Sold !

RE commission vs No RE Commission. Unless I am missing a point here, what's in it for the buyer? The PRAYER that you are the winner and find the buyer first? Maybe I need the details of the deal with the seller. Are you getting a deep discount on the purchase price on the option? Does the realtor sell for full retail price and subtract the commission making the deal monetarily the same either way you slice it? Seller walks with the same amount of money and you guys make a profit, large or small? Help me, Pete. I'm not getting it........... P.S. In my state: ...this is very ILLEGAL !!

An Option is a unilateral agreement between you and the seller, meaning that only one of you is obligated to do anything. The seller HAS to sell the property to you if you want to buy it. You, on the other hand, do NOT have to "exercise" your option. Now, you can do a couple things if you have an option to buy a property: 1. Let it expire and do nothing. 2) Buy the property yourself 3) Assign the contract to another investor (make sure your agreement states clearly that you can assign it) If you buy the property (hopefully WAY under market) you can turn around and sell it for a big profit. You can assign it for an assignment fee and make a smaller profit. Your assignment fee has nothing to do with down payments on the eventual purchase of the property when the investor goes to close on it. Before assigning a property to just anybody who is interested, though, make reasonably sure that he's going to have the means and desire to close the deal. If not, you ruin your reputation and that news will spread like wildfire. Nobody will want to do business with you after a while if you can't get deals done. Rich B.

22 West Palm Beach, Fla. 46%

We all must keep in mind that we are NOT simply looking for people who want to sell their house. We are looking for people who NEED to sell their house.....right NOW! That's where the deals are. Death Divorce Bankruptcy Relocation Foreclosure etc etc etc Those people NEED to sell and NEED us to contact them with a solution.

The 10 fastest growing counties in the nation based on the increase in the number of residences from July 2003 to July 2004: County, State July 1, 2004 July 1, 2003 Number Percent Maricopa, Ariz. 1,429,101 1,383,946 45,155 3.3 Harris, Texas 1,422,519 1,384,245 38,274 2.8 Clark, Nev. 683,244 647,893 35,351 5.5 Riverside, Calif. 670,202 641,067 29,135 4.5 San Diego, Calif. 1,099,235 1,082,956 16,279 1.5 Hillsborough, Fla. 477,626 462,516 15,110 3.3 Lee, Fla. 292,830 277,850 14,980 5.4 Palm Beach, Fla. 605,650 590,741 14,909 2.5 Tarrant, Tex. 622,966 608,084 14,882 2.4 Miami-Dade, Fla. 906,877 892,672 14,205 1.6 With all these people moving in, wouldn't this be a good thing for investors?

How does this help investors, especially LO investors over the next few years (months?) when the bubble goes "Pop"? What can we expect and what becomes our best strategy?

I just heard yesterday that 4 major companies are either changing their minds about locating in Palm Beach County, or are moving out of Palm Beach County because their employees and those they would be bringing in will not be able to afford to live here......either buying OR RENTING ! This market has to go thru a correction soon or the economy will collapse. Rich

500 pieces this month and then 500 next month to the same people and then 500 more the next month to the same people, etc. Pick a target group of SOME KIND, no matter what it is. Answer your phone as much as you can. Get some sort of answering Voicemail attached to whatever # you are having them call, for sure.

What do you think of this? I live in a new (less than 2 years old) community in South Florida that sold pre-construction at $150K - $170K. There are 4 models of homes in here and the model that I bought at 170K is now flying off the shelf for $310 - $320K. My thought process is to approach everybody and offer something like 94% of market value, by-passing the realtor and her commissions. ___________________________________ POSTCARD CAMPAIGN: I would like to buy your house within the next 60 days and will offer you 95% of appraised value. Save on realtor's commissions and sell FAST! "No Fees, NO Commissions, NO B.S". Call XXX-XXX-XXXX _____________________________________ Take a 60 day option and MARKET LIKE A CRAZY PERSON. This gives me a $15K spread (OR MORE) in most cases around here.......now I have some valuable paper and people looking to get in. I can even offer to sell them the paper for 10K and give them 5K instant equity. Or run an auction for either the OPTION or the house itself. It is a RED hot market. DOES THIS SOUND LIKE SOMETHING THAT MAY WORK? I am really looking to tweak this strategy, so any help in fine tuning would be greatly appreciated. Thanks !

It seems that in this market (I'm just up the street from MC) that you're going to have to offer 10-15% below market (and that's possible if you can show them the savings on commissions and fees, etc) and then flip it quickly to a buyer. They are lining up in certain areas and making 10% on a 300K house is 30K. I'll take that all day.

