All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Isn't the 90 day rule measured from close to close. A closing takes about 30 days. So all you need is two extra weeks. If this is the house the buyers one can't you guys just wait a couple of weeks. About price drops don't do it unless you have to. Price it right to begin with. Price drops signal the market that your house is overpriced or not desirable. It is fine for a foreclosure to price drop, but in a conventional listing, it can be the kiss of death.

besides the obvious of making sure the well will support two house holds, has a good pump, etc., you will want to test the water regularly to make sure that it is safe to drink.  Have the bacteria, nitrates, etc. tested.  You don't want to be liable for people getting sick.  I hate wells personally.  We had one growing up that went dry.   I bought a house on a well a few years back, and selling it almost fell through because the bacteria was a tick too high.  Then we tried to kill the bacteria, which made the chlorine too high.  Then we tried to flush it, and it ran dry.  I looked into hooking into city water and there was a 10 grand hook up fee.  The water always tastes awful to me.  I hate them.  So do your homework.  Not sure how it works with a rental.  As for cost, you are looking at 3 to 5 grand to drill a new one.  A few hundred bucks for a new pump.  A few hundred for a holding tank.  Maybe a hundred bucks per year in testing.  So, if everything goes well, no pun intended, it may not cost you much.  But if things go bad, it can get expensive.  You will need an inspector to look it over.  

A little tip I learned from my state at least.  When buying, ask questions in writing.  MIchigan has written disclosures that provide a very basic level of required disclosures.  After that, realtors do everything they can to keep the parties from communicating.  That is good for them (less chance of sale falling through), but bad for you.  But I found, from doing legal research on a deal that went bad, you can only hold a seller to representations made in writing during the sale.  Who does that?  But you can submit questions about the history of the well.  Last time it was replaced.  Last time it went dry if ever, etc.  That gives you a little more cushion/confidence knowing the history.  And if they lie to you, you have a cause of action.  Just a little tip when buying properties with grey areas.  

if you are not ready to buy, you don't need a realtor.  In my experience, you have to find the properties, financing, and then they are willing to help you out.  

Sorry for the second post but just an observation. We speak of the "next downturn" as if this is just waves in the ocean and you can just wait out the cycles. But does that not ignore the larger factors at play here.    That is, the real estate market is affected by other factors in the global economy.   So if we go back to the 80s there was a crash caused by very high interest rates and stagflation, made worse by the recession, gas prices and high unemployment,  corporate downsizing etc. The downturn we just lived through in 2008 was brought about by the new financial instruments, namely mortgage backed securities, bad valuations, and excessive liquidity pumped into the market post 911. The boom we are seeing now similarly is the result of the federal governments attempt to prop up the mortgage market by buying up loans that Wall Street bought a decade or so ago. This just kicks the can down the road. So we have artificially low interest rates, and artificially lax lending requirements thanks to the federal governments  intervention. How long can this go before there is another correction? And what will that correction look like? Well perhaps we can go for quite a while, and maybe the next meltdown will be a federal financial crisis.  And then what is the recovery from that? So is it really safe to assume that there will be another wave of boom bust cycles. Yes I agree in the long term we do see a cyclical pattern. But if you look at the housing market post the depression it took decades and a global war to recover. So the bottom line of all of my blathering is that there are larger issues at stake and it may not be safe to assume that the past predicts the future.  A future bust may not have a quick robust recovery. Or a future bust may not be nearly as severe as the one we just saw.

Maybe I am crazy but I actually wish it would level off or slow down. When things pick up everybody jumps in and makes it very hard to find deals.

Sorry to hear that. The one thing I do wish you guys would fix though LOL is the app only shows the first three paragraphs that a poster puts up. So if somebody is long winded it usually cuts them off about the time they get to what I want to read. It also does not show pictures. So I read countless posts that look like this. I just did an amazing flip but here's the one lesson I learned that is so valuable I really need to share it here. When you.

To sell your house will need good curb appeal. Next a nice kitchen and bath. Remember buyers often do not appreciate quality like you do as you shop. You see two stoves or two vanities and think this one is so much nicer for only x more. But there is a reason builders use builder grade. Buyers don't see that. They don't know if you used high end paint or Kmart paint. I ought a sump pump recently and went through this. If it were my house the 200 dollar one would have gone in. But I know the 59 dollar one works and no buyer would know the difference. If you want to give material upgrades away fine. But if you want a profit that little voice in your head that says you are going too far is probably right.

I don't usually use hard money so I don't know how much meat needs to be on the bones for a deal to make sense. I found a deal for 50 grand with a very conservative ARV of 95. I sold one down the street a couple of years ago so I have a very good feel for the neighborhood. Repairs are 10 to 15 depending on whether or not you paint or reside the exterior. I know it's kind of thin but I would do it with my own money except my capital is tied up at the moment.

Think of it this way. The LLC does not "save the day" by protecting you from liability. It protects your assets so that a plaintiff cannot collect. It's like a break that stops the dominoes from falling.

How many of you have had to use your homeowners insurance because your house burned down or because somebody sued you. Yes as lawyers we are trained to think of the worst case scenarios and to plug the gaps where things can go wrong. Back when I practiced law my job was to evaluate insurance policies and to figure out ways to weasel out of having to pay the claim. So I do not put much stock in policies alone. You are right that the chances of an LLC protecting you are remote. And you are less bothered the fewer assets you have. But there is a reason why all the high net worth people use LLCs. I bet if you check the terms of your umbrella policy it will say the coverage is secondary, which means they will not pay until your primary policy has paid. So if you are not covered by your primary policy the umbrella does not provide any additional coverage. Why do you think those policies are so cheap. If you are operating under a GCL you would have more coverage, but with an umbrella policy off of your homeowners you're kidding yourself