Joni

Hi all. I'm curious to know if anyone has tried to do a l/o deal on a house with a basement suite. Seems that we have a ton of these houses around our area and many landlords interested in the concept, but I'm not sure how it would work or if it's even possible. Any advice?

We had a realtor looking up expired listings on MLS for us for a while. We mailed A LOT of letters to homeowners with expired listings and unfortunately nothing came of it.

A few minutes ago we had a really interesting caller from a seller who is definitely in a bind, but there's a catch - he doesn't want to move. They've had some serious family health issues and now they are in a financial bind with no savings, etc. They bought the house 4 months ago and would prefer to stay in it... they'd like someone to buy it and lease it to them until they can buy it back. Sound like a possible situation? Here are the details: Bought 4 months ago for $241,000 1st Mortgage of $209,000 PIT $1204.00 He needs $20,000 - $25,000 Any help, ideas, or suggestions? I'm not sure what I can do with it, but I'd hate to let an opportunity slip through my fingers. Thanks!

I agree completely Michael and I know consistency is the key to effective marketing. The realtor we're working with is sending us expired listings weekly (there are tons of them!) and we plan on giving this some time. We've already had a couple of responses...

This turned out to be another "live and learn" experience for a newbie... We are going to make a $1000 finder's fee on this deal (which is very exciting since it's the first RE money we've made - Yay!), but we could have made more if we were more experienced... When we first discussed the house with the seller, she mentioned to us that her bottom line was $208k. Instead of signing a contract and tying the house up right away, we just turned it over to an investor friend of ours for a fee. Well, somehow they agreed to buy the house from the seller and signed a purchase agreement for $211k! In my eyes, that's $3k right there that could have been ours! We'll know better next time. Thanks again for all the input and advice!

Thanks all of you for your help. We took a closer look at this property and the bottom line is that it isn't worth 200k. After actually going to see the house, I don't think the price is justified at all. Looks like the current owner somehow has 100% financing on it and the payments are also higher than it could be rented out for. It's very small and it would likely be very hard to find a retail buyer at the asking price. The investors we know would only be interested in knocking it down to put up an infill, but they're certainly not going to buy a lot for 190k. I think we're just going to pass on this one. It sure seems to be difficult to find the good deals... we get lots of calls, but most are just "tire kickers" and don't pan out to be worthwhile. It takes patience! Thanks again. Your help is appreciated. Joni

Hi all! We've just started mailing letters to expired listings and I'm wondering if anyone else has tried this. If so, what were your results like? We just sent out our first batch 2 days ago, so there are no responses to speak of yet... just curious. Joni

Great suggestions! Thanks! He does have it listed with a realtor right now (with the agreement that he can also sell it on his own), but I'm not sure how long it's been listed. Assignments would work, but I'm not sure what investor would jump on it with such low equity. Even if we can make a few thousand we're happy right now... we are just new and it's money in the pocket. I wish there was some way to do the l/o ourselves without having to put up the cash for the back payments. Guess this is what they mean by "creative" real estate hey?

Thanks so much Michael. I do have a rough idea of the value... it's probably worth about $200K. I'm looking into this to get a more concrete FMV, but that is my guess. I don't want to put out the $5500... Maybe it's not worth it?

We had a seller call us this morning who is EXTREMELY motivated to get rid of a house. He is an investor who only deals with rental properties and he this house is vacant. He is behind 3-4 mortgage payments and some taxes. The house is in a fantastic, high value area. We are working on comps to find the actual value. Here are the details: Mortage bal: $181,4000 Payments: $1134/month Owner owes on back payments/taxes approx: $5500 total I'm sure we can get it for the balance of the mortgage and put a t/b in the house... but I don't know how to handle the back payments! Help!

Does anyone know what a standard "finder's fee" is for a wholesale deal? (We found the house and passed it on to another investor who will be renovating it and either flipping it or holding it)

We have an owner very close to signing a l/o with us but have one"what if" question before we send him the contract... I'm sure all newbies have this same fear, but we need to put our minds at ease... Once we sign the l/o agreement and have the first payment due in a couple of months, what if we can't find a t/b or buyer in that time frame? Is there an "out" for us or are we stuck with that lease payment no matter what?

The seller is not really open to l/o, so that puts a damper on that idea. She wants equity out to buy another house. The monthly payments are currently about $880 - because there is only a $107,000 mortgage on it. We're thinking about making a low offer and getting her to refinance the house so she can get her equity out that way. This is an area that is a bit older, but is becoming quite popular for infills and more expensive houses. There is another house on the market in the area for $320,000 and it's about 500 square feet smaller.

Here's the scoop... House appraised at $350,000 Asking Price $339,000 1st Mortgage Balance $107,000 No 2nd The house was listed with a realtor for one year but didn't sell (sounds like the realtor didn't do much) and the couple wants to buy another house. In initial conversation they would come down to $300,000. Now we're stuck. We know there are probably creative ways to approach this deal, but need some guidance... any help/advice would be appreciated!