Author Archive
Bigger Profits When You Buy a Short Sale and Retail the Home!
Posted on July 10, 2017 byWhen I am purchasing a property either for myself or with my student/partner, we determine which exit strategy is the best for both parties. Knowing whether you want to wholesale a property for a small profit or rehab/retail it for a big profit is important. Many investors start off with wholesaling the properties because they either don’t have a money lender or partner to help them rehab/retail the house and sell it for a bigger profit. If this is you, then I believe you really should find a partner or money lender so you have more than one exit strategy.
When you purchase a short sale, some of the lenders will put a hold time for the new buyer requiring them to hold the property for 30, 60 or 90 days before they can resell the property for a profit. In addition, they may tell you that you can only make a certain amount of money on the property if you sell it earlier than 90 days. Holding doesn’t bother my student/partners or myself because we normally choose to rehab the property and retail it for a higher profit. Read More→
Less Competition with Short Sales
Posted on June 5, 2017 byMany Investors avoid working with Sellers in pre-foreclosure or making offers on short sales. They all say the same thing, it takes too long! I strongly disagree with this decision. I have been working on short sales for years now and even though it does take a few months, it has been the best deal spread in profit that I have ever received on any type of deal. Let me tell you why you should consider working with Sellers in pre-foreclosure and making offers on short sales.
The Pre-foreclosure market will continue to flourish due to the adjustable rate mortgages, loan modifications and reverse mortgages that banks have provided to many Sellers. A lot of the Sellers in foreclosure will have second mortgages that can be discounted to pennies on the dollar. Sellers that are doing a HAFA short sale program requires the second lender to take a maximum of $8,500.00 on their second mortgage. Read More→
Finding Deals without Flapping Your Lips?
Posted on May 1, 2017 byI have been mentoring for many years and have found that my best deals come from actually “speaking” directly to a Seller and working out a win-win situation. Since I first started investing back in 1998, I have not purchased a property directly from the Multiple Listing Service. However, some Investors would prefer not to talk to Sellers and would like to be fed deals from other Investors or from the Multiple Listing Service. We each have different personalities and based on your personality and your personal preferences, I may be talking to you. If this is your mind set, then I would recommend the following:
1) Find at least 2 Realtors that will be willing to set you up to receive listings that are emailed directly to you for your review, along with Expired Listings. You will want them to do a search for some of the following key words: TLC, Handyman Special, Must Sell, Seller Motivated, Short Sale, and REO. Read More→
Maximizing Your Profit by Knowing Your Buyer’s Financing Options
Posted on April 3, 2017 byWhen making offers on properties as an Investor, you will need to have your exit strategies in place prior to purchasing the property. What I mean by that is, who is your buyer and what type of financing are you going to allow the buyer to use when you sell the property. Knowing this will allow you to maximum your profits.
When I look at properties to purchase I always analyze the value of the property and how long I will have to hold the property before I am able to sell the property for a profit. The comparables that I use are through Realtytrac.com and also the Multiple Listing Service. Realtytrac will give me the values in the area, however, the Multiple Listing Service “MLS” in addition to values will provide me with how the property was sold ie; Cash, Conventional mortgage, USDA mortgage, VA mortgage or FHA mortgage. You can normally assume houses under $200,000 that many of the buyers purchasing at this price point are FHA mortgage buyers. FHA mortgages are mainly used for first-time homebuyers. The Mortgage Lender requires 3.5% as a down payment which attracts many first-time homebuyers. Read More→
Mentors are for Millionaire Minds
Posted on March 6, 2017 byWhen I first started in real estate, I spent over $250,000 flying all around the world attending boot camp after boot camp, learning all the different ways I could get involved in creatively buying, selling and holding real estate. It seemed like it was always the same group of people flying around the world with me and taking the same training. The only difference I noticed was that many of the people who had attended these trainings had never even made an offer on a property. They never used the knowledge that they received and just kept on going to more and more seminars. And as we all do, we exchanged business cards with individuals we met at these meetings. At that time it was my husband, step-son and I attending all of these trainings. When I got home from many of the meetings, I would get telephone calls from individuals who still didn’t understand the process of the training they received. Read More→
Becoming a Successful Real Estate Investor
Posted on February 6, 2017 byI am writing this article because I mentor so many people who desire to become successful in real estate; however, their life gets in the way of educating themselves. Making offers on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is a great way to find Sellers, yet, when you submit an offer to the Seller, the Realtor really doesn’t know the answers to the following questions. Is there a mortgage on the property? Are the Sellers in foreclosure (unless it is a short sale)? Is it a probate matter and how many heirs are in the estate? What permits have been pulled for the property and what dates were items like the roof or A/C installed (this information is sometimes provided in a Sellers Disclosure)?