Sounds like Doug's already got a plan in place !!

Supreme Court Rules Cities May Seize Homes By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer AP 6-23-2005 A divided Supreme Court ruled Thursday that local governments may seize people's homes and businesses against their will for private development in a decision anxiously awaited in communities where economic growth often is at war with individual property rights. The 5-4 ruling represented a defeat for some Connecticut residents whose homes are slated for destruction to make room for an office complex. They argued that cities have no right to take their land except for projects with a clear public use, such as roads or schools, or to revitalize blighted areas. As a result, cities now have wide power to bulldoze residences for projects such as shopping malls and hotel complexes in order to generate tax revenue. Writing for the court, Justice John Paul Stevens said local officials, not federal judges, know best in deciding whether a development project will benefit the community. States are within their rights to pass additional laws restricting condemnations if residents are overly burdened, he said. "The city has carefully formulated an economic development that it believes will provide appreciable benefits to the community, including — but by no means limited to — new jobs and increased tax revenue," Stevens wrote in an opinion joined by Justice Anthony Kennedy, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer. "It is not for the courts to oversee the choice of the boundary line nor to sit in review on the size of a particular project area," he said. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who has been a key swing vote on many cases before the court, issued a stinging dissent. She argued that cities should not have unlimited authority to uproot families, even if they are provided compensation, simply to accommodate wealthy developers. Connecticut residents involved in the lawsuit expressed dismay and pledged to keep fighting. "It's a little shocking to believe you can lose your home in this country," said resident Bill Von Winkle, who said he would refuse to leave his home, even if bulldozers showed up. "I won't be going anywhere. Not my house. This is definitely not the last word." Scott Bullock, an attorney for the Institute for Justice representing the families, added: "A narrow majority of the court simply got the law wrong today and our Constitution and country will suffer as a result." At issue was the scope of the Fifth Amendment, which allows governments to take private property through eminent domain if the land is for "public use." Susette Kelo and several other homeowners in a working-class neighborhood in New London, Conn., filed suit after city officials announced plans to raze their homes for a riverfront hotel, health club and offices. New London officials countered that the private development plans served a public purpose of boosting economic growth that outweighed the homeowners' property rights, even if the area wasn't blighted. "We're pleased," attorney Edward O'Connell, who represents New London Development Corporation, said in response to the ruling. The lower courts had been divided on the issue, with many allowing a taking only if it eliminates blight. "Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party, but the fallout from this decision will not be random," O'Connor wrote. "The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms." She was joined in her opinion by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, as well as Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. Nationwide, more than 10,000 properties were threatened or condemned in recent years, according to the Institute for Justice, a Washington public interest law firm representing the New London homeowners. New London, a town of less than 26,000, once was a center of the whaling industry and later became a manufacturing hub. More recently the city has suffered the kind of economic woes afflicting urban areas across the country, with losses of residents and jobs. The New London neighborhood that will be swept away includes Victorian-era houses and small businesses that in some instances have been owned by several generations of families. Among the New London residents in the case is a couple in their 80s who have lived in the same home for more than 50 years. City officials envision a commercial development that would attract tourists to the Thames riverfront, complementing an adjoining Pfizer Corp. research center and a proposed Coast Guard museum. New London was backed in its appeal by the National League of Cities, which argued that a city's eminent domain power was critical to spurring urban renewal with development projects such Baltimore's Inner Harbor and Kansas City's Kansas Speedway. Under the ruling, residents still will be entitled to "just compensation" for their homes as provided under the Fifth Amendment. However, Kelo and the other homeowners had refused to move at any price, calling it an unjustified taking of their property. The case was one of six resolved by justices on Thursday. Still pending at the high court are cases dealing with the constitutionality of government Ten Commandments displays and the liability of Internet file-sharing services for clients' illegal swapping of copyrighted songs and movies. The Supreme Court next meets on Monday. The case is Kelo et al v. City of New London, 04-108. Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press.

Yes, it's plenty wet enough for me......but the grass is looking good out back ! Anyway, on another board, I found this (and it is NOT the first time I've heard it): As you see the "poster" left off any mention of Florida. I have been searching for things on the web, but can't seem to zoom in on specifics and was wondering if anybody had a take on this for us down here in the "Sunshine" State.

Jack, First of all, never set your sights on a particular number. And above all, don't ask for a particular number, or that's the MOST you'll get. Ask the TB how much he's saved to put towrds the purchase of his new home. If you are asking $5000 and you tell him that, that's what he might pay. Suppose he has $10K saved up for the down payment (option consideration). You just left $5000 on the table !!!!! Now, to get back to your question the way YOU want to hear it: You need to feel out your market and come up with a bottom number. Is that number 2%? 3%? 5%? .....or more? I wouldn't accept anything less than $3000.00 personally on houses in that range. Hope this helps and I hope other chime in with their thoughts, too.

