Shar NJ

I recently had to drop a property for the same reason. There were no pics on CL or the MLS and I made an offer based on what the seller told me. I get out there and the house is dilapidated and next to a creepy apartment complex. I emailed her and let her know I could not move the property in this condition, she needed to lower the price from 149k to 129k tops! She was not happy but I'm glad I am not wasting time showing and advertising a property that is way out of it's price range; even if I did find a Tenant/Buyer when appraisal time comes around I'm faced with a problem I don't need. She is still trying to sell it FSBO for 155k.

Mine is going out this week. VA is typing up addresses and tells me she will be done by April 16th, I'm going to send them out as she emails them to me.

I do the same as MC, I get more response from For Rent. How is Zillow? I'm curious to know too.

Michael, Thanks for your reply. I am going to forego this one; I would be willing to make the changes to the contracts as they aren't out of line and many are specific to NJ real estate law anyway. However, she is really pushing about price and I already feel as if it is priced too high. Thanks for replying, I was curious about how others handled changing the contracts and personal and professional boundries when dealing with sellers (or buyers!). Shar

Below is an email I recently received from a seller letting me know the changes they want made to the contracts. While I have made slight changes to the contracts based on attorney recommendations I am inquiring to see how far other investors go when meeting seller requests to make the deal happen. Even though I have an able and willing seller, should I let some forego when they seem to be struggling for control from the very beginning? I am not asking for answers to the below questions, just inquiring how far others bend to meet the sellers as far as increasing price, changing docs, etc. Thanks! Sharyn Below please find my comments on the documents you had forwarded to me. Seller's Price Sheet: Thank you for increasing the monthly rent as discussed. For some reason, I thought in doing that you would also increase the Full Sales Price as well to possibly $152,900 - a middle point between so to say between the first two offers. Your thoughts? Option: Paragraph 4 - Would like it to reflect that the Seller is not responsible for any closing costs (including appraisals, inspections - not sure if this would be necessary since it's as-is, points etc.) - they will all be borne by the tenant/buyer. Of course taxes will be paid through the monthly mortgage payments as they are wrapped up in the monthly payment, so I don't even think it is necessary to address that one. I don't have money to put out of pocket and don't wish to expend any potential profit I may gain by being blind sided at closing. Paragraph 6 - please make it "responsible for all maintenance, repairs and replacement if necessary" - I really want the replacement issue to be clear in case something is not repairable... Lease: ***Question, since these agreements are between me and your company, and would be dated April 1st/May 1st, if signed tomorrow, doesn't that put your company on the hook for rental payments etc. if you don't find someone to assign this to by May 1st?*** Paragraph 1 after month to month sentence, please say and shall be subject to all terms and conditions hereof except that such tenancy shall be terminable upon thirty (30) days written notice served by either party. Paragraph 4 Landlord's address should be 129 Independence Drive, Deptford, NJ 08096 Paragraph 16 Please delete this paragraph. This property is being sold/leased as-is as is made clear throughout the documents, so I don't understand why this is there. Paragraph 18 again, please make maintenance, repair and replacement if necessary Paragraph 20 this may imply that the Landlord will be responsible for or consider maintenance and repair, but will not so please modify as necessary. Paragraph 27 please add and required to obtain renters liability for all premises but especially pool for tenant AND guests Paragraph 39 what about the option - don't these documents have to be linked or reference each other? Isn't there an agreement between us regarding this whole situation? Like outlining the fee you are taking from the $3750 or something and things you will be doing? Also, can we add something to the effect of the following to the option: COMMISSION. No real estate commissions or any other commissions shall be paid in connection with this transaction

I don't have a seasoning period, I am mailing to everything in the MLS that fits my parameters and zip codes. I have only done small, informal mailouts before.

I'm in the process of getting the labels together right now. I'm working with a VA to format them and look up addresses. In my MLS you only have to click on a tab to get the tax records address. She's in charge of that and formatting the labels. I live in an area surrounding a major city so I am doing two sets of criteria: Minimum of 3BR and 1.5 baths from 160k-325k in the suburbs and 2-3BR minimum of 1.5 baths 275k-400k in the city. I put out some test posts on CL and this was where the demand lies.

MC, Usual emails to CL, brochures to www.ForSaleByOwner.com, etc The majority of the brochures will go to active and expired MLS listings.