After talking with a Seller and/or finding a Vacant Home, the research you do is a vital part of your business success. I provide students with over 43 ways to find motivated sellers without using the MLS. Knowing in-depth information about the Seller’s situation, ownership and mortgage balance allows me to negotiate and close more deals than just listening to what a Seller has told me. In fact, Sellers normally tell you what they want and not what they NEED. In order to make a deal work for all parties, we need to find out what they NEED, not what they want, then see how/if we can create a win-win situation. Read More→
Knowing the After Repaired Value on Your Flip House
Posted on January 9, 2017 byAs an Investor, having a Realtor to work with is important in your business if you are buying or selling houses on the Multiple Listing Services. Many new Investors rely on their Realtor to send them “good deals” to buy, hold, fix and/or flip. However, a Realtor does not know what good deal means to an Investor. A good deal for us could be the cash flow that you receive on a rental property or it could be the profit that you would receive from reselling the home. As Investors, you are taught a MAO “Maximum Allowable Offer” Formula in which you use to make offers on homes for buying, fixing and reselling. The formula varies based on your own situation. The average formula used for Investors who have to get hard money to purchase the home would be: ARV (After repaired Value) x 65% – Repairs = MAO. Let me give you an example: $100,000 (ARV) x 65% = $65,000 – $10,000 Repairs = $55,000 Maximum Allowable Offer. This formula would then leave you with $35,000 for holding costs, cost of money, closing costs of purchase and resale, and then profit. Your MAO formula would be different if you are purchasing the home as a Landlord and/or you have your own money to fund the deal. You may be willing to pay between 70-75% of the After Repaired Value for the home – Repairs = Your MAO. Read More→
Dealing with Untruthful Sellers
Posted on December 5, 2016 byWhen purchasing a property, the Sellers of the property should fill out a Seller Disclosure which tells you about the condition of the property, any repairs made since the date of purchase and any problems that they are aware of on the home. As an Investor, there are many times I will purchase the home without receiving a Seller Disclosure, and without a home inspection other than my own personal inspection. However, I highly recommend that Investors obtain a Seller Disclosure and have a formal home inspection even though you are replacing a lot of things inside and outside of the home.
Recently, a Partner and I were working on purchasing a property from a 4-member limited liability company who had purchased the property at a Tax Sale. Their Attorney informed us that the members would like to just sell the property and had purchased the property as a Tax Deed. They started the rehab on the property with the assistance of the Attorney but had not completed it. Our only contact was with the Attorney, who was a silent partner, and informed us of the following: That they wanted $48,000 for the property, that they have all new windows for the property that they would give us included in the purchase price, that there was an open roof permit on the property that just needed the facia to be painted to close out the permit and that all the material in the property was also included with the purchase of the property. We submitted the offer to the Attorney on October 31, 2016 and we still had not heard from him about our offer. We had called a couple of times reminding the Attorney that our offer was only valid for 2 days and now it was 7 days and still waiting on a response. Read More→
Buying Houses with Hurricane Matthew’s Damage
Posted on November 7, 2016 byThe State of Florida and many other states were affected by Hurricane Matthew, leaving many Sellers with problem houses. I am located in Oviedo, Florida, and being a transplant from Michigan, I have never been in a Florida Hurricane. All of my houses were blessed with minor damage such as big trees down in the back yard, shingles flying off the roof, branches and trash everywhere. I am very grateful to God for these blessings. Other Sellers were not so fortunate and my heart goes out to them. They now have to deal with making a huge decision of fixing the house or selling the house. Some Sellers may not even have insurance on their house. However, if they do have insurance, let me explain the process.
