All Forum Posts by: Ken Sanders

Thanks again, Jon. My lender made the loan a year ago for a different property. It was supposed to be a two year deal which is why I rolled my profits into a new property. Too bad he never let on that he was having financial problems. Live and learn (him AND me).

Thank you, guys.

Jon- As far as a HELOC goes, I have the necessary qualifications to get one. I'm probably going to drop by the credit union that I have a relationship with tomorrow. My only concern is the appraisal. Some of the floors are down to the subfloor and one bathroom is currently gutted. How will this affect the appraisal? Will a fixer-upper generally appraise differently?

I purchased a fixer-upper last month that I plan to have as my primary residence while I rehab it. The plan is to keep it for at least a year (maybe 2 years for the $250k exemption) and then sell it. I purchased the house for cash and had a private on-demand loan of $70k to use for rehab & holding costs. Well, my private investor has run into some financial problems and needs the $70k back, leaving me equity rich and cash poor.

I'm trying to decide what the best route would be for me as far as a HELOC or equity loan is concerned. I have a few other investments coming to fruition this year which are my main source of income, but since the timeframes aren't set in stone I don't want to count on them.

Are there any types of equity loans that don't have monthly payments where I'd pay the whole thing off when I sell? Again, I'm looking to sell within 1-2 years. I'm 31 years old with good credit, if that helps.

I'm a novice at this. The purchase price was $215k. The HUD said I owed $190k ($215k - $25k = $190k). It makes mathematical sense and made sense to me at the time. I simply figured that because of the prorations and fees, etc., I had extra money to spend on the rehab. Also, it's a Fannie Mae property and there was mention of closing cost incentives.

Had I known of the error I wouldn't have already hired out for the nominal things and saved my money for the things that I HAVE to hire out for.

I'm the kind of guy that pays his debts, but the title company AND the realtor were hired by me to do a job because I'm too naive in those areas (the same reason anyone hires any professional).

I closed on a house about a month ago. Yesterday I received a call from my Title Company saying I need to write them a check for $10k. I went back and took a look at the HUD sheet and it appears that they wrote my deposit down as $35k instead of $25k. In the meantime, while rehabbing the house, I've been budgeting my money accordingly. If I were to pony up the $10k, that would throw a wrench in my rehab and will end up costing me even more money since I won't be able to hire out for other repairs.

No one at closing caught the error, including the realtor who also received an extra $600 broker's fee for "reviewing the documents" with me.

Am I obligated to pay for this? Isn't this why the title company has E&O insurance?

Thanks, everyone. I guess I need to look into a BLOC with a personal guarantee on this one.

Thanks for the thorough explanation, Scott!

Thanks for all the responses, everyone. I'm headed in to the Township building in about an hour.

Thanks, J Scott. I don't know if it's an illegal addition, it's more of a guess. I was talking with a neighbor and he said he couldn't believe that the owners were able to build the addition so close to the garage and that he thought they probably DIDN'T get a permit. The addition IS very close to the garage, but I really have no idea if it was illegal.

Would this be a don't-ask-don't-tell situation? In other words, would my remaining ignorant be the best option?

What is considered a "high EMD"? Is there a particular percentage that you guys use?

I'm about to make an offer of $200k on a Fannie Mae property. What would be a good amount for an EMD?

I'm about to make an offer on an as-is Fannie Mae property that I believe has an illegal addition. I rehab to resell, so I'm wondering if there are any consequences I could suffer from this deal. Will this create a problem for me when I sell and the buyer tries to get a mortgage?

Also, this would be my first REO deal. Should I be running a title search, or is it assumed that REOs are lien-free?