All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

You can revise your contract so that you have filled in most of the blanks on your computer before you print them out. then have numerous copies when you go to the sellers house. Have them sign three, and you leave a signed one with them so they know it's a done deal. then take one to the title company with your earnest money.

You need to put together an overall marketing strategy using various methods, not just one. In marketing my most recent rental, I placed a carefully worded ad in Craigslist and Backpage, with four digital photos, and I say in the ad I will email more photos upon request. Be sexy in your wording, as if you were selling the house. A yard sign of course, with a number that you can answer. I made some cheap color flyers in Publisher to hand out when showing, and placed in a yard mounted brochure holder. That was phase 1. Phase two would have been paying good money for ads in the newspapers after two weeks of free marketing. I was so inundated with calls and emails I had to fight off the prospects. :D So no phase two was needed.

Another thing you can do is advertise in your real estate investor club publication, if any, or have flyers laying out on the table for members to pick up.

Alex,
Are you saying that the seller is willing to carry the financing for you, and you want to then sell it with owner financing to the end buyer? Yes, you could sell with a wrap around note, a Contract for deed, a lease purchase, assuming the note the seller gave you does not preclude you from renting it to someone else.

Hey Ramon, Welcome! What have you done so far, have you put your specific plan together yet? Good luck, Mike

Hey Michael, Have you joined your local real estate investment club yet? That is a good way to start making those connections for building your tream. Good luck, Mike

Welcome Erika,
Good luck with your goals. Pick your entry point and go for it! Mike

Sherrill,
I wish I was active in your area, but am not. You sound like an interesting person who has alot to offer. I checked in Realtor.com - it looks like condos run from $259K for 500 SF on up to in the $800's. Debbie had a good idea about grants. Maybe you can find a way to get some of the cost abated. Good luck, Mike

Chris & JY,
It would be a great idea to have as large a buyers list as possible. Eventuially you would have a handful of buyers who use you as their eyes and ears for finding good deals. I would suggest going in there as if you are the buyer, with a partner that will have to approve the deal. That way you always have this other party you have to have the deal subject to his approval. Your not lying because the partner is your buyer. Here at BiggerPockets, there is a link to Forms and Publications. One of those forms is a Bird Dog Agreement. It's a PDF so you will have to re-type it for your use.

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forms/bird-dog-agreement.pdf

Using this form, you have a good understanding as to what the buyer owes you if you find a deal for him. Of course, he can still try to go around you, but probably wouldn't for reasoins previously mentioned.

FMV should be a combination of several sources, including:

1. A realtor's opinion
2. Your own analysis from going to open houses, and seeing what homes in the area sold for that are comparable.
3. The websites such as zillow, cyberhomes, trulia, Eppraisal, rentometer, zilpy (for rentals), and the tax assessor's site. Realtor.com also has some sold information, or your realtor can run a sold search report for you.
4. An appraisal (probably not due to the cost)

Your purchase and seal agreement should have some "outs" especially if you are not sure if the house will sell easily. An inspection clause with as long a time period as possible, is one way.

Of course in a perfect world you would have your buyer all lined up. Good luck, Mike

BM,
When you say "potential properties" what do you mean? Maybe you shoulld vary the content in your letter or the manner it gets sent. Targeted mailing lists and yellow letters seem to work best for me. Absentee owners, preforeclosures, free and clear.

Corey, Some people in preforeclosure have their homes listed, so a realtor is involved. If you are contating the homeowner directly and it's not listed, that's better. You would find out if there are any liens and what the lender payoff would be. That would be your cost, unless you could get the seller to kick in some of the cost (back payments, penalties, etc.)