An insurance claim can be long and dragged out with many Sellers becoming very frustrated with the insurance company’s findings. These are Sellers that may need your help with you buying their house. First, let me explain the process on Insurance Claims. Sellers will notify the insurance company of damage to the property along with providing them a list of items damaged. If the Insurance Company and the Sellers can come to an agreement, then a check is sent to them in their name and the names of all mortgage companies that may have a lien on the property. Pursuant to the terms of the mortgage that was signed by the Sellers, all insurance proceeds are to be used to re-build the property to make sure that the mortgage companies have an asset that is worth the amount of their loan. When there are large claims of loss to the insurance company, they normally dispute the amount of the claim and the Seller will have to hire an independent insurance adjuster to assist them in disputing the claim. Read More→
Fighting Value on Short Sales
Posted on October 3, 2016 byThe number one thing you need to understand about a short sale is that the short sale lender must realize the true market value of a property. Recently we got a house in Sanford that needs everything and I mean everything redone inside and out. The house has multiple types of siding, the tile inside the house has been pieced together, various sizes and colors, and is pushing up from the ground due to water damage, the rotted wall from the 3rd bedroom was removed which makes the house a 2 bedroom, the air conditioner is not working, doors, lights, fixtures are all missing, and the kitchen cabinets have mold all over them. SPS is the servicer for the Short Sale Lender and they are really easy to work with. In fact, they normally process a short sale within 30 days, so you need to be ready when you submit the short sale package to the bank and ask them to provide you with a Broker Price Opinion (BPO) or an Appraisal.
We submitted everything into the bank and were very excited to immediately hear from a BPO Agent (Real Estate Agent) stating that she has been instructed by the Bank to go out and get value. We scheduled an appointment to meet her out there. We had everything ready in a BPO/Appraisal Package to provide to her. We had the following items: Purchase Agreement, Estimate for Repairs from a Contractor, Comparables and liens from the City for major code violations. Read More→
You Can’t Buy & Flip Houses in Sloooow Motion
Posted on September 7, 2016 byAs a Mentor, one of the biggest things I stress to my Students/Partners is that you can’t buy and flip houses in sloooow motion. As soon as a Seller calls you, you should fill out a Seller Information Sheet and schedule for the following day (within 24 Hours) an appointment to see the house. Most of the information that is needed on the Seller Information Sheet you can get directly from the Seller. I have been asked “How long do you talk to a Seller about their home?” Since this is your first communication with a Seller and you NEED to build rapport, you should be on the telephone for a long time. What does that mean to you?
I would suggest at least 30 minutes on the phone to talk to the Seller about their home, their life, where are they going…anything and everything you can think that you might have in common with the Seller. Sellers like to do business with people they like. So, if you are only on the telephone for 5 minutes, then did you build rapport or even completely ask all the questions that are on my Seller Information Sheet? Probably not. Call the Seller right back and ask ALL the questions on the Seller Information Sheet so that you will know what he/she wants for the house, why they are moving, where they are moving and when they want to leave. Read More→
Finding Deals in a Seller’s Market
Posted on August 1, 2016 byThe number one thing that makes an Investor successful is finding, buying and selling properties from a Motivated Seller. As I have stated in previous articles, the only thing that makes Investors money is a Motivated Seller. So … how do you find motivated Sellers when it’s a Seller’s market? There are several ways to become successful and as an Investor the key to your success is having a marketing machine running all the time. A Seller’s market means that when a property is listed on the Multiple Listing Service, the Sellers receive multiple offers from Investors, homeowners and landlords. Obviously a homeowner is willing to pay list price or more for the house since they are going to live in the property and there is a personal attachment. Landlords will pay up to 75% to 80% of the market value and Investors pay 60% to 65% of market value. Yes, the repairs come into consideration for the Landlord and the Investor, however, the homeowner is more accepting of repairs needed to the home, as they are planning on making changes anyway. Therefore, submitting offers on the Multiple Listing Service is very time consuming for an Investor and the rate of acceptance is much lower than for a homeowner. Read More→
