All Forum Posts by: Larry Moore

Whenever I have doubts about clear title on a short sale, I have my title company run a preliminary title search to see if anything is lurking out there. I have never done a short through a realtor. When working directly with the homeowner, I am able to get a good read on the situation. informing them that if I know about any liens up front, I can deal with them. Surprises at closing will most likely kill the deal and they will go into foreclosure. I get them to feel like it is a team effort, and so far, no surprises. When they are unsure, I have the title search done. Their standard charge is about $75, but they haven't charged me yet, and I don't abuse the perk. The realtor and the lender may or may not have done a title search, but I would not count on their disclosure. Your contract is with the homeowner.

One thing I would add is to learn as much as you can about the type(s) of rei that you are interested in so that you are knowledgeable enough to choose a mentor. And then, after having a good basic foundation to either move forward on your own or with the help of a mentor, ask yourself what the mentor is REALLY going to bring to the table that would make it much more profitable for you to pay handsomely for his guidance vs. going it alone (with the help of BiggerPockets and other free or almost free resources). There really aren't any "secrets" out there, just information you haven't learned yet, or, new twists on old concepts. Nothing worse than having a mentor that feels more like a monkey on your back.

Hi Dotty,

Feel free to send me an e-mail. I just did a rehab in Loves Park.

Hi Chris,

I am in your area and always looking for some of those great deals out there. Feel free to e-mail me and I will give you an idea of what I am looking for.

I came across this ad on Craigslist today:

"If you are already set up and doing BPOs, how would you like to stop having to do all the work yourself and have someone do it for you?

We have set up a network of personnel all over the Chicago area to complete the BPO process, all we need from you is the work and we'll complete them for you!

With our system and trained personnel, you can multiply the number of BPOs you are able to get paid for by a multiple of at least 10!

We do ask that you QC the work but in 99% of the orders, there are no entries requiring your attention, just your submittal.

Either you can get the orders through your login or we can, we do the work, you QC it and get paid!

This proven method will line your pockets with new found cash.

Send us your information for an immediate response."

First time I have seen this type of service. Seems like it would make it much more difficult to influence the BPO on short sales, particularly when you don't have access to the real BPO agent at the time of the walk through. Trying to track down the agent, getting the comps and supporting docs to him/her, and developing some kind of repore over the phone before the BPO is submitted would be a challenge to say the least.

Anyone run into this type of situation? I had one BPO where they sent a photographer out to take pictures, and I had to make him promise to give the agent the docs. I called him to make sure he had, and then called the agent. I got him on his cell phone as he was about to board a flight out of state, and he was not too happy to hear from me. You can guess how that one ended.

The last flu shot I received was in 1982 when I was in the Corp, and I got the flu as well. If they want to come out to my house and make me take a flu shot, they better send out one hell of a big nurse.

I am new to rehabbing and wondering what more experienced rehabbers do when faced with winter conditions and a slower market through the snowy season. In the past when I was strictly flipping properties that I had under option, I would generally shut down when the holiday season approached, around November 1st, and start marketing again toward the end of January. Now I am shifting to buying short sales and rehabbing, and will be hesitant to buy a property as we approach the end of the year, particularly if the property needs outside work that the weather would postpone. I would hate to buy a house in Nov/Dec that needed work that I couldn't complete until March/April, depending how much cold and snow we get this year (farmers almanac is predicting a bad one, and last year was worse than most). I could build in extra holding costs and sit on it for a few months, but I really hate to do that (particularly since it would be vacant), and it makes the deal tougher to negotiate with the extra spread.

How do the experienced rehabbers in colder climates cope with the winter season? I am still marketing for preforeclosures, but I am concerned that any short sale I start negotiating now will mean a potential purchase when the weather turns ugly.

Chuck's favorite close when he sells a house is: "What, you don't like my house?"

When Chuck rehabs a house, he makes the buyer do it.

I do not have anything to do with John Alexander's current program, nor do I endorse or condemn it, just know a little about it. I actually learned his Inverse Purchase technique at a bootcamp about 5 or 6 years ago, well before he got into the MLM or infomercials. It was a unique way of basically wholesaling properties. I did a few deals myself, and I personally knew of several people who also did a few deals (some more than a few) with it. No, I am not going to provide proof; as I said, it really was just a unique slant on wholesailing using the market conditions at the time (i.e. easy financing). His current program includes transactional funding, which again is not unique, and there are several sources that don't require you pay a joiner fee and have terms that are as competitive. He use to offer note buying as a way of selling homes with owner financing, but I don't think that is the case anymore with the tight financial market. He has always offered a lot of educational content with his "Programs", and I know that he is still doing so. Some probably think it is a waiste of money, others obviously don't. I re-looked at his program last year to see if there was anything of interest to me for the fee he was charging, and I passed. I think where John has brought a lot of negativity on himself is when he got into MLM (or whatever you want to call it) and infomercials. Hard to take anyone seriously with that stigma. But as someone has already said on this thread, do your own due diligence. He does offer a lot of content, you'll just have to decide if it is worth the price.

I understand your point, Mike, and in most cases you are right. I am certainly no anti-gun advocate; I have a .38 and a .22 pistol in my home for protection. But there have been instances where a homeowner with a handgun confronted a burglar in his home, a scuffle ensued, and the burglar ended up with the gun and shot and killed the homeowner. The homeowner had a gun when he needed it, but it wasn't better for him. I guess my point is that just having a gun doesn't make you safer, you have to have the right mindset and skills for it to be of much use to you or worse case, not a detriment.