All Forum Posts by: Calvin N.

Julie, Lots of great advice in this thread. You mentioned about making a cash offer and getting a better price. Is this a local bank you are dealing with? Or, is it a Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, HUD home, or some other asset management company handling the sale for a bank?

In many cases banks do prefer cash offers because there are no financing issues that could delay or kill the deal. However, the bank gets a check at closing for the amount of the sale weather you are buying cash or financing it. I have not seen much difference in the acceptance of offers for HUD, Freddie and Fannie properties comparing cash to financed offers. Make your offer based on the numbers that work for you.

Best of luck!

Always counter! Bump your initial offer a little and have the agent resubmit. If the bank counters again at list price then I would hold off a few weeks and try again. I have seen some come back with a much lower offer and others stick to the list price. Don't try to figure their bidding out...cause it usually doesn't make sense!

I handle the majority of the foreclosures for my broker. Most of our listings are Fannie Mae or HUD homes. We do have some with various asset managers and one local bank.

The Fannie Mae and HUD offers are submitted online the day I receive them and we get an answer the next day before noon. The asset managers tend to take 2-5 days to respond. One last week got upset when I requested a status of an offer I submitted two days earlier. His response was "Tell your seller that we deal with thousands of dollars in assets and we will get to his offer when we can but expect a 3-5 day wait."

The local bank is very responsive, usually the next day.

If your agent is not submitting your offer for no reason then get another agent.

Contact some of the local real estate brokers in your area. Ask them what school they recommend for obtaining a real estate license. Many states offer the classes online. Some people prefer attending a class so they can get feedback from the instructor and other students. Best of luck!

Nikki, Each state is different in what you can advertise. You state it is listed as an REO. Is that listed in your local MLS? If so, you can certainly show it to potential buyers. However, without permission from the listing broker you can't advertise the property as yours.

Robert, Just curious why it is listed on the MLS as a single family property and not multi. Is it already set up (zoned) for multi use? I realize every area is different on requirements. In my area it must have separate electric meters for each unit. What will you have to do to convert it to multi if not already set up that way?

Samuel, I bought my first place as a 2LT while attending flight school at Ft Rucker, AL. Do you think you may be stationed back in Corpus Christi? I bought a small townhouse and it was a great little rental for many years. It worked out that I was stationed back at Rucker and it became available so I moved back in while there for another year of training. Talk to your realtor and see what type properties are most desirable in that area. Where I live now 3/2 bath are the best rentals. In some locations 2 BR maybe more in demand. Find out what your market wants and go from there. Best of luck!

No. There is one of these heating oil fuel tanks at just about every house in the neighborhood, most are underground. There is a few ways to fill them. Sand is one option but I have heard about a expanding foam that some epa approved company has. Trying to see how cost effective it is.

We have a property for sale and there is an old underground storage tank that was used for heating oil on the property. The tank has not been used in many, many years but it was never filled. The buyer wants us to fill it with sand or concrete. Have any of you dealt with this? I know the state EPA has regulations on closing them off and are researching their information.

Mike - When I said "conservative" I just meant that by following that standard you should be in good shape. Older homes, like many of the mill houses in my area, certainly are close to the 50% expense range due to many maintenance upkeep issues.

Ana - If you are at 1% of rent/purchase price how are you doing on your cash flow? That seems very tight.