All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

To me, the first offer is still the best, even with the extension.

I'd want to see it in writing from the bank that the buyer is still pre-approved with only the time factor to be met. Because it is possible that your #1 buyer has found something else and intends to get out of your contract.

Make his earnest money non-refundable to extend. (I hope you got more than $100)

The second buyer might get their sale closed, they might not. They might get their escrow closed on time, but escrows run over quite often.

Neither one of your buyers actually has the money. Buyer 2 has to sell their house and still has to get money from the bank.

If your contracts are written correctly, your first buyer should have a short window to close if your back-up buyer comes through.

You should never have sales contracts that gives the buyer unlimited time. Always put in tight deadlines so you know early if the buyer can perform or not.

"Buyers" who have nothing but dreams (no cash) will string a seller along, hoping they can put something together.

Your back-up buyer only has a few days to wait to see if she gets the house. If her escrow runs over, she might not close before your 1st buyer gets his loan.

Have the banks already done the appraisals for your 2 buyers? If not, both those offers are still shaky, because they may not get financing.

If you can't find the same type of deal, contact the ebay seller and ask him if he's interested in wholesaling to you. He's obviously very good at what he does. Take advantage of his skills.

If I've got someone who can sell me a very decent house for $12k that is honestly worth $60k-70K, I sure don't care if he's made a hefty profit on the $12k that I give him.

In fact, I hope he's made a huge profit so he wants to do it again and bring me more properties.

A word of warning here. Generally auctions are absolute and buyer beware. If there is something fishy about the title, or seriously wrong with the house, you'll have no recourse if you buy it at an auction.

I've occasionally sold a horse at auction. I would get about 10% of what I would have received with a private sale, but the animal had something wrong, temperament or soundness, and I didn't want to guarantee it.

If you are going to buy at auction, do your due diligence very thoroughly because once you buy it, it is yours.

You can use the predictions that the market is going down to negotiate a better price.

If you are long term buy and hold, it doesn't much matter what the current market value is. The only time sales price is a consideration is when you are actually selling.

Buying for long term hold is slightly different. You want to buy in areas that have the potential to go up in value. You also want to avoid areas that are slipping down into ghettos or that have some sort of long range government plans that are going to hurt values.

Don't buy were the city is placing a sewer plant 5 years from now.

I recommend areas that have something desirable about them: good weather, growing populations, close to water or outdoor sports activities. In short, buy places that people are going to want to live in, over other locations, if they have a choice about it.

I don't know about good deals in other areas, but the real estate on ebay for Oregon is often over priced and severely misrepresented.

Lovely photos are of points of interest often hundreds of miles away.

Lots of the deals are down payment plus payments. I suspect that the buyer rarely pays it off, so the property is sold over and over.

I can get better prices in those areas by going down there and contacting a local Realtor. Not that I'd ever buy in most of the areas on offer. Which is why they are cheap: nobody wants them.

Not to say that there might not be a few good deals, but you'd have to know the area and local prices in order to tell if the deal is good or not.

Reasons NOT to buy?

Crime rate
Gang activity
Horrible weather
Nothing to do unless your hobbies are shopping and gambling.

I don't know whether you can charge for your own labor in California or not. List it separately for each job and the judge will allow it or remove it. There won't be any penalty, you just won't get to claim it.

You have to send an account of their deposit to them after they move. It isn't going to be any longer period allowed than 30 days. Some states are less time, but not many of them.

The time period starts when their notice period ends. ie: if they call and say they are out and that's the first you've heard of it, that starts the 30 day notice, then you have time after those 30 days to send the accounting. But, you'd by golly better have sent that accounting.

You are supposed to give a walk-through in California, but all you have to do is say that the tenant refused to meet with you and elected to leave the keys and not be there (since that is what actually happened.).

Many tenants threaten small claims, few carry through. Get your documentation ready, just in case.

If she sues, counter sue for the full amount of all the damages, materials and labor, Not as a deposit issue, but because she did damage to the property.

I don't think a check list was required by law when your tenant moved in, so your video should be OK. I'm not a lawyer, though, and I don't own property in California.

Usually landlord tenant laws are on line. I suggest that you read them.

There are basically 2 types of tenants who will take a small place. People who need something temporary (divorce, students), and people who can't afford more (SS pensioners, people with lower incomes).

If it is a safe neighborhood and you set your criteria correctly, you might be able to get a senior living on SS who can't afford more. They won't move, because they can't afford to move.

Also, singles with moderate paying jobs are always looking for decent housing in a safe neighborhood that they can afford. The danger here is that they will meet a new boyfriend/ girlfriend who will move in and cause trouble.

So the big question is: can you rent it cheap enough to get someone who is going to stay?

That doesn't sound uneducated to me. It sounds like it was written by someone with rudimentary knowledge of English.

I'd guess from somewhere oriental.

I don't see anything suspicious with it. Lots of other countries have interest in real estate and lots of foreigners get onto English speaking web sites to practice their English.

The baby boomers only thought they were going to retire and move to Florida.

Instead, they lost all their investment in the stock market, their real estate went bust, and they probably aren't going to get much for all the social security money they paid into the system.

So, instead of retiring, they are going back to work...... if they can find jobs. Between the bad economy and age discrimination, they are really hurting.

I haven't used one, but those handsome shallow bathroom sink basins sitting on top of the counter top..... I suspect that when you turn the water on, it hits the basin, shots up the side and splashes all over.