Doug, That is pure POETRY !! Thanks for sharing that one. Let us know the response, OK?

I have heard there's legislation pending in Florida that will limit a lot of the way we and other investors in general are allowed to do business. I am not sure exactly what it says. Can somebody reference an article or maybe post the "Cliff Notes" on any bills floating through the House and Senate in the Sunshine State? Thanks,

Gordon, 1 - Do a title search. Make it part of your program. 2 - Shame on the TB for not doing his due diligence before hand, too.

If they are sophisticated, they will know this and it will delay you. If they are not sophisticated, do you mention they should do all this and get better sleep at night before going ahead? (Or, do you just tell them that jack Daniels also helps them sleep better at night?)

Isn't it going to be kinda hard to do any type of conversion until you OWN the property? You're going to want to get on the DEED as soon as possible. How motivated is this seller? Does he HAVE TO get out now for some reason? If you are NOT dealing with somebody who needs to go NOW, then an LP or ANYTHING creative isn't going to work real well. It's very hard to make an UN-motivated seller motivated to listen to your creative ideas. Most just want to be cashed out. I am assuming he's got to get out, right? Again, condo conversions without the deed in hand are going to be difficult for you. Good luck. Let us know how it transpires.

What about title searches? If you are marketing a home through a CA or especially an SLO, you don't want to be caught with a bad or clouded title in your hands trying to pawn it off on some unsuspecting buyer who's now all excitied to be getting their first home, do you?

Couldn't I contract to buy the home as an LLC and then sell the LLC to an end user or another investor? The only thing in the LLC would be the contract to buy the home. At closing, the seller is still selling to the LLC....there just happens to be a different owner of the LLC now. , and he happens to be MY buyer. That is also a Legal Flip. It has to be just by definition of what you are doing and nature of the entities you are using to get it done. Businesses and assets of businesses are bought and sold every day. Right?

That's more along the lines the "rehabber" might expect. Wholesaling $5K - $15K is reasonable. The "prettier" the houses, the closer you are coming to Lease Option techniques and Cooperative Assignment techniques you'll find here on the naked Investor ! You are over analyzing this and making ot too hard. Don't worry about taxes and figuring all that in. That's not for the wholesaler, really. Let the guy who's going to HOLD the property for a while worry about those costs from his "spread." You really shold start a title check process to be able to have a more complete offer for your "rehabber". Come in with a nice package for him and it'll be easier for him to say yes or no. make him do more work for it and you'll lower your assignment fee and become delayed while they are doing their due diligence. Do everything you can to get them to say yes or no FAST. Make them understand that if they don't want it you have 12 guys behind them that might. SEE above... They do. But the more complete a package you give them the faster they will buy it if that's what they are looking for. You might want to partner with him on some deals. He brings the money, you bring everything else. One deal at a time, though. Pick his brains. Even if you have to pay the guy, your education in this business that can change your life, is worth it.....isn't it? Best of luck. Keep us posted.

Whatever happened to the age old axiom that "he who mentions price first LOSES ?! As a buyer, I might have $15K to put down as option consideration. Now, I see I only need half that for your property. You just left $7500.00 on the table, Mike. Correct my thinking if I am wrong.

I would, but, I don't have his number. An associate of mine sent me just the copy on the ad. I'll try to dig for it....... If it is just a way to get the phone to ring, what do you suppose his angle is for that 97% purchase line? He needs to have a program to present at that point. From there he can get to the real meat of his offer when most people refuse what he has to offer. It's like my Mobile DJ business.....my "packages" start at $395.00. Well, they do. But, my average wedding is $1200.00. Most brides want more than the $395.00 package, which is 3 hours of music ONLY. They need 4 hours, they need an MC, a little bit of help in planning their reception and coordination of all the events, etc, etc, etc. The $395.00 is the hook to get them to call. Same with this guy's 97% program. So what do you think it is that he can offer that only 1-2% of callers will want, anyway? By the way, Bev, What IS an inverse purchase technique, anyway?? Thanks,

Recent ad in the paper: ANY Ideas on what he's up to? BTW, it's a very hot market.....and it's NOT mine. Doing the math, he might get a $6000.00 spread on a $200K house. Is this enough? I can see he might be doing LO's, (CA's, in fact.....maybe, huh?) but, maybe not. Does anybody see a profit from wholesaling or any other creative strategies, here? Thanks,