All Forum Posts by: Jose Sison

Hi Rick, what do you mean by other characteristics?  Are you referring to other lead types such as absentee owners, preforeclosures, etc.?

I recently called the Probate Division at my local county, Fairfax County in Virginia.

They said I could come in and use their computers to search by name.  I then asked if there was a way I could get a list of current probate cases and I was told that they can't do that and that they don't usually do that.

Is this normal?  Do I need to go in and use a search function (if that exists) to pull recent probates and write them down myself?

@Angie Stephens  welcome to BP. be sure to check out all areas of the site, the blogs and podcasts are very popular. Since you are new I suggest Ultimate Free Beginners Guide

You'll find a variety of every type of investor on the site, and everyone is amazingly helpful. Some pointers for you: The "Learn" link across the top navigation bar has lots of great info, and so do BP members! You can click on the 'vote' button if you like someone's post or is helpful, and there are 'awards' to earn on your profile.  And you can tag people by typing @ before you type their name, then clicking their name at the bottom of the message box. Welcome to the site, and good luck in everything!

Welcome to BP, @Phillip Gonzales 

Thanks @Simon Campbell 

I'm not sure how it got to this point, but it went from a response to a craigslist ad to sell the property to ultimately selling the business and him teaching me how to run it.  

I passed since I'm obviously not in the business of running a restaurant. 

Thanks again!

I see, thanks for the info guys!

I have a property I was trying to get under contract from a seller who has an auction date set for later this month.

Is it normal for the bank to send an appraiser out to look at the property before the auction date?

I recently received an email from a seller in response to a craigslist ad. My ads are directed towards residential properties, but I guess it wasn't clear enough.

Now, I have a seller that claims that they have to sell the property immediately because his father his dying and needs to leave the area. The building currently designed and operated as a restaurant.

I'm not certain what I should do at this point.

Can I bird dog this to a commercial investor?

@Nereo Mendoza has a good point.

You should understand what your buyers are looking for and how it is that they are going to make a profit. I'm not one to go with 70%, 60% or 50% of ARV minus repairs. In smaller markets, you could be put in a tight situation. Take for example a house that has a $50K ARV, at 70% you're looking at $15k budgeted for transactional costs.

Let's break it down for your buyer:

Wholesale Fee: __________?

Buying costs with title company (1-4%):  $500-$2,000

Money Costs (say 3-5 points, plus 10% interest over 3-6 months for a $50k loan):  $2,500 plus $1,250-$2,500 in interest.

Holding Costs: $500 (small estimate for electricity, taxes, ins, etc.)

Real Estate Agent selling costs (6%):  $3,000

Selling costs with title company (1-4%): $500-$2,000

At this point without including your wholesale fee, we're already looking at a case where your buyer could be in for $12K, leaving him with $3k in profits and of that, he would have had to give some of that (or more than that) to you earlier in the transaction for your wholesale fee.  

My suggestion would be to do the math for your buyer's ahead of time before you make your offers to sellers.  Understand how much you want to get paid, and understand your buyer's costs and financial criteria.

I'm still trying to get my first deal in the books, but that's my two cents.

Hi Brad,

It's in Seneca Rocks.  I just googled it, and it's about 3 hours from Parkersburg.