All Forum Posts by: Sergey Perevalov

@Sergey Perevalov

I am a new investor, residing in Northern California, but I am looking to purchase tax deed properties in Florida.  You indicated that you are looking for investors/lenders for these type deals.  What exactly would you need them for?  Also, what is your strategy for finding contractors to work on your property.  I'm very new and have not purchased my first property as of yet, so I'm acquiring as much information as I can from other investors in this business to help me not screw up.  Thanks so much.

 I was nicely surprised how easy it was.  I was lucky that a neighbor wanted the house, and I disclosed the liens that were attached to the property, to be a nice guy, so he knew exactly what he was buying.  The sale went through easily, smoothly and only needed a notary to sign off on it.  I truly got lucky dumping it although I took a $5-7k hit on the deal...lesson learned.  My view of a quitclaim with a tax deed is if your buyer is getting a great deal, and you disclose the liens on the property, and let them know they must go through a quiet title to get clear title, I let them make the decision.  If you sell to investors, they know the deal and most are willing to get a house under contract well below market value even through a quitclaim deed.  The companies that buy UGLY HOUSES--they are in every city--they purchase this way as well.  Good luck with everything!

I was in a similar situation--bought a cheap house for 10k in a "war zone" in Ft. Myers, FL--started to rehab it, but found out I was putting a lot of effort to get minimal out.  The natives stole a lot of equipment and kept vandalizing with every step of improvement I seem to make.  It is best, if you are going to keep it, keep someone in there the whole time while it is being rehabbed--like yourself, but I understand you are out of state, so that is probably not feasible.  I finally made my exit plan to sell it when the county would not let me repair the roof if I was not going to be living in the house.  I think they were being real hard to investors who were out of county.  I saw what I was up against, found a neighbor who wanted the house...sold it via quitclaim deed so I did not have to go through the cost of a quiet title...took a 5k hit on the deal, and learned not to buy properties like that in the future.  I buy 3/2 or 2/2 in good to decent neighborhoods and rule out that factor when buying through a tax deed.  Though it may seem tantalizing through a low price, it usually costs you in the future.  I would much rather put my efforts into better properties through tax deed auctions.  There is so many other counties, not just in FL, that have better options.  I bought a property in FL, same day as the other one, for 22K--I am getting $700/month in rent now for about a year and put about 25K to fix it.  All in for about $50k and hope to sell it one day for no less than 80k--maybe more.  I would look for investors to assist with your tax deed auction quest, and let them know your strategy and what they will get in return.  Who cares if you are investing in tax deeds, foreclosure, short sales, etc...if the investor is getting a good profit, they should not care.  I explained what I do with a property once acquired via a tax deed, and how they will get paid, and so far, my investor is happy.  So look for any investor, and as long as you have a sound plan and way to pay them that is appetizing, not sure why they would not invest.  Good luck!

I was in a similar situation--bought a cheap house for 10k in a "war zone" in Ft. Myers, FL--started to rehab it, but found out I was putting a lot of effort to get minimal out.  The natives stole a lot of equipment and kept vandalizing with every step of improvement I seem to make.  It is best, if you are going to keep it, keep someone in there the whole time while it is being rehabbed--like yourself, but I understand you are out of state, so that is probably not feasible.  I finally made my exit plan to sell it when the county would not let me repair the roof if I was not going to be living in the house.  I think they were being real hard to investors who were out of county.  I saw what I was up against, found a neighbor who wanted the house...sold it via quitclaim deed so I did not have to go through the cost of a quiet title...took a 5k hit on the deal, and learned not to buy properties like that in the future.  I buy 3/2 or 2/2 in good to decent neighborhoods and rule out that factor when buying through a tax deed.  Though it may seem tantalizing through a low price, it usually costs you in the future.  I would much rather put my efforts into better properties through tax deed auctions.  There is so many other counties, not just in FL, that have better options.  I bought a property in FL, same day as the other one, for 22K--I am getting $700/month in rent now for about a year and put about 25K to fix it.  All in for about $50k and hope to sell it one day for no less than 80k--maybe more.  I would look for investors to assist with your tax deed auction quest, and let them know your strategy and what they will get in return.  Who cares if you are investing in tax deeds, foreclosure, short sales, etc...if the investor is getting a good profit, they should not care.  I explained what I do with a property once acquired via a tax deed, and how they will get paid, and so far, my investor is happy.  So look for any investor, and as long as you have a sound plan and way to pay them that is appetizing, not sure why they would not invest.  Good luck!

@Sergey PerevalovI admire your resolve to reach your investment goals! In terms of this property, I have no knowledge of the area but having read a few other posts, I want to offer my encouragement as well as a bit of caution I had not thought of before but makes perfect sense in this case if your house is indeed in a war zone.

Rehabbing will be a challenge as you are likely to suffer vandalism and removal of your new materials and appliances.

That being said, you certainly need to find a property manager that specializes in those areas, has an understanding of the people and perhaps even a rapport with them. This PM will be your absolute best adviser as they'll know contractors to use and techniques to secure your rehab as well as the best exit strategy in terms of rent or sell.

Best wishes and I hope you are able to make this into a great deal.