[kiksroks]

Here in central California there are deals to be had. I see them all the time as I'm bidding to pump the slime out and cleanup the swimming pool that hasn't seen any chlor for the last 6-8 months or bidding to replace all of the stolen pool equipment. Alot of my customers are buying now to rent for a few years and then sell when the market recovers. your best bet would be to contact a realtor. They work for the comission and the seller (bank) pays.

[rlj]

Originally Posted by jatepper

Well, I made an offer on a short sale property. It is really nice. It is a 2 bedroom / 2 bathroom condo with all tile. Corner Unit with 2 car detached garage. Upgraded everything except appliances. The lady who currently owns it paid 190k for it in the housing boom and I guess she has fallen behind with the payments. I was looking at a local realtors web page and this one said "subject to short sale" in captions next to the listing. Made an appointment with the realtor this past Friday and it looked better in person then it did in the pics.

The asking price was $154k. I offered $110k with the bank paying for all the closing costs. The lady still lives in there. The good thing is that if this goes through, I can probably talk to the lady about her becoming my tenant. She wont have to move and rent will be much cheaper then her previous mortgage. After all, I am buying this solely as an investment property.

The realtor said I can expect to hear back from the bank within 1-4 weeks. She said she is calling every day to check on the status. Sounds like she is proactive, so I hope she is a good realtor. Realtor of the year for Coldwell Banker 4 years in a row!

Sweet!!!!! I hope it works out for you. Keep us posted. Banks can take a while, I'd still be looking at other properties in the event the bank doesn't take your offer or counters at an unreasonable number.

[LittleBee]

Good Luck man

[NOVATJ]

Good luck to you

I just put a contract on a short sale. Bank has 35 days to approve disapprove or counter. We entered an addendum that the house will be off the market for the entire period, and only the bank can counter our offer (not the seller). So ours is the only offer they will take until the bank is finished.

Listing price: $319,500
Tax assesment: $363,000
Offer: $290,000 + closing costs

I just gotta sweat out the time now.

[Ross]

Originally Posted by jatepper

Well, I made an offer on a short sale property. It is really nice. It is a 2 bedroom / 2 bathroom condo with all tile. Corner Unit with 2 car detached garage. Upgraded everything except appliances. The lady who currently owns it paid 190k for it in the housing boom and I guess she has fallen behind with the payments. I was looking at a local realtors web page and this one said "subject to short sale" in captions next to the listing. Made an appointment with the realtor this past Friday and it looked better in person then it did in the pics.

The asking price was $154k. I offered $110k with the bank paying for all the closing costs. The lady still lives in there. The good thing is that if this goes through, I can probably talk to the lady about her becoming my tenant. She wont have to move and rent will be much cheaper then her previous mortgage. After all, I am buying this solely as an investment property.

The realtor said I can expect to hear back from the bank within 1-4 weeks. She said she is calling every day to check on the status. Sounds like she is proactive, so I hope she is a good realtor. Realtor of the year for Coldwell Banker 4 years in a row!

I am a Realtor; my advice would be stay way form a 2 bedroom home or condo unless they are VERY common in your area. Usually they are much harder to resale therefore not as profitable. Even as a rental they aren't as good. If you have a 2 bedroom you will be competing with the local apartments. Again depends on your area.

[rogasm]

Funny, we are in the process of putting a contract together for a new house now. I do a lot of work on short sales, and it's a great way to get in there.

JATepper, stay on that realtor about getting approval from the bank. Again, I work for my brother who's company does this and can usually get everything taken care of with the bank and closed within 7-10 days. Realtors usually don't have the same contacts that a third party does when it comes to closing short sales. Plus, your realtor doesn't take a bigger cut from you, as the 3rd party gets paid from the lender.

[Jerry Bransford]

Originally Posted by Matt Gertsch

Short sales are the **** right now. Contact the lenders in your area for their short sale list.

Trying to buy a short sale property is not for the faint-of-heart. My wife is an experience realtor and until she got into a couple of them, she had no idea of the problems you'll typically run into trying to make one happen. She just closed a big one and almost had a heart attack multiple times through the difficult unpredictable process. It took so long and there were so many problems with the lenders holding the TDs on the short-sale properlty throughout the process that the buyer almost backed out several times.

Most often it's a problem with the lenders since most have a second on them and you'll rarely get the holder of the second to agree to much of anything since they often get nothing out of the deal. Short-sales take a lot longer to make happen and one thing I almost forgot is that your offer and their acceptance is no assurance it will happen for you. If the listing agent gets a higher offer after they have accepted your offer, they are supposed to take the higher offer which means you're out. She had several where she was initally the highest offer and her offer was "accepted" but someone came in later with a higher offer and bumped her from the deal. Banks push for that so they don't lose so much $$$ and it also is meant to protect the homeowner because it reduces their losses... all very different from a non-short sale transaction.

[Texan4life]

Originally Posted by LostINohiO

well if you really want to capitalize on other peoples misery, then here is an idea for you:

...

It's not capitalizing on other peoples' misery, but capitalizing on other peoples' stupidity. The fact that a bank will loan a person money doesn't mean that the person can afford to repay the loan. People need to learn to live within their means. If you don't capitalize on their stupidity, somebody else will. The bank won't float the note forever. Somebody will get a deal. It might as well be you.

[jatepper]

Originally Posted by LittleBee

Good Luck man

Thanks!!!

