All Forum Posts by: Christopher W.

Originally posted by Tim Wieneke:

Originally posted by Tim Wieneke:

it amazes me how many people don't get the concept that it isn't about the price

On second thought....maybe it's our natural inclination as consumers to over focus on face price without examining true cost. I don't think any of us has not had to retrain our consumer viewpoints to investor viewpoints.

I can agree with this. As a consumer, when you are deciding what product/service to buy, what is the first thing you look at? Price. Then you may look further into it, such as additional bonuses or any future costs, but for most people I think it really stops at the initial cost.

Well, initially I will flip them. Eventually, I may hold some as rentals. I also have friends here that are interested in rentals so I may wholesale some to them as a favor.

No, I have not completed any deals yet. I've been on this site since August of this year, but have been reading about real estate and investing for quite a bit longer. Honestly though, I have learned far more from this site than any book I have ever read. These people are actually out there investing and doing what they talk about here on BP. Personally, I have decided to focus on short sales and because of this site I am actually out there talking to people and Realtors trying to put something together.

So spend some time here and you will not regret it. Maybe you will even do your first deal because of it!

George, no problem. I'm a beginner as well but I know that others here can fill in the blanks with more details. But stay here, keep reading, keep learning, and (most important) keep asking questions!

Great story Wes! If you don't mind me asking, what did you get sued for?

Originally posted by George Moehlenhoff:

Can you define the terms assign and double close? Thank you.

Assign just means that you assign your contract to another investor. So say you have a contract with the homeowner for a certain amount of money. You can then turn around and 'assign' that contract to another individual for more money. You don't actually take control of the property - just put in under contract. It's more complicated than that but you get the idea.

The double close is similar to the assigns definition above, but in this case, you actually close your end of the deal and take control of the property. Once you own the property, you then immediately resell it to someone else. The two closings can stand on their own and are valid. Usually you would have to have your own funds to close the first transaction, but if you are doing a double close then you can use transactional funding instead. Transactional lenders will loan you the funds for about 24 hours so you can close the A-B transaction and then the C buyer comes in with their money to close the B-C transaction. You repay the transactional lender plus fees and walk away with a big paycheck. Again its more complicated than that but you get the idea.

Agreed with Justin that it depends on your strategy. You will also want to determine which areas you want to mail to. Pick a few areas that you would like to work in and mail to those homeowners. There are zip codes around me that I want to work in and, for personal safety reasons, other zip codes that I won't go anywhere near.

Also you are right that with too much equity the banks will consider a loan mod or refi. But that is also assuming the homeowner wants to stay in the house. Find a homeowner that knows they are in a bad spot and have to sell. Unfortunately, there is no way to know that from the list. You will have to talk to them and find out what their situation is and how you can help them out of it.

This is very true - especially for the service based industry! A friend of mine just had his house repainted. A few years ago this company was charging around $3000 - $3500 for a whole house. Two or three months ago they wanted $2000, but my friend negotiated them down to about $1500 or so. They said the economy was the main factor but they were also already on his street painting another house.

Me too!

LOL, so you basically start an auction! Come in with a low price and let the buyers bid it up rather than come in at a more realistic price and hope it gets some activity. I love it! You have to love emotional home buyers...