All Forum Posts by: Jim S

There is also a big difference between now and 4 years ago. When appraiser were selected and paid by the lender there was more incentive to manipulate the data to fit the deal. Now that the appraiser is randomly selected from a pool, one could argue that the deal is validated by the data.
My buddy recently sold a house for $350,000 with multiple offers. The appraisal came in $70,000 below. The FHA appraiser admitted to the mortgage broker that he just couldn't get his head around the $70,000 profit my friend was going to make.
If the appraisers are short sighted enough to include REOs and fixer uppers in the comps, it is very hard for values to rise in the area.
Enough

I have a plumber cap the line internally usually where the inside turn off valve is located. It's a huge liability in cold climates as the tenants will never shut off the water supply in the winter causing freezing and potential water damage. Plus its not like they would ever water the grass or plants when they pay the water bill.
I vote disable it!

Have you ever tried to insert this into a contact? I wonder how many buyers would actually agree to it?

Both the HOA and finance contingencies were removed.

Listed a finished project and received 4 contacts on the house in the first 2 days. 3 were FHA and one was conventional financing. I was reluctant to go with any of the FHA due to their appraisals tending to come in low. The 4th offer was a conventional offer for 20% down and they had cash in the bank. My realtor warned me not to accept this offer due to their buyers agent's office was known to be difficult to deal with and game players. I decided to select them anyway due to the conventional financing and heavy down payment.
Closing was set for 45 days on 6/15. Two days before the expected closing we received a request from the buyer’s agent for an extension of 2 weeks due to the buyer not being able to find her W-2. My agent spoke with their mortgage company who stated everything looked great.
Closing was now set for 7/1. On 6/29 we received a call from the buyer’s agent requesting a 21 day extension due to the fact that the title company was moving. Blew me away. Where were they moving? Alaska?
My agent grilled their agent and she assured him that everything was fine and there were no problems with this deal. Gave her personal guaranty that the deal was good.
With our 7/21 closing date approaching fast, my agent called the buyer’s agent today. She admitted that they are having mortgage issues and are now trying to find another lender. There is no chance that they can put together anything in 3 days.
I normally am an easy going guy. I understand people have issues, blah, blah, blah. They have just wasted 11 weeks of my time and holding costs. We even removed all the staging furniture 3 days ago.
The question is….would you keep their $3,000 deposit?

If you are looking for an inspected property that you have judicial recourse if all disclosures aren't given....then that is a retail sale like most home buyers. If you want to buy below market, then you have to be willing to take the risk. It's the risk vs reward theory of money.

There was a company that always would send out emails for properties he was listing/selling in Baltimore. He would list SFR for about $80,000 that were collecting $1300 per month in section 8 rents. It seems that the value of a lot of the properties up there are not necessarily based on comps but how much the tenant is paying.
As a side note, this company recently pulled out of Baltimore and is working in PG County.

Rehab costs on those $8,000 buildings can add up fast. Plus, you will either have to acquire a thick skin or hire a management company to deal with tenants and their issues. There are a lot of section 8 housing allowances up there which will give you a guaranteed income. There are also a lot of low end scumbags who you will get burned by in a second.
Baltimore has some good areas but you will have to pay for them. We are looking at a 6 unit building for $99,000 that supposedly carries a 27% cap rate. The thought of Baltimore has always scared me off. Maybe someone else with 1st hand experience in the town can give you a better feel.

It's the same if you buy a stolen car. You end up forfeiting it and it is returned to the original owner.

What amazes me the most is a temporary restraining order was issued against the original owners of the home. The deed is still in their name.
Colorado is as screwed up as Maryland.