All Forum Posts by: JP S.

Hi,

I would like to tie up a potential seller's property A for an assignment. He tells me the sale of his property is contingent upon his purchase of another property B. (He apparently has an offer in on an REO or maybe a short sale.)

Can I tie up property A right now with a contract that has such a contingency written in? Will this fly, especially considering I'm going to sell the contract? Or should I wait until the seller has made the succesful purchase of property B before making my offer.

Thanks,
jp

Thank you, Scott. You have been so helpful.
The seller is moving out next month. Of course I don't want to pay him moving costs before closing. Can I offer to reimburse his moving costs after he actually moves out? Should I have this in the PA contract or in a seperate contract, If so, how much is appropriate?
Thank you.

Thank you, Darryl and Demos. I'm amazed at how seemingly simple this should be, but I always feel like right after I make the offer someone's going to jump out of the wall saying, "What in the $%^$ are you doing?!!"

A deal I am currently contemplating involves a simple plot of land in the midst of high-end homes. Is there anything special I should be concerned with? It actually sounds easier than doing a property. Can I use the same offer form that I would use were it a house? How would I back out of the deal should I not be able to find an assignee? There's no inspection it seems, so I can't use that. Subject to partner's approval, maybe?

How about pricing? That's probably a whole other ball game, but if you have a tip...

I'll certainly check the investors you mentioned, Darryl. Now, let's check these walls here...

Here's the situation: I'm finding FSBO's on CL and similar pages and then calling up the owner for some details. Then I'm thinking to myself, "OK, I'll just make a low-ball offer, then list back on--CL! Should be able to clear 5k on an assignment."

But I can't get past the fact that all I'm doing is inserting myself into someone else's deal, cutting out some of their profit, and doing the same thing they're already doing. Is this legitimate?

Tx,
jp

Thank you, both. That helps.

jp

Terry, it's an ageless question. One mentor with whom I've worked always skirts these types of issues with the likes of...

"I work with many partners, any of which are qualified to take title."

I have found it's not unusual for a seller to broach the topic, even accidentally, early on. I don't try to hide what I'm doing. If I plan on assigning, then I give them the above explanation. If they don't like it I try to explain the process a little. If they still don't like it I say "thanks" and politely end the conversation.

Hi Jonathan,

It's always possible to run in to some bad apples, but I think the majority (and then some) of the investors you are likely to meet are and will be honest and forthright with you.

That being said, definitely have an agreement signed between the two of you as to what each of your responsibilities are and how costs/profits are to be split. Paying a lawyer to draft or look over the agreement is (IMO) optional if you can get someone knowledgable to review it for free or perhaps have it looked over by Prepaid Legal.

I recently hooked up with someone to teach me how to broker notes, and he let me write the agreement (but reviewed and modified it). He's a great guy to work with. I had the luxury of knowing him via a real estate investors club before doing this, though.

If whomever you work with isn't conducive to having your input on the agreement, I would likely not join up with him or her. If you can't work with him at that point, why would you expect that to change?

Good luck.

From several posts I've read it seems that flipping and/or assigning mobile homes is not too different from doing the same with SFH's. However, when I told a friend that I was going to assign a contract on a mobile home he cautioned me that this might be legally more complex than for mh's and generally discouraged me from proceeding. (He's currently studying for his real estate broker's license.)

I have heard that mobile homes come under the purview of the DMV. Are there added complexities with mh's that would make flipping and/or assigning them undesirable?

Thnx in advance--jp

General related question--Do hard money lenders exist who will fund 100% of the purchase + rehab (assuming it all totals no more than, say, 65% ARV)? I'm getting a lot of 60% / 40% (lender/me) splits of purchase price.

Craig, does your firm fund in CA?

Thnx,
jp