All Forum Posts by: Kevin B.

@Dion DePaoli

Really appreciate the detailed response. Probably the easiest to understand description of foreclosure process I've read.

@Jay Hinrichs

I think that's exactly why the bank doesn't want to do anything about the property--they don't see any value in paying more money to get the property off their books. However, what really sucks is the city can't seem to enforce them to pay the fines levied on the property.

That's really the biggest issue with these abandoned properties, is despite the blight in the city, the inspection team seems completely powerless in enforcing code and taking over vacant structures. NJ state laws are no help either.

Can you explain your first sentence? Would that imply that this bank would have to list the property for auction? Or getting foreclosed by someone else=more inaction?

Same for being wiped-out? I am willing to spend the $500 and a bit of time to get it auctioned off to hopefully someone who will maintain it, since this will enhance the marketability of my other property.

It's not one of the big five banks, but it's another large operation that appears to be collecting on delinquent properties and refusing to auction off abandoned properties.

I think the other two outstanding liens on the property are tax liens. Could I somehow reach out to the PA holder to ask them to initiate the foreclosure?...

I was hoping someone with lien expertise can help me understand how they work.

Background: a neighbors house has been abandoned for quite sometime now (2009?), property is in pre-foreclosure but bank/company "servicing" the property hasn't done anything. It's essentially a zombie foreclosure. Property is falling apart and township inspection team is levying fines which are ignored by bank/company. Other lien-owners exist for this property (one from PA and another from Australia?).

What I want: I would like the home to be foreclosed so this stupid bank is no longer in charge of this property.

Question: Can I buy one of the new liens on the property and initiate some process to foreclose on it? If so, what are my responsibilities? (For instance if I buy a $500 lien--which I don't mind just to get things to change, can I be saddled with the burden of owning place/fixing it up/etc?)

I am a complete novice and reading up on how liens work hasn't been particularly useful.

Jim,

Almost all of the biz owners/quote providers I have brought in have given me quotes with retail-like markup. Same has happened to my brother on his home/rental projects.

Mindy, 

Fix and flip can certainly exist if you do the work yourself or (I assume) find sub-contractors who don't charge you retail rates. I was hoping others would share how they go about finding these individuals/teams.

I don't disagree that some of them seem high, but I have to be honest that I have been getting various retail quotes for my own projects that aren't too far off from those listed (for instance, wood exterior door install of similar to their quote of $1200 for a steel door).

If they are indeed high, can someone suggest how one can avoid over-priced bids and actually get contractors to do reasonable business with you? I have pointed out to a couple of them that they're effectively charging $100+/labor hr.

What am I missing?

Wanted to throw this information out there and understand it further:

http://www.remodeling.hw.net/cost-vs-value/2016/

There's a number of articles on the web citing the above reference (saying do the top 4 in your area, and don't do the bottom 4, etc). However, effectively the returns for all of the updates are negative (except for 1 maybe, attic insulation), so the logical solution is to not do any remodeling prior to selling.

So if you're expected to pay retail to contractors, is it safe to say you should generally leave the property as is prior to sale?

Wanted to share my experience with everyone on this thread after reaching out to Angie about her approach. I previously had posted my listings on Postlets and Craigslist for a month in a not-so-great neighborhood. I would have to sift through ~10 phone calls a day and another 5-7 "I am interested" responses on Zillow and Hotpads, etc. Most of them were a waste of time, in that they did not have the right income requirement, were trying to fit 7 people into a property of 1000 sq ft size, etc. It was completely exhausting. I reached a point where I offloaded the property to a realtor, who quickly got fed-up screening the property for me (she stopped responding to all notices and calls and just took applications from other realtors stopping by to show the property--lesson from that experience is to not sign a contract for longer than 3 weeks with realtors for renting out a property). In the meantime, I knew there was a better approach and with Angie's help, I was able to set-up a domain name/website for my listing, with a description and a re-direct to youcanbook.me to set-up appointments (this was especially useful for me as I am out of state, and wanted to limit my appointments to 2-3 general slots per week). Once set-up, I was able to secure tenants in a week and a half. This was also a lot cheaper than ShowMojo ($99 vs $12 Google Domain, $7 hosting, $10+4 YoucanBook.me).

Several more tips:

-Create 2 (or more) Craigslist listings and renew every other day to keep one of them fresh and near the top

-Prominently display URL at the beginning and end of listing description to re-direct applicants to site

-Do not share phone reference in your Craigslist listing--just place site URL to redirect them to book

-Use Rentlinx to post on ALL of the same sites that an MLS listing gets posted on (except listings on Trulia for some reason disappear in a few days)

-Use a same-area-code Google Voice number (if you're out of state), and adjust greeting to state that to schedule a showing must be done only via website and voice mails are only for previous applicants (you will need this as Rentlinx will share it with other sites unfortunately.. there is no workaround). Adjusting your greeting will convert the majority of your voice-mails into missed calls

-When setting up listings (through YouCanBook.me), mandate they state number of adults, income, etc (whatever you deem necessary to initially screen applicants). Also leave a comment/question box (will help you eliminate them when they ask if it's okay that they have a pitbull or mastiff, etc).

-You will need to pay youcanbook.me to schedule multiple appointments in one slot (I had group showings for a given 30 minute block). I also paid for SMS reminder messages for applicants.

-Come up with copy-paste email response redirecting applicants to your site if they express interest to you via the form on Zillow, HotPads, etc. Obviously do not share your Google Voice number in your email.

Ignore all missed calls / voice-mails (I had 74 total in the week and a half) and good luck!

@Trevor Ewen

It's in Hamilton, NJ.

Thanks everyone for your responses. There are two NARPM individuals sort of nearby so I could reach out to them.

Rently appears too risky for me--considering my area, I think one could easily steal piping/furnaces/cause damage to the place while no one's there, or even squating, which would require going to court.

ShowMojo is worth giving a try if it cuts down on my screening time and avoid phone calls altogether. If I can pool visitors to 3x a week and have them screen themselves out using their system, I could possibly come up myself that often to show (though would be nice to pay someone $25 to show up for a half hour instead?) Does anyone have any experience with ShowMojo?