Ask Matt Larson A Question

No. flipping REO's are no big deal. Unless it is a fannie mae property and then you have to wait 90 days to resell the property. I was saying that it is hard to assign a REO. Flipping them is no big deal.

You have been watching the news too much. Geeting loans on real estate isn't as hard as it was 6 months ago. Lending rescrictions aren't loose by any means, but they have loosened a bit. Banks just want to make sure the loans will be repaid. Go out and give it a try. I use a lot of private money to buy. I have several investors that want to invest with me. Their money, my skills. It works great.

Thank you!

Make dang sure you run comparables from houses in the area that have sold within the last 2-3 months. The if the house truly is worth $140,000 put in an offer at around $45,000. Do you want to buy and flip or assign the contract? I need more info.

Is it a fannie mae property? If so, I am affraid your agent is correct. Fannie Mae requires a 90 day waiting period before you sell. Let me know. The addendum in the contract you signed will have all of that information.

Thank you for that! Now go out there and become a hero! Get it done!

Couple things. First of all do not ever, ever give up. You can beat this game of real estate. Just stay with it. Ok. When you reserve an LLC in california it is only $40 or so to reserve it. You are not actually buying the LLC. Let the new buyer do that. Also, I don't even reserve the LLC unless my offer is accepted. Once the offer is accepted then hurry up and reserve the LLC. Now. Trust me there are an unlimited number of deals in your area. Do this. Goto to Wal-Mart tonight. They have a package of posterboard in 8.5x11 sheets you can buy that is laminated. It is only like $1.50 for 5 sheets. Buy a couple packs of that and a sharpie. Make a bandit sign that says I BUY HOUSES ANY CONDITION and then list your phone number. Put up the sign somewhere near a wal mart on a telephone pole and in a neighborhood you want to invest in. Put up 5-10 signs. Make sure the sign is hand written. If it is against the rules to put up bandit signs then do it anyways. That rule is a stupid rule anyway. Don't ever let some city official stop you from achieving your goals or dreams. If your worried then buy a pay by the minute cell phone from wal-mart. Those numbers cant be traced back to you. Get it done! By the way, Your phone will ring off the hook with potential deals!!!

I feel your frustration. Do Not give up! Keep focusing on the buyers! Go out tonight and call every for rent sign within a 8 block area of the 2 properties you have. Ask the people if they are buying properties right now because you have a killer deal located in their area that you are wanting to sell quickly. Do it tonight! Let me know what happens. Turn and Burn!!!

Ok real quick. REO's are still working it is just very hard to assign them and now it has also gotten hard to double close them. I am not saying it is not possible it has just gotten harder. Try the LLC thing. You will like it. As far as the 25:1 system. The properties that have been on the market 90 days MUST HAVE HAD AT LEAST ONE PRICE REDUCTION TO QUALIFY TO PUT AN OFFER ON IT. Also, another really good trick is this. Wait until the properties have been on the market around 55 days and have have a price reduction. Then put in a low offer. Here is why it works sometimes. Because that listing is getting ready to expire at 60 days with an agent and the agent will push the seller to sell or they lose the listing! Try that and get back to me. Get it done!

Thanks a ton for answering all of our questions Matt we really do appreciate it! This very last post was great! I'm headed to Walmart right now! I like your attitude of not letting anyone get in your way. You said it best at Dean's conference, something like "I'm not gonna let some guy in a suit tell me what I can and can't do!"

I have a question for you.. I have been doing a lot of calling and networking lately and you're right, its amazing how many deals are out there. I'm having trouble finding investors once I find deals, but I'm determined I will soon. I had a man contact me looking for a multi-family apt. which he wants to buy and rent. However the area of interest is in another county I am not familiar with. I see this as a potential buyer, but how can I start to look for properties in this area? I have contacted an agent to set up a search, but I need to "lock it up" if I want to assign it, and I don't think I can do that using traditional agents and mls listed properties. Or can I? Any suggestions would help! Thanks!

