All Forum Posts by: Yvette B.

Will Barnard thank you. I've sure read a lot that relationships are necessary for every aspect of this adventure. Finding, analyzing, buying, lending/borrowing, legalities, fixing, selling. Whew. It's a bit overwhelming.

Would you mind sharing which web sites you like for researching inventory levels?

Karen M. Thank you for your wisdom. :-)

Karen M. Would you say that whether a listing agent also represents a potential buyer or not is a matter of the agent's integrity, or do they generally only do that when there isn't more than one offer?

Thank you Steve Babiak. Would you say that the listed REO may be overpriced intentionally? Why would that be? I read some on BP that sometimes listings are listed too low intentionally to create bidding wars. Is there some other strategy that REOs may be overpriced?

Andy Chu Thank you.

J Scott Thank you.

Thank you Andy and J Scott.

J Scott I've read on BP that if I use the listing agent for making my offers I'll have a better chance of getting it accepted, so that was the advice I was going to go with. This is the first time I've read that many REO agents won't represent buyers too. Thanks for the new info.

I've also read that having my own agent is a bad idea because they won't want to make many offers for me that probably won't get accepted. I don't want to waste their time. Would you agree?

1. Andy Chu do I call the bank and ask them for a paper contract?

2. Who do I write the EMD out to? To make multiple offers with one EMD form of payment, am I xeroxing it? If so, will I be mailing the original once I actually get accepted?

3. If I'm using the listing agent, do I simply tell them on the phone or in email why I can not buy the house, or is their a form for that?

4. NPI is new to me too. I've read that POF letters from transactional funding is often not good enough. I don't yet have contacts with private lenders, so I was going to start small with my own available cash. What form of POF do you suggest?

5. "Since bank owned properties do not like state contracts, they will send you their bank /corporate addendums that will supersede any state contract." Is this something I would ask for before writing an offer in order to save a step that they won't approve of anyway?

Thank you Andy and J Scott! I really appreciate your time.

Hi there,

I've read all about what types of offers to make to banks for REOs, but I have questions on the most basic aspects of the offers:

1. HOW do you make an offer specifically? Do you call the listing agent and make a verbal offer, send him/her an email, find a contract and fax it, ask them to send you a contract by email or fax then print and return it, or what?

2. HOW do you make an EMD? Do I write a check from my account? Who do I make it out to? Do I get a money order? Do I send the actual check or a copy? If I'm making multiple offers, do I need to have funds for each one?

3. When making a non-contingent offer, and if the bank allows a contingent period (I read that they usually do this) HOW would I be able to get out of the contract and receive my EMD back if I learn of something unacceptable about the property during this phase?

4. When proving that I have the funds in my personal account to buy the property in cash, I read that I can print out a current bank statement and cross out my account number. Should I withdraw all the balance that's over the amount that I'm offering so that they think that's all that I have, to prevent them from countering a higher amount?

5. When making offers, is there a way to make several offers at a time since most of them will get rejected, if I only have enough money for one to be accepted? If say, two get accepted, am I bound to buy both?

Thank you,
Yvette Bauman

Drew, thank you for the encouragement. I agree with you. I've had to unsubscribe with several email lists because of the many daily emails. I too have to tell myself that it's going to be harder than several of the gurus say in their emails, but it has truly worked for many people and it can work for me too. I'm nervous to begin, but will as soon as I can understand a few more aspects of the process.

Monica, than you too for the encouragement. Thanks for sharing your first step, then each step along the way as well as the timeline. That was very helpful. I read that one person had to make over 130 offers when they began before they got one accepted and that reality check was helpful too. I agree that the whole topic can be so overwhelming when new at it. Just reading your steps and getting to 'subject 2s and rent-to-owns' is hard to grasp. :-)

I ended up buying two inexpensive programs. When I first began getting emails the first three gurus courses were about $1,500 each plus the highly suggested/needed coaching was another $10k minimum. That was really discouraging. But I didn't have that much and had to keep learning and since found BP and also listened to many webinars and decided to buy two programs that were $100 and $500. One is on note buying and another on wholesaling. So far I've received the note buying course and and studying it very hard.

One challenging concept for me to learn about is transactional funding, private funding and timelines and fees for each. At first I read that transactional funding is only for a day, to flip to the end buyer. Then I read it can be for up to 30 days. If I'm borrowing from a private lender, how is that different? One thing I read is that private lending lasts for one-three months. So the private lender is not the end buyer? Would I choose a private lender instead of transactional funding if I don't think I'd have a buyer before the first thirty days is up? Do private lenders get payed a percentage per month? Do you have to have a deadline to find an end buyer for private lenders? If private lending was for one month, would it cost about the same in fees? I've read so many times to have buyers lined up ahead of time, so if I do that, why do I need a list of private lenders? Wouldn't access to just one transactional funder be enough?

As far as starting with one concept and learning it before moving to the next type, it seems that when I start talking to banks about note buying, reos will be available too, so I'll be starting with both of those possibly at the same time. Also, it seems if I start doing steps to find landlord type owners I may come across short sales and I need to be educated on how to handle those types at first too. So, it seems multifaceted and I need more studying before I feel I'll know how to communicate intelligently with these three topics. Whew, that's overwhelming. Add onto that that valuing properties correctly is a necessary skill, finding lenders and being knowledgeable enough to encourage them to work with you, and finding buyers, and putting them together.

I guess I better stop writing. This is getting too long! But my questions continue...

Thank you James & Jon.

James, I appreciate the caution to learn more before choosing an avenue, then focusing. So far I've decided to not begin with pre-foreclosures or short sales. I don't want to begin by speaking with emotional home owners. I know what they feel like, since I've been there. I've also realized fix & flips are too big of a beginning step for me. Wholesaling or note buying sound like better first steps. Or, retailing properties that I buy with hard money. Finding private investors while not having done one deal yet seems hard since evaluating the deals correctly for beginners is difficult. As far as location, the amount of a down payment I have wouldn't be enough in my local market of So. Cal, so I've been looking out of state.

Jon, thank you too. So far I've learned about and receive emails/sales pitches on wholesaling, reos, notes, renters, apartments, private lenders, government lending, back flips and more. Most of them also sell coaching. Most say they'll teach how to invest using all OPM, which is what I'd totally need after spending all my little savings. I can't afford to make the wrong choice.

I appreciate the responses. Any advice from those experienced is appreciated.

(from my original post *deer, not dear. It was the middle of the night. (-:)

Hello,

I am new to the REI world, and am learning so much. The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know. I'm a stay-at-home mom with little savings. I've read that having a mentor is important, but honestly, if I invest in one of the many mentors and their programs, I'd have no capital left to begin investing with. Should I invest in a mentor and their program or use the money as the 20% down on a little SFR in a cheaper state, with a hard money loan, to flip or wholesale? I read one article here about wholesalers not able to truly get discounted properties and then not being able to find an investor. I'm totally overwhelmed with information overload, like a dear in headlights. I truly want to begin, and have the motivation, just rather dizzy with information. Any advice would be great.

Thank you,
Yvette