All Forum Posts by: John Stokes

Ok, so here is the real-life scenario:

A friend of mine is currently living in a property willed over to him by his mother 6 years ago when she passed. According to him he has been living there although he never finalized the Probate process. So, technically, the house isn't even in his name yet...?

He's now $11k behind on property taxes and the house is up for auction on April 24th 2017.

The house has every possible problem from aesthetics, to sewage issues, lead paint, and even mold.  

He has an offer from a wholesaler attached below...

What I cropped out to edit out his name says 

"Received from BUYER 1 and BUYER 2 Husband and wife herein designated as BUYERS, the amount set forth below as earnest money deposit on account of the purchase price of $140k  for the real property situated in 123 MAIN ST USA

The Seller by virtue of a will and a probate which will begin within 5 days of the acceptance of this agreement, SELLERS NAME, now residing at the residence"

The rest of the Agreement is below. 

He's behind on the taxes, never took ownership in the 6 years living there.

The offer he has doesn't seem all that bad...

My question is this...He wants to stay there for another year if possible and I happen to know a wholesaler here locally that would jump if the numbers were right.

Given the circumstances, what is the BEST deal possible for all 3 parties? I'd like to make my buyer (the investor) a sweet deal...I'd like my friend to come out on top...and I'd like a cut... ANY TIPS? 

Thanks for the replies. 

Dawn.  I may just have her do that.  Thanks again. 

So...need some advice.

My 17 year old daughter is living with my mother...long story.

Point is..they just rented an apartment, 1 year lease. Been there about 2 months now. The on-site property manager is a woman of Spanish descent, so are my mom's upstairs neighbors.

The upstairs neighbors are exceptionally loud and rude about it. I don't necessarily think it's the adults that are rude, it's the lack of adults. The mom, as I understand it is a single mother and hey kids are babysitting other kids? Something like that...point is they are EXTREMELY loud. And when my daughter bangs on the ceiling to signal them to calm down...they stomp back. My daughter has gone up and politely asked them to calm down...they stomp louder.

I went to the office and very sternly complained...only to hear them make excuses...

"they do live upstairs so you have to expect some noise"
or
"We have notified them...it's not our fault"

Just yesterday, my mother went up and complained. The neighbor (a Spanish woman) and the manager (another Spanish woman) and my mom all talked. (my mom is a Vietnamese immigrant---before any accusations of racism start flying around) When they spoke, according to my kid, the 2 Spanish woman joked and laughed and then told my mom they've been renting for 10 years with no complaints...so sorry.  

Needless to say...I'm not happy. Suggestions?

Thanks that sounds like what I was thinking, appreciate the advice!

Ok, so I haven't been on the site or even in the real estate game for the past couple months, life took me in another direction so although I've been keeping up with the state of the housing market (I was even about to get work as a short sale processor doing Admin work then activate my license move into Negotiating with the banks on short sales, but that doesn't come with base pay and negotiations can take months!) I admit, I'm a little out of touch and need some advice.

IF and I'd like to stress the IFiness of it...this is all hypothetical, but IF I found someone with a network of buyers and could submit houses to them for a potential sale and I myself didn't have any sellers nor the time to prospect for motivated sellers and get the properties under contract, can i get a wholesaler with properties to sell, that he/she has under contract to assign the property to me, then me to end buyer?

If so, how would I structure the contracts so that I am not at risk? I assume the wholesaler to me contract would have to be a unilateral option contract where as I have the option to sell the property but am not obligated to buy, then me to end buyer would be the same thing?

Any advice from Realtor's, investors, or just really smart people who can Google their *** off and get the correct answer would be appreciated.

Again this is all hypothetical but if it does become a real situation I'll let anybody with properties to sell/assign know. Or you may not hear from me again until winter! Either way, clarification on this topic at the very least would be nice, I hate not knowing the answer! :help:

Check out my new post...
http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/79/topics/47764-partner-with-me-

Had to vent!

To be clear, what I found offensive about Jason Gilbert's "course" was that I was ready to study.

Learn the Commercial side of REI from a seasoned vet, I assumed it may be similar to a CCIM education, with of course the focus being on MLO acquisitions.

Nope, just more Hype and Fluff...

By the way, Bob, what exactly was your experience with "Dandrews"?

Thank you Bob and Jeff for the advice, so are you saying there's no magic pill (or course) that will make me rich by simply ordering it?

Just Kidding, sometime these "Guru's" seem to be offering just that...as someone with a background in sales, I find it to be intellectually offensive.

Jason Gilbert was just that, his "course" was pretty much this...
find a distressed "Recession Resistant" improved property such as a self storage facility...
convince the owner to sign it over via a MLO (Master Lease Option) based on it's current under performing state.So your asking the owner to Lease it to you for the SAME amount of income it's currently generating...
Improve the properties performance (raise the NOI-lower expenses) to gain instant Positive Cash Flow, any income the property generates above and beyond the Lease rate is pocket cash.
Exit...either exercise your option and buy then re-finance or flip etc.

O.K., sounds great, in fact in theory it is great. But what I just covered above, is pretty much what the course covers. They just fill up 200+ pages and 7 or 8 DVD's saying the same thing. Their phone sales team charged my card after explicit instructions not to and when I wrote in w/ a complaint I was ignored.

His "course" teaches exactly what I wrote, nothing more. If you have CCIM and Commercial Investing experience then you may be able to put it to use, otherwise, he baits you in with just enough info. to get you excited but not enough so that your confident to go do deals....

So there's a Easy Button fix, just "partner with him" and get your Hands on training plus a percentage of the deal. Problem is, after e-mailing Brokers with his criteria I quickly found that the standards he has for partnering on deals....is completely unrealistic. Or should I say, a great deal..IF you can ever find one.

Thanks for the heads up on Craigs List, I've done some PPC before so I am familiar with the arena and the costs, I had my reservations about C.L., I mean within 20 minutes your ad is buried. PPC can be costly and generate dud leads as well. I feel like there is a way to target the buyers/sellers and generate quality leads on autopilot.In fact I KNOW there's a way...Thanks for the input!

I agree, I have looked into CCIM as an way to further my education. I plan to start with residential as a foundation, thanks for the input.