All Forum Posts by: Karen Parker

Wow Harrison! This sounds like a similar scenario I'm living right now over my first rehab. Its been several years since I did it and I have been determined to hang onto it because it was my "first" lol! But I swear this house is eating me alive. Between taxes, insurance, renters trashing it and the mortgage company from hell with its alternating payment amount it has become very painful. I've named her Audrey, after the Venus Fly Ttap plant in "Little Shop of Horrors". I was just on the phone with someone discussing the "S" word :0

Real Estate Finance & Investment Manual by Jack Cummings. It talks about wraps and any other type of real estate financing imaginable and gives example scenarios. It has to be the best thing since real estate itself was invented.

Tim, yes, that is pretty darn good for $3500.00. A shack like that here, even needing a full rehab, would run you $30 to $40K.

Josh, you're absolutely right in the taxes being considerably less in Pasco Co. I've concentrated more in Hillsborough and Pinellas because its usually easier to sell here. Much more industry and jobs, beaches, clubs, attractions etc. But for rentals that is probably the way to go. Thanks for the suggestion.

Rob, that's why I like it here :D

Originally posted by Tim Wieneke:

Originally posted by Karen Parker:

On the other hand, if you see a post I made under "Housing Bubble..." called The Worst is Still Yet to Come" You may not want to purchase anything for a long term hold right away but wait for the next price drop.

Maybe in your market. I just picked one up for $3500. What am I supposed to hold out for? $3499?

That is the central element to this debate. There's good areas and bad areas in every state to invest in and having an "investment" property in one of every 50 states is not terribly hard if you have a portfolio performing well enough in 1 state to cover the cost of the shacks you pick up in the others. Heck you could even buy vacant lots off of ebay and accomplish the goal of having "an investment property" in every state if you wanted to and as long as you make enough money to pay the property taxes (pretty cheap if you get rural), you've accomplished that goal.

Geez! Where are you buying? More importantly, what are you buying ? lol! I'm down here where this is no bottom and still don't see prices like that on even mobile homes! I try to keep anything I'm going to hold for very long close to me. I thought seeing prices fall into the $20K range for a cardboard box down here was supreme Still they'll nail you for $25K in taxes per year on that in Pinellas Co. :violin: I suppose like you said, there's good areas to invest all over. Just like there are bad. I heard north of Tampa Bay up around Jacksonville is much better than here. Got to pick and choose your toys, but from my stand point and where I would consider a long term hold, I'll stay out of that for a while longer. I'm still recovering from the beating from that first go round. I've changed my middle name to "flipper. My main concern is if the banks were squealing like little pigs over the subprime nightmare and our economy is in this condition from just that, how much worse can we expect to see things get when all those option arms default?

Congratulate me. I've managed to run my mouth enough again this week that I was once again top poster for the week. lol!

Originally posted by Ryan Webber:

And though a verbal agreement may be legally enforceable, that does NOT mean you will win in a court of law. Winning in a court room comes from evidence, and unless you have third party witnesses to the verbal agreement, I don't think you are going to win a case over a verbal agreement.

In addition to this, even if you have an e-mail stating the agreement, if the sender denies they were the one that wrote/ sent it, the proof is on you to prove they did. I would not think an e-mail would be legally binding either unless it included an electronic signature accessible only to that person or a scanned document with their signature on it.

TY. I like it here.

Oh God! You must have just drama. I guess I better go then.

On the other hand, if you see a post I made under "Housing Bubble..." called The Worst is Still Yet to Come" You may not want to purchase anything for a long term hold right away but wait for the next price drop.

Was not mudslinging. Was stating facts.
For a direct answer to the question, I typically get online and start looking at the statistics on housing sales in given areas. For example, Charlotte looks good. RealtyTimes.com states:
"Just three years ago, you could have picked up a single family home in Charlotte, North Carolina for $168,000. Today, that same home will run you $220,000. The housing market of the center of the Carolinas keeps chugging forward as jobs continue outstripping the supply of homes."
And while many areas in Texas were doing pretty well for a while, according to the RE statistics on AOL, some areas, such as Houston are now seeing a sudden decline.

Originally posted by Mike M:

Karen, don't trip over your little sand castle in your little sand box.

I don't trip over sandcastles, I usually kick them down and throw sand in whoever's face put them in my way. It sounds like you have a few years on me but I've probably been through just as much if not more than you have but I have enough class not to go out in public and try to prove something by spouting it out to everyone.

Originally posted by Mike M:

if it isn't asking you to stretch your brain too far!!

And enough brains to listen politely whether I agree or not with suggestions being made by people that I asked for advice without being rude or insulting. It may help me think in a direction I had not thought of previously or come up with a better idea that no one had mentioned thus far.