All Forum Posts by: John Apple

I’m buying a property that has a reverse mortgage. The seller hasn’t paid in years and she recently got a foreclosure notice from a lawyer hired by the mortgage company. Do I pay the later fees at settlement and how much should I expect to pay?

I found a decent single family investment property in suburban Philadelphia. The ARV is 260k and the purchase price is 185k. Estimated reno of 20k.

Here is the catch: 12k owed in utilities/taxes AND the owner (executor) wants 5k on the side for giving me the the deal because this is an estate sale (reverse mortgage). 

Also, the property has been vacant for over a year. I remember reading about a horror story where an investor purchased a vacant property where the pipes ran dry and they basically exploded when tenants moved in, causing a major headache. This would be a big concern of mine. 

My plan would be to move in for at least 6 months, since I'm moving out of my parents anyways and gradually do the renovations one by one (mostly cosmetic). Then, I would refinance it and rent it out. 

I have 35k in savings, so i would definitely be stretching it thin. However, from what i read, doing cosmetics first, then refinancing would give me enough capital to do the expensive reno's later on such as the roof and boiler. Maybe someone can clarify that one for me. 

I'm new to the investing scene so please go easy on me lol. 

Thanks for the input, Dan! What initially intrigued me was hearing that HUD paid a full 3% and did all of the negotiating themselves. They also do inspection and ensure the property is vacant before the agent gets involved. however, a lot of what you said makes sense.

I've been researching ways to find legit connections that will lead to REO listings. I am willing to do BPO's to start out, however, I cant seem to find info on those either. Contacted the HUD asset manager for my area and heard nothing back. I know CARES is prohibiting foreclosures right now, but I think there will be a high demand for REO agents once foreclosures start again in the coming months. Am I correct in this prediction, or is trying to position myself for REO listings a waste of time?

Comedy 😂

Thanks everyone for the support and advice! I am just finishing up my first year in the business, so I still have a lot to learn. I think where I went wrong was allowing them a ‘break’ and not reaching out as much as I should’ve as they paid off debts. I figured we put in multiple offers and were declined every time, so I thought they were frustrated with all things real estate and needed time off. I’m in the Philadelphia area where the market is just bonkers. I did send them a text this morning and found out the agent is related to the wife, so I guess it doesn’t hurt as bad. Although, they’re restaurant owners and I work for them a few nights per week. Needless to say the work environment will now be pretty awkward lol.

@Peter M. 

I Certainly won’t go against my broker. However, I do want to make sure he isn’t wrong considering it was a $500,000 property. from everything I read online, they are enforceable. Thanks for the input!

I have buyers who I spent the last 3 months driving all over the county showing properties to. We recently took a ‘pause’ as they paid off debt to get a higher preaproval. Then, yesterday I came across a Facebook photo of them with another agent and a ‘sold’ sign. Is there anything I can do? We signed a buyer agency agreement but my broker told me those are barely enforceable and not worth the time to pursue legal action.

I am a new agent who is finding it difficult to get my first listing. I recently started running ads and I'm wondering if it's legal to say something to the effect of "I can save you thousands on the sale of your home". There is nothing misleading about this, since I would gladly reduce my commission in order to get a deal. Also, I read the NAR ethics and advertising guidelines and found nothing that said this would violate. The only thing that concerns me is that I have never seen an ad like this. Is it just because most agents don't want to cut their commission or am I missing something in terms of legality?

Im a new agent, so I'm willing to make sacrifices to get my foot in the door. I recently saw a Kevin Ward vid, where he said instead of reducing commission, offer a "rebate" at closing for reviews online and names of people likely to buy or sell. Some have said it's perfectly legal to give sellers their money back at closing, while others have said it may be in violation of RESPA. Kevin has been in the business for decades, so I would think he knows what he's talking about. Any thoughts on this?