All Forum Posts by: Kevin K.

@David Sicherman @Jon Holdman Thank you guys for the info. Here in Chicago it's done with an attorney, so am I to understand that the attorney should clear up anything prior to sale, and those fees would be accounted for in the closing costs of the property?

@Jassem A. @John Cimino Thanks to both of you. I keep running into the question of "Well if it's such a good deal, why has it sat on MLS for over a year?" Once I get a better feel for what's a good or bad deal I'll get a little more confidence in longer-listed properties.

I'm looking to schedule a viewing of a house that appears to be a pretty good deal.  Asking 57,600 on it, 1700 sq ft, in an area that has similar houses going for 240k and up. Since I'm new to this industry, and being the usual cynic, I'm wondering if there is a possibility of any outstanding debt that would have to be paid on a property outside of the asking price.

i.e. is there a potential for backtaxes? does the new homeowner have to assume the responsibilities to those unpaid debts? Secondly, is it a possibility for a previous owner to simply abandon the house with an enormous balance remaining on their loan, which the bank then carries over to the new owner?

@Dave Visaya Thanks! The digging's already begun!

I'm curious what the forum finds to be the most effective means to find their properties. I imagine driving around does well, if not the best.  I get the sense it'd be the best way to find the truly good deals before anyone can see the listing online. 

Whenever I'm searching for properties via Redfin / Trulia / Zillow, I never know how accurate the sites are and tend to think if a house has been sitting up there for a few months, it must not be a good deal.  Would anyone agree with that?  

@Vala Shahabi @Mike York 

@Dmitriy Fomichenko 

@Michele Fischer I've been reading that the Seattle market is pretty tough to break into. Property values are going up with the population expanding so quickly. You get the same sense living over there?

Thank you for all the well wishes. (Especially on tagging. Would never have figured that one out)

Hello BP members,

I'm a new member here looking into real estate property in Chicago and eventually Seattle. I'm currently doing research towards my first big step, that first house flip, and I hope to become more and more familiar with all of this as I go. I hope to meet as many people as I can through this forum. (I believe every person on here has something they can teach you from new members to pros, REI or not. ) Hope to start talking with everyone very soon!

Kevin 

I was wondering what tips or ideas or tools even that members use to judge how much you could potentially get back on a flip.  

I'm looking at a house right now that's foreclosed for 59,9. Pretty big. 1100 sq ft. I would judge the return on it by prices of homes in the area of simliar square footage ,however they seem to be anywhere from 80-90k all the way to 250k. 

I can't really employ any "70%" rules because I'm not sure if 59,9 is a good price or not.  The home's been on the market here for 4 months now.