even if that meant I wasn't cash flowing on the property. I rented it out and just covered mortgage and HOA... i don't think we even covered taxes at that time. fast forward 6 years, we have had the same tenant all 6 years, the place still doesn't cash flow, we're close to breaking even on it now over the course of 3 years of raising rent (but property taxes have sky rocketed!)... and given all those 'failures'... i don't regret hanging on to it b/c now the place has appreciated almost 150% and i can now sell it and make about 300K on it!

So in your situation - you mentioned that the market there seems strong... perhaps you do the math to see how much you lose per year renting it out and maybe you keep it until the market appreciates enough for a good sale - a sale that would cancel out any loss you might have from renting it out.  Course that's also only IF you have the reserves to be able to afford any additional expenses in the interim.  It's a gamble - and in our case, we weighed it against what we felt like were good odds and it worked out.  

Good luck

I was about to make an offer on a short sale today as well - and my agent just informed me of the exact same 20K bankruptcy buyer fee - maybe this is a WA thing??  

I figure you just have to factor it into the offer price then and depending on the competition that's how you can get around trying to negotiate the actual fee.

I can understand your sentiments @Lloyd Stanton, but at the same time, given the statistics on certain types of criminals recommitting acts, it's troubling and seems risky to me and to the other tenants that I rent to.  

Personally, I don't think I have what it takes to manage this type of risk, and for me this will probably mean staying out of an asset class which would probably be most impacted by this type of regulation... i.e. Section 8 possibly (although I'm not sure if there are requirements that those candidates must meet that will keep this class of applications from being affected) and lower income rentals.  My gut feeling would be that newer land lords i.e. folks getting started with the rentals in the C and lower class neighborhoods will be affected first and most yet they probably will be the least prepared to manage the issues that may arise.  

Thanks for the link @Chris T. the 3 times income to rent rate and clean credit score may help... i think more so in the more expensive markets, but in lower income housing... i think you'll be hard pressed to find an applicant with clean credit or income that can back your justification on denying the ex-con..?  and their second point on considering the type of crime is exactly the point... that may no longer be legal... 

Lloyd Stanton

An updated article for landlords out there on criminals who have served their time becoming a protected class:

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/doj-wa...  

these are for felonies or misdemeanors other than traffic offenses!  

Interested in thoughts of landlords out there - if this will change your investment strategies or if you think this won't pass...?

that's awesome - very inspiring!  I hope to have a similar story in the near future!!  yes more details if you don't mind!!

This might be more of a polling question...

if you had money in the stock market and 401K and savings etc... would you liquidate those sources to buy more real estate or do folks believe in the diversification of investments?  

*Disclosure... i have this posted twice... once in the local communities and now here - so if you've already seen this post - sorry!

My family might be in a situation in the next 9 months where we'll be moving from WA to the Prattville/Montgomery, AL area as a result of a military move. We currently have a couple of SFRrentals up here in the WA area (Snohomish County) and are looking to increase our portfolio... but now I'm a bit torn on whether we continue to invest here in WA or if we look to AL now that we will likely be moving there by next summer.

Pros and Cons that I've weighed for investing in AL as opposed to WA:

Pro -

1.) it's cheaper!! Nice houses, for almost turnkey rentals can be had for 1/3 of what we pay here in WA) so we could potentially purchase more properties.

2.) It appears we can easily get the 1% rule out of SFR rentals (I haven't seen any duplexes in that county) in that area.

3.) The area seems to be a stable economy that is supported by the Air Force Base that is near by as well as some industrial type companies. The region (Autauga County) is considered AL fastest growing community.

Cons -

1.) obviously i don't know the ins and outs of that area, good neighborhoods v sketchy/riskier ones since we don't live there (yet)

2.) we won't always live there - though I know there are tons of folks on this forum that have property out of state and just use PMs to manage them...? i gather it's still riskier to buy out of state compared to in your own backyard.

3.) not really a con - but weighing against buying in AL would be that we still have 9 or so months before the move... we could still look and purchase here in our backyard as opposed to waiting...though the deals we see here don't meet the 1% rule, while meeting the 50% rule.

So these are my initial thoughts on the issue - I'd love to hear any feedback from the experts out there... any other military members who encounter these types of frequent move and invest types of life situations... so thanks in advance for your input!!!

My family might be in a situation in the next 9 months where we'll be moving from WA to the Prattville/Montgomery, AL area as a result of a military move. We currently have a couple of SFR rentals up here in the WA area (Snohomish County) and are looking to increase our portfolio... but now I'm a bit torn on whether we continue to invest here in WA or if we look to AL now that we will likely be moving there by next summer.

Pros and Cons that I've weighed for investing in AL as opposed to WA:

Pro -

1.) it's cheaper!! Nice houses, for almost turnkey rentals can be had for 1/3 of what we pay here in WA) so we could potentially purchase more properties.  

2.) It appears we can easily get the 1% rule out of SFR rentals (I haven't seen any duplexes in that county) in that area.

3.) The area seems to be a stable economy that is supported by the Air Force Base  that is near by as well as some industrial type companies.  The region (Autauga County) is considered AL fastest growing community.

Cons -

1.) obviously i don't know the ins and outs of that area since we don't live there (yet)

2.) we won't always live there - though I know there are tons of folks on this forum that have property out of state and just use PMs to manage them...?  i gather it's still riskier to buy out of state compared to in your own backyard.  

3.) not really a con - but weighing against buying in AL would be that we still have 9 or so months before the move... we could still look and purchase here in our backyard as opposed to waiting...though the deals we see here don't meet the 1% rule, while meeting the 50% rule.  

So these are my initial thoughts on the issue - I'd love to hear any feedback from the experts out there... any other military members who encounter these types of frequent move and invest types of life situations... so thanks in advance for your input!!!