The mailing is going out next week, I'll let everyone know. So far I am been doing pretty good with FSBO and FRBO on CL, getting a decent response. I'm mailing to MLS active and expired (90 days expired) and active on FSBO sites. For brochures I'm using: www.data1graphics.com Cost is $164 for 1000 folded glossy brochures, $70 for the brochure design + postage. They have lots of designs and examples on their website.

Just take it down and ignore them, at least thats what I would do. When I first started I put up pictures of houses I used to live in. Good luck!

I use only professional signs, most HOA's won't let me leave them up however my main market is single family. I buy them locally from Fast Signs which is a chain. An 18x24 sign for out front, printed both sides is $80, directional signs are $15.

Thanks Lynn, and thank you Mike for the reply. I'm going to do 1000 brochures next week, it's my biggest mailout ever. I'll keep everyone posted on the results.

Good morning All, I am planning a mailout and I am looking to aquire 10 or so new properties for SLO's or CA's. Approximately how many brochures or postcards do I need to mail out to hit this number? Statistically, how many need to go out to get enough calls to turn enough sellers? Thank you! Shar

FHA does allow a home to be an investment however it must be owner occupied at inception of the loan. They can't by another home using FHA while they have another FHA loan still open unless under the above circumstances.

Also, if they homeowner has an FHA loan on the property they would need to either buy their next house conventionally, with seller financing, or cash if they were looking to buy again. FHA has standards that prevent those currently with an FHA loan from buying using another FHA loan unless the family grows to a size too large for the house, the seller is relocating, or the seller is a non occupying co borrower under certain conditions.

Currently I am targeting only 3-4 BR, 1.5-3 baths, with no home owners association. Have you had success trying to quickly move a house that was a one bath, or perhaps a two bedroom townhouse or condo? Generally I get more objections with these sort of houses but I wonder if I am missing a large part of the market. Thanks!

My business card says Lease Option Specialist. Regarding the company/individual standpoint they know I have a company in place but they deal with me specifically, and personally. That way I can sway it either way, a higher power makes decisions but they also have a personalized contact person to go to with questions, etc.

Eric, if you decide to do it please let us know how it goes.

Haha, cute. I concur MC has been more than helpful to me as well.

I've spent a lot of time building up my FB page and building relationships as I find it builds a level of trust that you don't get on CL or mailouts. People feel like they "know" you, they can see how you interact with others and that others trust you. I'm up to 3100 friends and I add people whenever I have time, I base my friend requests on towns that I am doing or would like to be doing business in. I make sure that we have several mutual friends before I request them as FB will ban you for a couple days from requesting if too many people deny your request. I am in the process of building up my FB biz page now which I linked above. I post my houses on my main FB page and sometimes on my biz page, I'll do more biz page postings once I build it up more. Anyone from this forum is free to like my biz page and then send a request to my personal page via the biz page. Shar

Good stuff, thanks guys. I am happy with the way things turned out, the seller called me today to apologize about the whole scenario and told me she has more properties for me in the future. Plus the buyer that I though disappeared Friday wants to meet this Friday to sign docs and pay option money. Today is a LOT better! Now I am out of houses but doing a mailout this week.

Thanks Steve, That's exactly what I did. I am very wary of changing dates and contracts after the fact. We are going to keep everything as is and if the agent continues to pursue it will be dealt with in the most professional manner possible. Today is a lot better than yesterday Shar

The agent knew they were "considering" a lease option, he called me a month ago as I was trying to lock it down and I explained it to him. Then the sellers called me and gave me the go ahead and everything happened in just a couple days. Should I cancel the agreement and begin again with another Assignment of Agreements? The seller thinks we should date it from today but I don't see how that will matter or if it's even legal. The lease and option are in place for 1/1/12. I am concerned because the buyer will have to sign it thus getting them involved.

Gotcha, thank you. I worded it wrong, we are entering into a whole new contract. I'll keep everyone posted on the outcome. Thanks!

Okay, so I have learned...MUST ASK SELLER THEIR STIPULATIONS WITH REALTOR. Hopefully this won't turn into a lawsuit. The seller wants to meet with me tomorrow to sign a new contract. The TB's move in Jan 1st, they happened to be there Sunday showing the property to their family when the proposed buyers showed up. I used MC's contracts so hopefully that is enough in the event of practicing Real Estate without a license problems. Thanks for all the replies!