All Forum Posts by: Paul Granneman

I would echo the anwer from Joe Demonte and investigate using Home Styler. I found it easy to use and create floor plans for my own house.

I just bought a house to live in. The amount of regulatory paperwork involved was mind blowing.

I do not see realtors going away just because of the amount of paperwork involved!

Like @Bryan L. stated, my realtor was knowledgeable in the laws and processes necessary to purchase my place. Trulia and Zillow are not going to give me guidance on Radon testing and the reasons for it… That is just one example among many.

The other way to be able to assume a loan is in the case of probate. I am a good example.

My brother died intestate and had no wife or children. Our family got together to determine how to divide up his assets. I wanted his house and the family agreed to let me have it. They signed a warranty deed and I am now the owner of the house. I contacted the mortgage owner and discussed how to proceed. Since I do not live in the US they could not do a proper screening on me. Basically it was decided that my name would be put on the mortgage since I had been paying the mortgage and all the bills for the house for the last six months. In essence I assumed his loan without meeting the credit criteria. I must point out that this was a VA loan and I am and eligible VA loan applicant.

@Mahesh P.

We are experiencing some of the same issues that this family is.

Our family has not lived in the US for the past 25 years. My son is set to go to college so I decided it was time to take a job in the US to support him while is in school. I have no landlord recommendations in the US and my overseas housing was provided by my company, so they have no idea that I even lived in the place (it is all registered to my company). My situation may be a little easier because my employers have always been US companies and I can provide verification for everything. I have US credit cards as well as International cards, so my credit is checkable and just above average. Another twist in the story is that my wife is not a US citizen and at this time has no Visa. We are getting her a green card, but it has not come through just yet.

What do you think my odds are of being able to rent an apartment or house?

My advice to you would be to check and double check. If they are US citizens then there should be information about them in the normal systems (credit, bank, drivers license, etc.). If it comes back positive, then your fears are probably misplaced. But, if any part of it does not check out or is negative, then do not rent to them, you are setting yourself up for trouble.

We do not actually have any issues because we are buying straight away and do not need to rent.

Sorry to be negative but, the only advice I have is to stay very far away from any business advertising on Craigslist...

Is it possible that the lot itself is 2009 sqft and the actual house is 1100 sqft

I think Ty is on the right track Mike.  Now that you have decided not to do the deal, take a good look at it in detail and use it as a practice run for the next deal.

In my opinion, your expense increase is a little low and that will change the overall picture of the cost vs ROI. Even at the current level of expenses, it does not cashflow until sometime after 5 years. If you read more of the BiggerPockets forums you will find that in places like Florida and other highly volatile areas, betting on appreciation is more like gambling.

If it is a long term buy and hold and you can sustain the annual negative cashflow, then it makes sense.  If you are looking to make money on this deal, then it is a no go. 

I have been living overseas for so long that I do not even have any checks. I do not see the need for them anymore. There are too many trusted ways to get payments that the time and effort of a paper check does not make sense to me. As Joe Gore pointed out, there might be some regional issues with this as well.

@david niles, I have the reader and a square-up account but cannot process any payments because I do not live in the US. Pretty much every transaction is tied to your IP address being in the US. I have tried VPN tunnels and other tech solutions, but it does not work for me.