I would like to get information on where and how I could begin to gain contact REO's.

If you keep asking all of your questions you will gain more knowledge and confidence to take the important steps to successful investing.

A few other thoughts, if you want to get down to the nitty gritty about the bottom line, though some of these stats are relevant whether you sell or keep the prop: -expected appreciation over life of investment -equity bought through mortgage payments -benefit of the interest home mortgage interest deduction in terms of saved (or shielded) current annual income -a 10% misc operating expenses bill tacked on -a 4%-12% vacancy rate average depending on local norms -25% recapture of depreciation -cost of improvements that will likely become necessary if you keep the house for 10 years+ like new roof, new water heater, new carpet/floors, etc...minus the depreciation you can claim for each over time -whether you've held the property for at least a year, which will impact the classification of short-term cap gains taxed at personal income rate, or long-term cap gains currently taxed at 15%.

Hi everyone, I am totally new to the REO scene and looking to gain as much knowledge as possible.

-There currently isn't much maintenence considering the property is 9 years old (probably about the time to start having some things break though).A little more info: I bought the property in 2000 so I am now beyond the 2 out of 5 year rule to avoid capital gains (shoulda sold it last year).

(That's what they tell me anyways)I look forward to gaining the invaluable knowledge of....Real Estate *dun dun dun* :wink:

In my years dablying with real estate, I have learned valuable lessons from the actions, or words, done or spoken, by some very broke individuals.

I would then suggest you pull out a mortgage against it putting your cash back in your pocket and then repeat the process until you have gained the desired cash flow.

.- I acknowledge that I can carry this loss forward as an offset to any gain I have in my sale, but I believe my gain isn't subject to tax anyway if I sell it by August 2006 - because my wife and I will have lived in the home for 2 out of the last 5 years at that point.- This situations get exacerbated in my 2006 situation because I am paying the mortgage and taxes without any occupancy and apparently without any tax benefit!

I have already received some valuable information from this site.