HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT - Progress Reports

Student checking in.

I have found (through my mom) a vacant house with a disputable amount of land (mom says 7 acres, taxroll says 1). Belongs to out-of-town heirs of a late neighbor of theirs. Called the phone# she had, was disconnected. I haven't sent a letter yet, but will this week.

Drove by 2 vacant houses in town yesterday, 2 separate neighborhoods. 1 was boarded up. Wrote down addresses, will look online in County website today to find owners/addresses.

Guess I'm pretty slow on my progress. Better step it up!

Thanks for checking in on us.

Rina

P.S. Anita, can you list the assignment again or put a link to it up here?
Thank you.

I was out looking at homes I had targeted thru MLS. While I was in the neighborhoods of the targeted properties, I wrote down addresses of FSBO's and obviously vacant houses. I was probably only away from my house for an hour and a half and found 2 FSBO's and 3 vacant homes.

After doing the research at public records, I found the name and mortgage information on one of the vacant homes. The owner of this particular home bought it back in 1998, which I can only assume would mean in has built in equity. The owner still lives in the same town as the property and after putting his name in the search bar at google, his current address and phone number came up. I tried to call him yesterday but was unable to reach him. If I'm unable to reach him on the phone today, my next course of action is to plant myself on his doorstep!

Persistence makes perfect!

Rina: Motivation is the key and you are doing GREAT!

mrynesdad - First WELCOME to DG.com and we are so glad to have you here. Keep us
posted on the houses you found and I like the way you took to
researching the owner, thats exactly what the point of the assignment
was.

I located a vacant house not in the best of neighborhoods, all boarded up and really crappy on the outside. I have done a search online for the owner and no luck, my next step is the tax accessors office, btw its not a foreclosure or anything, its just abandoned. I will update tomorrow on how I make out with the TAO.

PROGRESS from this assignment. Let us know how you are doing. I will;l repost this everyday for those that have missed it and the newbies. We need to post so others can see the techniques and resources that we use. So post on!

I have driven around my area since listening to your call and found tons of FSBO's. Do you think that is a bad sign that investors are not buying or do you think that maybe they are just over looking these bunches of properties?
IT was really interesting to me at how many FSBO's there are around here. Have you ever felt like a kid in a candy store? Ha ha!

I called on a FSBO, and I found out it was over priced about 20,000. The house was older and the owner pastaway. The owner's children were trying to sell it. Is this a FSBO I should walk away from?

Thanks,

Mike

I wouldn't walk away yet. Has it already gone into probate? Most likely they want it sold quickly so they can collect their inheritance. I would find out how long they've been trying to sell it and if it's gone into probate yet, does it need any work done? These are definite buttons you can push if you have the right info, probates can be goldmines.... Hope this helps!
Elena ;D

If this place is over priced how can I make $$$ on it? Also, if they want fast cash would it be faster to sell it with a realtor?

Homes that are overpriced tend to stay on the market a loooooong time. If they want their money now, and most do, they most likely will drop the price for a cash offer. Getting a Realtor doesn't mean they're going to sell fast, my Realtor has many listings that are just sitting on the market, because everyone wants that bargain due to the market change. So keep this one on the back burner, it ain't over yet!

I found the owner of one of those houses living in Hawaii and she has not been in Cali in 11 years. She laughed and said she had actually forgot she owned it, said accountant pays taxes on all her properties and she has not thought about it in years. Told me to get a home inspection which she agreed to pay half for and make her an offer - she said more than likely she will take it...then laughed. Said if someone could use it, then she would be glad to sell it.

I used the reverse lookup on google and the address from the tax accessors office. The address was her tax accountant and after explaining what I wanted to him he gave m her email address and from there I sent my contact info and questions about the property and she responded a few days later.

what did you base your numbers on(how did you figure out that the property was $20,000 to high?) local COMPs in the area, internet sites?, SULLY.

You're on FI-YAH! Way to go girl, you're our inspiration!!

Well I found 2 propertys in my area need to figure what the # of the houses are tough. But they have lots of acreage.

....anitarny. Please keep us posted on how that one turns out.

