All Forum Posts by: Richard Wormwood

Exactly. There are a copious amount of listing rolling through Zillow currently that are just that!

The listings are "Rent to Own" copies of legitimate listings for pennies on the dollar. They have valid contact info and arrange a "showing" of a vacant property. Then get a few signatures on an application, secure a deposit and then vanish.

Only after the money is gone do the potential buyer find out the person wasn't the real agent and the listing was fraudulent.

@David Zheng

Enter the "Non-Answer"

Rather than complaining, whining, b****ing about people asking you for the "Golden Ticket"; give them an answer that will sate their palate without encroaching on your territory.

Everyone (including yourself) wants more information to make a move and make a buck. It's human nature to want as much as possible for as little as possible. It is also the basis of our fantastic capitalist nation.

So give them some crumbs, such as the method you used to find the property. Like many have said before me; they can have every tool in the chest but it doesn't mean that they will know how and when to use them.

Besides, one of those people you are getting mad at, could very well "have been" your next buyer or seller.

Negativity gets you nowhere.

@Vitaliy Merkulov They could easily take down or limit their account as soon as they read that clause in the account. It would take a tech savvy person about ten minutes to strip their profile down to "acceptable" by any person's standards.

Just so you know.

It's a good idea and will undoubtedly save you from some headaches.

Since you're doing business in real estate using funding for investing in real estate, any profit wouldn't be UBTI. (A CPA can confirm or correct)

If I am understanding what you are asking, you'd be investing through the LLC. Now, we are in the process of doing this ourselves and from what I have been told by our administrator is that there are two ways to do this. You can either use your 401k to invest in the company on its own by "buying shares" or you can "loan" the LLC money for each transaction.

Either way, I recommend filing for the S-Corp exemption for the LLC so it acts as a "pass-through" entity.

Rate, pre-payment penalty, simple or compound interest, minimum/maximum loan term, fees, payout split, foreclosure process, insurance and beneficiary...

Personally, I would ONLY do it through the company name unless it's a good friend/family and someone you can trust.

I would also get a lawyer involved to draw up the contract if the partner doesn't have one already.

Sounds like a SCAM since it is very similar to the MASSIVE scams being run on Zillow right now.

They find the property listing, duplicate it and then list their contact info. They will take your "fee" or "deposit" and then break all contact. Run the address through ALL real estate listing sites you can to find a duplicate listing. I bet you the prices and stipulations are different.

It's not a bad idea, but I don't see it working well in any aspect:

1) Anyone savvy with social media can "ACCEPT" you request and just limit what you can see as an "ACQUAINTANCE" or simply make their profile invisible to anyone but those who know their contact info (of which they can give you different).

2) Could be a turn off for anyone that has privacy concerns. That being said, most individuals with severe privacy concerns don't have social media.

I see no legal ramifications for having this in the contract but in all honesty, are you really going to keep track of it? Is it worth your time?

Just give the neighbors your contact info and tell them if they continuous infract against rules to call the police if they are a nuisance and even include a nuisance clause in the contract.

@Abdul Jami

As @Arpan Patel stated, local professionals are going to be the key. Online services can be helpful, depending on how good your county records are but when it comes down to it; realtors and brokers are going to have a pulse on the market. Sit down with a couple of them each week and get their perspective on the market. Come up with a line of questioning that you ask every one of them and you'll start to form a VERY clear picture of what is going on.

Any real estate professional that is worth their weight will be willing to take 15-30 minutes to talk with you on the market. Just tell them you're looking to buy half a dozen homes in the next year and they'll give you just about any bit of information you need in order to get your business.

Live and learn I suppose.

1) I would suggest all future tenant agreements to factor this in as to protect you from potential liability.

2) Get a company to salt for you and factor it into the rent/expenses on the property.

You need to find the cause. I am not sure how your county records are but you'll need to gain access (hopefully online) and research the foreclosures. There is a VERY good possibility that these foreclosures are what some refer to as "shadow inventory".

Essentially, during the housing bubble a number of banks could no longer foreclosure due to liquidity issues, so they just sat on properties and over time have foreclosed. So there is a VERY good possibility that these homes have technically been foreclosed for years but only recently has the process been accelerated through the courts.

Another possibility is something I found in about five seconds from a Google Search:

Seniors face more foreclosures as reverse mortgages bite back

Home foreclosures up sharply in Massachusetts

Both articles are nearly a year old but foreclosures can linger and continue even a year after the problem starts.

You'll need to analyze your market and determine if the properties you're looking at will move.