All Forum Posts by: Paul Granneman

I saw an Anthony Bourdain show where he went to several of the areas in and around Detroit doing his food show. Part of the segment went to some of the areas that Jay was talking about in the 60 Minutes documentary. They had dinner with the local firemen and discussed what it was like. The firemen said that most of the time that if there was a fire in one of those areas that they did not bother to respond. The danger was very high and the houses were generally abandoned. Bourdain talked with some of the Community Organizers who were attempting to revitalize the areas, but the almost complete lack of job opportunities and either active or perceived war zone like stigma surrounding the areas kept people from even considering the effort to “make it better”. Being a chef, Bourdain was shocked that there were no stores or supermarkets within a reasonable distance of the areas he visited, but there were several fast food places that managed to stay in business.
Until there are jobs for people to try to make their life better, then there will be no revitalization.

Even as most folks write off those areas, there are people who still try to get some sort of positive forward progess and that is what is good about the US.

Does the daughter have the money to keep paying the mortgage, taxes, etc.?  Does she want to stay there?

If she can afford it, she can just keep paying the mortgage and live there.  Eventually she may not be underwater anymore.

Trying to sell it will get her nowhere. Is the estate liquid except for the house?  There are many factors to consider.

Do you still have your VA loan guarantee eligibility? If so, you may be able to assume the loan. It is worth a shot.

Contact the owner and tell them that you want to assume their loan, they might be motivated.

Marcus,

You are very sharp in checking these things out before tying the knot.

Sit down with your finace' and discuss her credit history and pull both of your credit reports and examine them.

If she can add to your creditworthiness, then wait until your are married. If there appears to be issues with her credit, then you should do it on your own before marriage.

The first option does not provide you with any asset protection either. The second one is called a pass thru entity and is usually the best to start out with.

There are dozens and dozens of threads here on BP about which it the better choice.

Mostly it breaks down to - is it cheap in your state to make an LLC? If not then the pass thru entity is going to save you tons of upfront costs. If creating and operating an LLC in your state is cheap, then go for that entity, but make sure you keep the correct records and maintain separation of personal and business "stuff".

There are good reasons that you should enlist the assistance of a good Real Estate Agent when searching for properties.

I just bought my own house and there was a ton of paperwork involved in both the Real Estate portion and the Finance portion. My agent made getting this stuff filled out and filed a breeze.

My agent was intimately familiar with the area and where good deals were to be found. They asked me questions about what I was looking for and then sent me the links to check out those houses in the different areas met my criteria. When I had decided on which houses I wanted to see, I let my agent know and they gave me their perspective on the local area, the house and the prospects for the future of that area. It was totally worth my time and the agency certainly put forth plenty of effort on my behalf to ensure that I had the knowlege and support to make a decision.

If I had tried to "do it myself", I doubt I would have ever made a decsion. The information overload that is available is crazy. My agent and his people helped me sort through the noise and get exactly what I wanted at a price that was reasonable.

That is my two cents.

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Well done video Andy.  I love the Zig Ziglar quote!

Nicky,

I just bought a house here in Colorado and the list of information and paperwork that the lender required was quite extensive.

My position was unique however since I did not live in the US at the time (and had not lived in the US for 26 years).

They checked my credit, my work history, wanted 2 years of tax returns, pay stubs for the last two months from my job. In addition they wanted a note that covered every address on my credit report for the past seven years. I had some stories to write on that since I have lived overseas the whole time!

Lastly they needed a confirmed quote for homeowners insurance.

From reading this it seems to me that you are letting your personal feeling get the best of you.

If they are good tenants and it seems that they might be, then step back and take a look at your feelings and then measure that against the stress and loss of revenue if you have trouble in the near future. If you are stressing now when there isn't really much of a problem, just imagine what it will be like if you have to start eviction proceedings...