Kimberly

Credit repair firms are NOT legally allowed to charge upfront fees. Credit Repair Organization Act Sec. 404 -- Prohibited Practices ( 4 )( b ) Payment in Advance.--No credit repair organization may charge or receive any money or other valuable consideration for the performance of any service which the credit repair organization has agreed to perform for any consumer before such service is fully performed. Source: http://www.ftc.gov/ro/chro/croa1.shtm

What is the definition of a first-time home buyer? The law defines “first-time home buyer” as a buyer who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase. For married taxpayers, the law tests the homeownership history of both the home buyer and his/her spouse. For example, if you have not owned a home in the past three years but your spouse has owned a principal residence, neither you nor your spouse qualifies for the first-time home buyer tax credit. However, IRS Notice 2009-12 allows unmarried joint purchasers to allocate the credit amount to any buyer who qualifies as a first-time buyer, such as may occur if a parent jointly purchases a home with a son or daughter. Ownership of a vacation home or rental property not used as a principal residence does not disqualify a buyer as a first-time home buyer. Source: http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/faq1.php#1

I might have to stop by more often! I've moved to small town in NW Arkansas. At least I don't have to worry about having my car killed by a bridge. As soon as they got one fixed another one happened, so they closed both directions and did more than just patch it. Right now, chug holes seem to be the least of Tulsa's problems. Close to 90 cops have been laid off. I haven't done much traveling in the last year, so I'm trying to decide where to go. I'll be an empty-nester starting in the fall. My son has gone as far as he can at the local community college, the only way he'll stay close to home is if Univ of Ark is the only school that accepts him. Since he's got a 4.0 GPA, I'm not expecting him to remain close to home. Bev, Tony appears to have ventured into internet marketing. His "signature" is showing a scrubs website and a ferret website. His email address is on the scrubs site.

Do you plan to stay in the middle of the deal (SLO), or do you plan to assign your position to your t/b (CA)? For a SLO you use the Lease with Option to Purchase between you and the seller. For your t/b you want to use a Lease Agreement and a separate Option to Purchase. When dealing with the t/b, separate agreements may make for an easier eviction should it ever become necessary. For a CA you would use the Lease Agreement and a separate Option to Purchase with the seller, and then assign your position to a t/b.

Hi Steve! Life's great! If a turtle and rabbit were racing, our RE market would be the turtle. Appreciation was just over 6% last year, slightly more than usual. Oklahoma ranked 19th in foreclosures last year. Hope everything is going well with you. Looking over a few posts it looks like you're doing more than alright. Do I see full-time investing in your future?

You can get a free local vmail number at www.privatephone.com. Kim

Tulsa comes in at #265 and a whopping -6%. (NOT a typo, that was negative 6%). So, Steve, compared to here your market is moving right along!

Deal first, then TB. Later you may have more TBs than houses.

Home prices 'extremely overvalued' in 53 cities, article from USA Today. Rankings of 299 Metro Areas

Read this thread. It's mainly Bev posting on deals she's completed. She's in California and is doing amazingly well dealing with directly builders.

Fortunately it's a rare day that he calls and says, "Sorry, you can't use my contracts today!"

I haven't been around much lately, but I can tell you that MC rarely deletes any posts. The ONLY posts I've seen him delete were blatant advertisements posted in the wrong place. And, there was a member with an exceptionally crude avatar that didn't last long. As for it being a public board, while it may be available for public use, it is Michael's board. He's the one that pays for the upkeep. Why don't you pm Michael ask about the post in question?

Jeff, Why? Why are you wanting to do investing? What's your goal? Don't say lots of money. What would that money purchase for you and your family? When you find your why and it's big enough, you'll be cured of the dreaded P of A. Better yet instead of coming up with one or two reasons why, make a list of 25 things you'll do when you earn $x through investing or you've completed x number of deals. Do you know another new investor who also needs to make calls? Maybe you could set aside a couple of hours when you are both making calls at the same time, then call each other and report your progress. That might force you to sit down and call for a longer period of time -- Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon. Remember in many if not most cases the seller will NET more through a CA than they will selling traditionally through a Realtor.

