All Forum Posts by: Michael Abernathy

I've had my share of bad tenants in that place but for the most part they have been pretty good.  This is actually the first time I have rented to someone that is not in the military.  Up until now I could expect the tenant to move in about 3 years, when their duty station changed.

Nope. It is a VA loan through Navy Federal. Insurance and Property Taxes are rolled into the loan. There is no HOA or maintenance fees and the tenants pay their utilities.

It is a 2/2.5 town home on Wildwood Square Ct.  1,321SF, Garage, small back yard.

http://www.zillow.com/homes/905-wildwood-square-ct.-23454_rb/?fromHomePage=true&shouldFireSellPageImplicitClaimGA=false&fromHomePageTab=buy

The only reason I am thinking about selling is to reinvest the money locally and hopefully get a higher rate of return.

I'm not quite ready yet though.  I need to sit down and come up with some sort of plan before bidding on my first foreclosure.  It seems as if there is a ton of things to watch out for when buying foreclosures.  You would think that someone has written something that pertains to each state.  

From what I have gathered the process would be...

• Review foreclosures to find potential opportunities.
• Each listing has a link to the court documents, review those to find additional information (Names, Address, etc...)
• Research area to determine resale value, average time on market, etc...
• Pay an attorney to perform a lien search.  (This is where I am still a bit foggy.  I understand back taxes follow the property and this value can be found on the tax website in my area but is that the only debt that you inherit.  What if there is a second mortgage)
• I'm not sure the legality of it but I would also drive by and do a visual inspection.  If the house was vacant I would probably peak in a window to see if it was gutted.

Hello everyone,

A quick down and dirty about myself. I live in Jacksonville, FL., work in IT and am currently finishing up my MBA. I have a rental property in Virginia Beach, VA that I bought over ten years ago. For the last few months I have been doing a lot of reading and investigating the foreclosure market in my area. The auctions are done online and properties are listed in advance. The probablem is that you need cash on hand to purchase. I know there are a lot of things to watch out for when buying foreclosures, damage, liens, taxes, etc... but I think there is also money to be made if one is careful.

I rent out my place in Va Beach for $1,250/month.  My mortgage is around $700 and I pay a property manager 10%.  So if nothing breaks I make around $425/month.  I owe around $100K on the place and have a load with a 3.375 interest rate.  I could probably sell it for around $200K.  After all the fees I should walk away with around $85K.

The question is do I just buckle down and save to purchase my first foreclosure.  Do I take an equity loan out on my rental.  Or do I just sell it.