All Forum Posts by: John M.

Thank you for your response!

I have no idea at the moment. Would I be able to ask the bank for this information? What would be the purpose of knowing this information?

I found a deal that I believe is a good one.

The property is listed at $320k and it has been on the market for over 200 days. It's a 1 story, 3bd/2br 1900 sq.ft. Houses sold within a 2 mi. radius and in the past 2 months have been 350-430k. By the looks of the outside and inside, it's definitely a rehab. People still buy homes around here at a good pace, so the market isn't as bad as others. New mall, new grocery stores and mini plazas, new residentials everywhere. The prices of properties have been decreasing an average 1-3k a month, but increasing by that much in other parts of the city. I don't think I'd be in trouble by jumping on my first deal. Though, I'm considering giving this deal to an investor if I can get the price down low enough.

The place is a complete mess, the garage is used as a bedroom, paint colors are neon colors, countertop tiles are black, everything is outdated by @ least 10-15 yrs, but no structural damages.

How much should I be offering on this REO fixerupper deal? I've heard 60% ARV is a good deal for rehabs nowadays if I can convince them; so $210k? Am I allowed to bring an appraiser or contractor to estimate cost of home/damages when I don't own the property?

Here's part of the property description:

Price to sell.
Great opportunity for investors/1st time buyers.
AS IS condition.
Buyers to satisfy themselves.

Thank you for any help!

lol, nice find.

Rich,
unless I'm missing something here, how'd you get 37k?

So because the property was sitting on a build able lot (what is this?), the buyer raised the price by 11k and you made 44k on the deal? I'm a little confused, you said in the beginning you were a realtor, but then you said here that you were an agent so you can get commission? So, if you were a regular'ol RE investor, you would be able to put the property under contract and sell it to the buyer no problem?

Ahh, the joy of confusion.

It has inspired many and It's great that it has -- but -- It can be misleading to others as well.

Going back to who sparked my interest in RDPD are my 2 friends. They are engulfed in everything about RK. Anything I say about other investors have little effect on them. They start doing the 'extreme-analogy-hypothetical'-thing alot of gurus use. If these types of gurus had a language, they'd be speaking guruyanese.

For example:
"If I had 2 choices to make: one is in my left hand... and another choice in the other hand... what would happen if I..."

"Let me tell you something, Lets say I have a million dollars..."

Everything relates to analogies and hypothetical questions that are hidden to make sense, but have no real value. This is a case where reading these types of books can have a negative impact. Too much of this reading can do this to you. Focus on real numbers, your current market, and the real world. Learning from this particular situation, I must take real action and proceed with caution. I agree that whatever works, works. I also agree that some people fail to realize what doesn't work.

Nothing I can do now but accept my 2 friends as they are and move on. I'm going to have to let them make huge errors, though they might have already by spending 1000s on promises yet to be fulfilled, but I hope they prove me wrong with their "$2000 monthly cashflow by 2009" goal. It's going to take ultra-market changes and hyper-equity, along with a complete gut job to fix these two rehabs.

just kidding.

Anywho! We'll see what happens :)

I just read through this thread, and the difference between Mike and John have furthered my understanding of RE. I was going back and forth thinking, "oh, John's right..." then "oh, Mike's right"... then in the end, "everybody is right"! If there wasn't a computer standing in between us, I'd kiss you both!

(it's probably better there's a computer between us)

Am I supposed to be able to understand those tax implications? :shock: Perhaps an example with numbers would clear this up for many.

Thanks!

Yes, that explains it pretty much, thank you. Do you think history will repeat itself?

I was born in the good'ol cook county hospital of Illinois.

Hey, I'm also going abroad for a one year contract. Going to japan as an english teacher in March and coming back the following March of 2009.

I will definitely have my heart set in Real Estate when I get back.