Originally Posted by NOVATJ

Good luck to you

I just put a contract on a short sale. Bank has 35 days to approve disapprove or counter. We entered an addendum that the house will be off the market for the entire period, and only the bank can counter our offer (not the seller). So ours is the only offer they will take until the bank is finished.

Listing price: $319,500
Tax assesment: $363,000
Offer: $290,000 + closing costs

I just gotta sweat out the time now.

Good luck to you too. Your offer seems more reasonable then mine. I made a low-ball offer from the listing price just hoping they would bite. We will see

Originally Posted by Ross

I am a Realtor; my advice would be stay way form a 2 bedroom home or condo unless they are VERY common in your area. Usually they are much harder to resale therefore not as profitable. Even as a rental they aren't as good. If you have a 2 bedroom you will be competing with the local apartments. Again depends on your area.

I totally agree that a 3 bedroom is more prestigeous. However, this area is extremely desireable and I dont think, at least hope, I will not have a problem renting it out. Also, for the price, I dont think I can go wrong. A 2 bedroom in the same area with 200 less sq. footage sold for $129k. It was not nearly as nice either.

Originally Posted by rogasm

JATepper, stay on that realtor about getting approval from the bank. Again, I work for my brother who's company does this and can usually get everything taken care of with the bank and closed within 7-10 days. Realtors usually don't have the same contacts that a third party does when it comes to closing short sales. Plus, your realtor doesn't take a bigger cut from you, as the 3rd party gets paid from the lender.

Believe me, I have been sending her text messages every other day to see if she has an update. I think I am starting to become a PITA, so I will just stop for a while and maybe go to once a week with the text messages. What type of company can I go through aside from a realtor?

Originally Posted by Jerry Bransford

Trying to buy a short sale property is not for the faint-of-heart. My wife is an experience realtor and until she got into a couple of them, she had no idea of the problems you'll typically run into trying to make one happen. She just closed a big one and almost had a heart attack multiple times through the difficult unpredictable process. It took so long and there were so many problems with the lenders holding the TDs on the short-sale properlty throughout the process that the buyer almost backed out several times.

Most often it's a problem with the lenders since most have a second on them and you'll rarely get the holder of the second to agree to much of anything since they often get nothing out of the deal. Short-sales take a lot longer to make happen and one thing I almost forgot is that your offer and their acceptance is no assurance it will happen for you. If the listing agent gets a higher offer after they have accepted your offer, they are supposed to take the higher offer which means you're out. She had several where she was initally the highest offer and her offer was "accepted" but someone came in later with a higher offer and bumped her from the deal. Banks push for that so they don't lose so much $$$ and it also is meant to protect the homeowner because it reduces their losses... all very different from a non-short sale transaction.

I think I am beginning to realize this. The realtor forewarned me of some of the things that could potentially happen. Also, checked with the accessors office and the person only has 1 mortgage, so that may eliminate some of the hassle.

Originally Posted by Texan4life

It's not capitalizing on other peoples' misery, but capitalizing on other peoples' stupidity. The fact that a bank will loan a person money doesn't mean that the person can afford to repay the loan. People need to learn to live within their means. If you don't capitalize on their stupidity, somebody else will. The bank won't float the note forever. Somebody will get a deal. It might as well be you.

EXACTLY. WELL SAID! I got approved for 450k back in 2005 and I thought the bank was out of their minds for approving me. I would even be more out of mind if I spend that type of money on a home knowing darn well I would not be able to afford it.

ALSO, some pictures for your viewing please of the subject property...











AND ONE OF THE JEEP FOR THE FUN OF IT (Dont pay attention to the little tires. Will have 33's real soon!)

[Elwood]

While life in my little fishbowl has always been depressed, I have made out pretty well buying houses that people have tried to flip and the market changed on them before completion. Typically, this is the owners cash at stake and bank interference is minimal. The transaction is simple. Look for "For Sale by Owner" homes. My best deals are those and auctions. If the bank had PMI on the loan, the auction is usually a "no reserve" or "absolute" auction and great deals can be had.

Best of luck with short sales. Many times they are more trouble than they are worth from what I have read.

[GGiff]

More information than you would ever use. Florida tax deed, tax certificate, preforeclosure finding, national auctions, Federal, State, County Auctions, Bank List.

Everything is free. Great info. I don't know why anyone in Florida would pay for a subscription if they are looking for info on purchasing property. If you are looking for property auctions in a different state, use the free links to locate pretty much anything you want to buy.

http://www.floridataxsale-foreclosure-info.com

[yamaguy01]

Good info here! Thanks guys I am going to be in the market next year when I move back to the homeland and my mom is looking for her retirement home currently but herbudget is low. I've been trying to help her find properties over the internet and send her the info since she has no idea how to use a computer and I am no where near her to try to teach her.

Dave

[woody-77]

If you go to your county courthouse there will be a board with all foreclosed properties in your area...decription of property...and when it is going to be auctioned or a lawyers name to contact to find out when it will be auctioned...this includes land and homes...they have to post them to the public...

If you don't see the board ask the county clerk and they can give you a list....

[dz1087]

Originally Posted by LostINohiO

well if you really want to capitalize on other peoples misery, then here is an idea for you:

buy out people dying of AIDS life insurance policies for 20% of what you will make when they finally die...

it will give them ten grand to play with and "enjoy" the rest of their life and then when they kick it you will make 50 grand...

****, that sounds like a great idea. I could probably do it for terminal cancer patients too.

Think I just started a new business, thanks Lost!