An update on mine; I made every attempt I could to contact the owner of the boarded up place I mentioned in an earlier post. I made several calls and knocked on the front door of his personal residence. I am sending a letter today and will keep everyone updated on how that turns out.

Rob

And thanks for all your helpful posts in the forums.

Rina

I found a FSBO property, at a good intersection, The house itself is 30yrs and distressed (although) she lives in it. The owner is an elderly woman who says it is paid off for.

Because of the LOCATION it is zoned for both commercial/residential. It has about 3 acres. She wants $249k, I am having my realtor check the comps.
Seems like a good deal but not sure how I can make $$$ from this, since the advantage seems to be the land and not the house.

Any thoughts????

______________________________
PERSISTANCE IS HIGHLY REQUIRED

What sort of repairs needed on house?
How much for repairs approximately?
Is she doing any owner financing or owner carry?
What sort of financing are you doing?
What is plan for house, rent, live in , use for commercial or what?
Have you gauged her "buttons or needs"?

Wait til you get the comps and see if it's a good price. There's lots of possibilities with this because of the dual zoning. Is she willing to carry? Since she owns it, she might be open to creative financing. Find out her hot spots are and go from there. Sometimes just putting a sign on the property (after locking it up of course) could provide the exit your looking for, especially if it's in a good traffic location!

That lady from Hawaii is my aunty. She called me and informed me that she can quit claim the property over to me, lol. Naw, just kidding. That's awesome! Your always making us look bad. We could be out there trying to get some deals, and you always come up with a better one. I aint mad at you girl, you go out there and do your thing. You deserve all the success that comes you way.

Lloydsap

Knowledge without Actions is just a wish!

on the assignment. Does anyone need any help

Yes I do. I found a house that was aboundent no house # I found the # went to tax assessor found some info. Can't find the person. Any sugestions?

use online searches to look for them. go back to the house and ask neighbors if they have a number, talk to post office about forwarded mail

About a week ago I was out on the "hunt" and found this boarded up duplex that looked right up my alley. I did a little research in pubic records and found the name of the owner and after multiple attempts to contact him, ended up just sending him a letter.

Today, my wife and I decided to go back to that neighborhood for another "hunting expedition" and found a couple of more boarded up duplexes. I did the same research and found all the information that I needed to contact the owner of that one. I actully found his email address and sent him a message this morning.

The guy just left me a voice message that went like this "Rob, what a coincidence, I am interested in selling this property and as a matter of fact, I own 62 properties in that particular subdivision that I am willing to sell!" YES he said 62! I may be getting way to excited over nothing, but I will keep everyone up to speed on the progress of this one.

You may have hit the mother lode!! Good for you Rob, way to go... Keep us posted!!

Oh yes Rob that is a hit. Congrats on that. Lilie

Well I found six properties with overgrown trees and stuff and no owners. The neighbors were all renters and no one knew anything. I hit the accessors office and then from there the cross reference on the internet then I found nearby's on the address from the accessors office for the owners and relatives with same names until I found all six.

So not bad now I give them a call and/or send a letter and I will update you from there

Well unfortunately, it doesn't look like the deal with the gentleman with 62 properties is going to work out. He's selling the properties for market value and isn't budging (for now). The properties turned out to be low-income housing, which didn't scare me away, but there wasn't going to be any positive cash flow at the price he was asking. He told me I didn't see the big picture, something about depreciation (which I know a little about, but with no properties in my porfolio means little to me), and proceeded to "school" me that there is no room for investors with "no money down".

What did I do you ask? I dusted myself off and went on my merry way looking for the next deal! My advise to anybody is not to get to excited or to let down by what you see as a good deal. Just brush yourself off and in the words of a very wise fish "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming" - Dorie (Finding Nemo)

Griff

I found 3 abandoned/distressed properties. 2 had realtor signs on and 1 I am sending out a letter to the owner. The (2) I looked at are almost just shells
from top to bottom, much work to be done, location is good, does anyone know a rule of thumb for the cost of rehabs??? Should I have the handyman check it out still or when do you walk away???

well if it has to be gutted, and the shell is still useable, and the property would be of good value ARF, thne, yes, have a contractor look at it and just let him give you a general idea of what needs to be done