All Forum Posts by: James Harkness

What do you mean, write an option of about 1% of the selling price?

Hey Meg,

Welcome to Biggerpockets! I went through much of what you are experiencing now. Made a big move in my life after graduating college two years ago to start over. I am in Philadelphia now, and was having difficulty finding a job with a Finance degree as well. Its a tough job market right now. Best of luck to you!

You are exactly right. The note will specify this in its terms. If you are talking about a residential loan, often times there are not prepayment penalties. On commercial loans however, there are often prepayment periods that would be specified in the terms of the note.

Have you heard of people saying that by applying an extra 100 dollars or so a month to a mortgage payment can reduce the term by 8 years? This is possible because the extra money reduces the principle balance and thus you are paying interest on a lower balance.

Fund manager generally refers to a manager of either a mutual fund or a hedge fund. It is not uncommon for there to be MBS as part of a hedge fund portfolio. In what context was this term dropped on you?

There are too many variables here, but I doubt that Bank of America will excuse the debt owed to them. Even if they did, the seller would take a hit on his/her tax returns for the amount of the excused debt. This sounds like it may be more complicated than you think.

Yes, as far as I know, most companies have a separate REO department. While they are in essence "asset managers", the term asset manager generally refers to those who can perform work outs on delinquent loans and try to help a borrower to keep from losing their property. Once the property is foreclosed on, there is nothing left for an asset manager to do with it, so it gets passed on to the REO department.

If these are REO's, then you don't want to speak with an Asset Manager. Ask for someone from the REO department. If you are looking to pick up a property before it goes to foreclosure, your best bet is still to get in touch with the owner of the home. They will likely have the contact information for the asset manager, and can help to get you in touch with the right contact. An asset manager will not be authorized to speak with you regarding a property unless the borrower tells them or signs a paper documenting that they can speak with you. Often, as is the case with the company I work for, there is a real estate agent in charge of the property, and all offers must go through the agent. I hope this helps. If you have any further questions, please let me know.

I am an asset manager. What are you trying to contact asset manager's about? Potential short sales?

At what stage of the investment process are you in with your 16+ properties? I have gathered info on hundreds of properties, but would not consider any of them to be part of a portfolio, and could not even begin to do anything with them until I have them under contract. Do you have any under contract? And if so, what is your intended exit strategy? If you don't have any under contract, is that where you are stuck right now? Are you looking for help in how to get them under contract?

I understand that you need help, and so do the others on this forum. However, most of us do not live in your area. Therefore, the only kind of mentorship that anyone can offer is a long distance one. This forum is a great place to receive the kind of mentorship you are looking for, but you need to supply everyone with more information in order to get the help you need.

Thanks for the reply. I have sent a letter, but have yet to hear back. I will wait a week or so and then pursue other avenues of getting in touch with the owner. Thanks again for the help.