All Forum Posts by: Jeremy Kalaf

Welcome to BP, Alyxaundria.  I am Upstate NY (Oneida, Herkimer, Madison, etc counties).  I do a TON of direct marketing in my area.  If you want to give me the criteria of the type of properties you are interested in owning up here, I'd be happy to pass some good opportunities your way.  Just send me a private message and we can go from there.

And don't forget about Subject to and owner finance options.  Get creative!  You don't need a bank to hold great properties.

What kind of investing are you looking to do?

There are plenty of opportunities in rural areas.  You can be the big fish in the little pond.

Welcome!  Enjoy the community, BP is great!

What is your goal?  Do you want to flip? Wholesale?  Own long term?  It depends on what you want to do before spending money.

And this Jeremy agrees with the first Jeremy.  Marketing is key.  You start direct mailing to vacant, or absentee owners with equity, and you could wholesale a few houses per month, and get your machine running.  Even 2 $1000 deals/month can make a huge difference.  Bandit signs.  YouTube marketing.  Test test test.

You said you went to school in Upstate NY.  What county?  How long were you there?  If you know that area, that's great, but you really need to be local to where you invest starting out (depending on your goals).   Investing in NYC might be tougher.  I know there are tons of people on the forum here that are in NYC, hopefully they will chime in.

Good luck!

I would recommend a smaller broker.  They will be more eager to work with you, and would have less stringent requirements.

You might be able to negotiate a flat deal split instead of the typical 50/50 split.

Do you have any desire to own a brokerage?  Maybe you could take over after a few years if you find the right small time broker.

When you drive around, look for the For Sale signs that look small time. Or ask around at the REI club meetings. You can also see if any local mortgage brokers, attorneys, or title companies can recommend or know smaller Brokerages.

Good luck, welcome to BP!

Welcome!  I'm over in Oneida County.

What are you looking to do in Real Estate?  

Todd touched on a few key questions, but another very important thing to consider is the lender for the mortgage.

A foreclosure and short sale are two different scenarios though; don't get them confused.  Short sales can't have equity, by definition. An owner can be upside down on a mortgage, but still be current on payments.  They could talk with the bank about a loan modification; though it is rare.  A foreclosure can have equity, with an owner who stopped making payments during repayment.

Many big banks (Wells, BoA, etc) use a system called Equator to analyze the foreclosure process.  This makes working with the bank nearly impossible, since it's completely automated.

Does the property have equity?  If so, you can purchase, or take control by catching up the payments.  If it doesn't have equity, and you can show really good distressed comps, you might be able to handle the short sale on your own.  You can ask the bank for their short sale packet and proceed that way.  If the bank is big, it might just end up being a referral, as your time and effort can be spent elsewhere on better deals.  

Least that's what I do in NY.

Good luck.

Josh,

Welcome!  I'm also in Upstate NY, and have been working part time for about 2 years.  You are in the Rochester area.  What county/counties are you focused mainly?

Upstate NY does have some counties that are tough to work, but they all really have potential. If you want to start out, wholesaling is the easiest, and can out money in your pocket quick.  Then, use those profits to market targeted groups.

You really have to know your sweet spots. Some zip codes have properties you can prehab, rehab, and wholesale. And there will areas that you should avoid altogether. But census data from 2000 or 2010 really isn't helpful. You need to look at the last year of home sales, and the best way is with a friendly Realtor that has MLS access.

Obviously I could go on for hours, and a post isn't the best place.  But you can do it in your area.  Feel free to message me and I'd love to touch base.  I get leads from all over the state, and maybe we could work together on things.

Good luck,

Jeremy

You can try Chris Goodson, Goodson Law Firm.  VERY experienced in Real Estate law, located in NJ, but does NY, too.  He's closed for me upstate, but his forte is more your area and NJ.  I am almost positive they can give you help you need.  And they might be able to refer you to a good Title Company, too.

Google their number, and when you call, ask for Veronika.  She's fantastic.

The foreclosure process in NY is very slow, I've talked with sellers that haven't made payments in 2 years.  I am in Upstate NY.

Purchasing a list and direct marketing to them might be a small upfront fee to purchase and mail, but it's targeted and will save you time in the long run.  Time is finite, money is not.

One thing you might want to look into is a mortgage lates list.  Focus on 120+ days late, these people might be more motivated before the foreclosure notices start.

If you want to still work on the pre-foreclosures, NYS has Lis Pendens, I believe, not NoD.  Realtystore.com and foreclosures.com both have that information.  Realtystore.com is super cheap, I pay $5/month for their data, but I can not vouch for their accuracy -- I haven't used them in a while.