All Forum Posts by: Joseph Cox

No seller will entertain offers without POF.

Realtors will not consider a offer without POF. Even if he has to show the seller your offer by law, he will advise the seller not to consider it without proper POF.

Additionally, when POF is a given in transactions nowadays, not providing any POF raises so many red flags, the seller would literally be stupid to execute the contract.

I think @Annie Bliss gave you the best advice so far if you really have a great deal.

Everything looks great (apart from DOM)—congrats @Account Closed

Welcome to BP @Jamiah James. Deland is starting to see a flurry of new home construction by big companies like D.R. Horton, so you are getting into investing at the right time.

Welcome from another BP member in Altamonte Springs!

As you like spreadsheets, you will find the FilePlace section of the site very interesting—hover on "Resources" at the top of the page and you should see the link to "FilePlace" when the menu drops down.

If I can help you in any way, please don't hesitate to contact me.

-- Joseph

Welcome to BP @Gauri Telang – good to see people from my "neck of the woods."

Gurus are people that make more money talking about Real Estate than they do buying/selling it. That's the way I define it.

As a Realtor, I'm told to avoid Poinciana because of gangs. Thankfully I'm from north of Orlando, so it's not an issue for me.

St Cloud is having a lot of new home construction.

Just north is Lake Nona, which is seeing growth thanks to the "medical city" that is moving there.

Kissimmee has a huge vacation rental market thanks to Disney.

Find out how long he's been a Realtor, and what formula he uses to come up with his comps, like the distance from the subject property, list/sale price var%, sq. ft. var%, year built variance, how recent are the comps, and so on. You have to feel comfortable he's got good comps, which should definitely include Sold listings.

Actives only tell you what people are trying to sell their property for. Active With Contracts only tells you an offer (you don't know how much) has been accepted, just as Pendings do.

I would also ask him to put up a few Expired comps that are based on his formulae except list price.

Solds tell you what to do. Expireds tell you what not to do!

Make sure that if there are flip homes in the Sold comps, that they were financed, as this means the bank appraised the home. You'll spot a flip home from the description and photo, then you can check public records to see the sold price history.

Finally, meet him somewhere with an internet connection, so he can show you face-to-face. He shouldn't mind, as you don't have access to the MLS, or you'd be doing your own CMA's.

Don't forget the bottom line, is that he is looking for your business, so if he's interested in a working relationship, you could be onto a winner. However, he'll get bored of doing CMA's pretty quick if there's no money at the end of the day.

It's a double-edged sword. You can agree with what almost anyone writes on this subject. I think the bottom line is how you are coming by your properties. If you need an agent to source properties, it might be worth your while.

Don't forget any commission you are thinking of saving has to be split with the broker, anywhere between 50/50 to 70/30 when you start out.

Accuracy plays a large factor. Zillow and Trulia are 3rd party syndicated sites. So the information they have is often wrong or outdated. I sometimes use the "Trulia for Agents" app to Check-In properties I show, but there's been several from the MLS that aren't on Trulia, just in my area.

Realtor.com isn't syndicated, and is updated every 15 minutes. If I didn't have access to my MLS, I would use that website, or if I knew a Realtor, I would use his/her "public MLS portal" which is not the agent's website. The agent or office's website proper is a basic IDX site with a lead capture system behind it. (The added benefits of using a Realtor's portal, is that you don't get bombarded with ads, and the Realtor is able to analyze your viewing to help you find what you're looking for. Yes, he or she can enter your details into their system, but that will happen as soon as you contact an agent or click on the "More Info" or "Find an Agent" button on any RE site)