All Forum Posts by: John Collins

I am trying to get into auction on my first foreclosed. It's not where I started, but there are certainly much, much better deals from auctions and foreclosures as opposed to the usual buy low price. 

I have already done a walkthrough and had a plumber do a pressure test on all the pipes. Looked at everything like the ac units, attic, etc. So I did my due diligence before entering auction, and now have to see how things go when dealing with the bank who has a high reserve price. 

Took the survey.

Wanted to add I am more than happy to upgrade memberships if some form of consolidated comps are provided. What houses in the neighborhood or surrounding area rent for , all sales in the past 3 years, median home value for the surrounding area (or block if it's in a crowded city), etc. Right now, it's stuff I have to click on each home manually to figure out. 

I wouldn't ever want an algorithm to do any kinds of predictions or forecasts for me - that is my job and my judgment. This information allows me to determine whether a house is worth investigating further and accurate bids to make on it. 

I am looking at a foreclosure auction and the bank took control because there was law fraud involved. Now the person who previously lived there is on the records and anyone can google their name and find this information. How much does this affect future renters or buyers ? 

It is a lot more than a basic $ per sq ft price.

When you are fixing damaged drywall with mud, matching texture (in texas most walls are textured), using primer to cover terrible old smells, then going on with a new layer or 2, dealing with trim that is damaged, it isn't always as straight forward as it seems. And when you do the job yourself, do it right, you can find that what you thought would take a week takes a month for bigger houses (not 750 sq ft). 

Paint is one of those things that you can do yourself, but you need the patience to do it right. I find if done properly (bigger expense initially) it can increase rental value greatly. 

And yes, I have used zillow etc, but they miss a lot of lots I see when I drive by neighborhoods. 

I am not looking at huge developments, but smaller ones for small but sleek sfh construction. I know there are neighborhoods with empty lot signs I can see as I drive by, but is there a consolidated source online for me to find these lots so I can do by due diligence into the local regulations, HOA laws, build codes etc?

Keep in mind at this price, even though you may live in a low price real estate area, there is alot of turnover, the areas may have high crime and tenants have no incentive to look after the property. 

If you buy a home for $40k and put in $10k worth of upgrades, can you get $500 in rent per month? Are these high vacancy areas? Are there any developments coming up in the area?

Obviously these are the basic questions to start out with, and you have to do more diligence on the property itself along with an inspection report, but I suggest jumping in once you do find a property you can work with in your budget. 

 They've been trying to sell it since June 2019 at market, no one bit, in September 2019 did upgrades and the price went up $100k. It definitely had potential before the jump but I had not spotted it then and was very busy during the summer. 
Looking at it I would say about $40k in upgrades with a reasonable contractor were done and half of that in poor taste. Stupid almost. They've come down a bit in the last 2 months, about $10k, but I think it's unreasonable and would just want to offer initial market +30k at most. 

Little math here, started off at x (which was market for homes in area).

Went to x+$100,000 after $40k in upgrades, I am willing to offer x+$30k. I am more than happy to justify my reasoning even if it comes off as too blunt (not always appreciated in the south). 

Is there etiquette in how low you've gone for formal bids? My issue with a house is that yeah, the previous owner had upgrades done in order to push the price before selling, but they're in poor taste and I would do over some of them. As I add to my portfolio there are certain homes I just don't see at being anywhere close to the asking rate. 

Meh, I'm kind of happy for SF for sticking up for these low income guys. It's the priciest real estate market in the world where highly intelligent teachers can't even afford to live anywhere close to the city. The constant money from China is making it a hostile market for anyone who isn't working for tech, and we can't be so short sighted as to hate on the actual workers of society. Most of the character of the city has been destroyed by the influx of money as well with everything looking homogenized and sterile, just how millenials like it.