The same reason a RE Agent can't get an open ended contract to sell a house. You could decide you wanted to exercise your Option now, in a year, ten years, or 30 years down the road. I just don't believe, there is anyway a reasonable Judge would enforce it. Doesn't mean that it couldn't happen, I just don't see it.

Not Amy, but hopefully this will answer some of your questions. Yes. Correct. Technically, no, provided that the buyer is within terms of the agreement -- the agreement has not expired, proper notice of intent to exercise the option has been sent to the seller, rent was paid on time IF lease option AND that was a condition, etc. However, sure a seller could balk. Then it would be up to the buyer to enforce the Option. Yes, provided the buyer was completely within the terms of the agreement. If the Option has expired, the ball would be back in the homeowners court. Option Consideration is the price someone pays to have the choice of whether or not they want to purchase the property. Should they decide NOT to purchase, they do not receive any sort of a refund. Basically, rent credits have no value UNLESS the t/b decides to exercise his right to purchase. So, if they don't buy, they don't get any cash from you just because they paid their rent on time during their lease. Kim

Hmmm...could it be that CA's are NOT in his course?

Not an attorney, nor do I play one on TV, so take this for what it's worth. Without a time limit -- expiration -- in the contract, you may well have difficulties getting a Judge to enforce it.

To tie up the deal: (1) CA Lease, (2) Option to Purchase Your tenant/buyer will take your position in the deal when everyone -- seller, t/b, & you -- sign the CA Assignment Agreement. If the option (purchase) price is $200,000 and the t/b gave $6,000 as Option Consideration. Then at the time they chose to purchase the home, they would need to come up with $194,000. The amount you can receive for Option Consideration will vary depending on your market. Rent credits are also deducted from the option (purchase) price of the home. You need to know your market. What the seller "wants" for the home may be more than the home would sell for, way under value, or right on target. When you are talking to sellers about your services, focus on the NET amount that they will receive, i.e., Option Price - Rent Credits - Option Consideration = Net

Jowaju, Have you checked the comps -- compared to simliar houses that have recently sold -- on the property? You've got to do that before you know if the homeowner's asking price is high, low, or near market value. Based on the numbers above, I'd suggest a Cooperative Assignment and not a sandwich deal. Your Assignment Fee would be all or part of the tenant/buyer's Option Consideration.

First you need to have a fairly clear idea of your local market. What are similar houses (type, size, condition, area) actually selling for -- this is NOT the same thing as the listing price. ARV = After Repaired Value -- roughly what the house would sell for after being rehabbed. So, the formula means just what it says: After Repaired Value X .80 - estimated repair costs - your assignment fee = the maximum you can offer If they are saying, "purchase prices of up to 80% of ARV." That means that's the most they'll pay. So you're going to have to know not only what they could sell the house for after rehabbing, but also what repairs are needed, and what those repairs are likely to cost. Find someone local to partner with who is willing to teach you.

Rich, While the contracts are probably fine in WA, it's always a good idea to have any contracts reviewed by local attorney.

Rich, You canNOT guarantee the lender will allow Rent Credits to be used as if it was a down payment. What you CAN guarantee is that the Rent Credits will be applied to the Purchase Price of the home. So...if the tenant/buyer has an Option Price of $100,000, and they have Rent Credits of $6,000, they would need $94,000 to purchase the home.

Gary, How about calling the fsbo ads in the paper that say something like "owner financing" and "completely remodeled?" Lots of those ads are investors.

On Amtrak it looked to me like they'd route you through Washington DC. (I put in San Fran and Miami.) If I was going that route, I'd spend a few days there before going the rest of the way. We drove to Florida to visit my Aunt a few years ago, it took a little over three weeks there and back! No set schedule does have its benefits.

Amtrak Have you considered about driving?