Hello, just wanted to say thanks on all details you share with us. I'm a new investor in the Ypsilanti/ Ann Arbor area looking for a great deal to assign. I would apreciate any advice you can share with me.

Absolutely you can assign a property that is listed on the MLS! I do it all the time. If you lock up a killer deal and have a qualified buyer ready, assigning it should be fairly easy. If you have trouble with an agent about assigning a contract then find a real estate attorney that is familiar with assigning contracts first. Then if the agent gives you any problems have that agent call the real estate attorney to clear up any issues that the agent doesn't understand. Hope this helps. And thanks for the positive comments!

Ann Arbor is a great place to invest. Dig in and get started learning that market. Attend a local real estate investment club and start learning who some of the big players are in the area. Start building your list of buyers and then start looking for properties in the areas they want to invest in. Good luck!

Thanks again! So far I've been searching for hard money lenders to assign to properties to. Any sugestions on how to meet the right one besides newspaer ads or Craigslist?

Matt

First I just want to say great job on all of your success. It's inspiring to see how someone has made this work from the start.

My question is about REO's. You mention in an earlier post that you usually need a proof of funds letter to look at REO's. Is that the same as a pre-approval. I have a partner with great credit and a significant provable income. However, at this time, he is not prepared to make cash buys. Do you just need to prove you are able to get the financing?

Also, I posted this earlier in another forum on this site, but I want to copy it now and see what your thoughts are:

I have a few questions about bank-owned properties. To fill you in on my situation, I have a partner with great credit and a good steady income. My job is to study, learn, and do all the leg work.

- When putting offers in on REO properties, is it best to have your financing arranged ahead of time? It seems like in my situation where someone with superb credit will be acquiring the financing, it could be an incentive for the bank to sell quicker if they were able to hold the new mortgage and collect the interest. Do buyers typically use the bank that owns the property to acquire the mortgage, or do they normally have outside financing from another lender?

- What type of capital gains hit are we gonna take if we're looking to do some cosmetic uprades and flip the house quick?

Thanks in advance for any help. I apologize for the length of the post. I'm anxious to get started, but still have a lot to learn.

Kris

Great advise Matt! Thanks for taking the time to do this......you are a great
mentor and inspiration to all of us. I am focusing on assignment deals so
alot of your tips were of special interesr to me. I will take them and run with them and secure my first deal!!!

Thanks again cbrpower!
Jim

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!

Im a newbie who wanna start a real estate invester career. A friend wanna to get rid of his house so i wanna do a assignment contract on his property but he wanna know after the house is on the contract and the deal go through does he paid back the money to the mortgage that he owe on the house or he keep that money..

Man u r awesome..Keep up the good work..Looking forward to your new book.

Here's a new trick (if you haven't already done it before); I'm going to submit a preliminary offer (50% of, just like ya told me to do) via Zillow directly to the Listing Agent on deals I like to see if they're flexible on pricing even for the new foreclosure that have just come onto market. Once we've (myself and agent) reach agreed upon price than I've right it up on a GAR form and have my attorney (which I haven't hire one yet btw to look over contract). I'm going to take this route b/c REA I'm workin with, is taking too long to get back with me; on rather listing is active, lock up under contract (already) or not or gone off market. How much commission would the Buyer's agent (if there were one) customary get paid from the Lender (seller)? How would I word it "exactly" on the contract to get that back in seller's concession, to cover a part or all of my costing costs?

Hey Matt...

There is a company that sells distressed properties. He sends me info on homes like this:

home price: 30K
ARV: 65K
3% seller financed
Cash Close
1,500$ Earnest money

I'm trying to get my head around trying to work a deal. They don't want to take the property off the table for 30-days under contract with some security, at least initially. It's sort of like playing poker. They've sent me info on the same properties after a week or two, also. I guess I've been reluctant to make an offer because...my buyer list is not real strong yet. Any suggestions.

Hello,

Yes it is a Fannie Mae Property. Okay, that makes sense.

So in the future if I buy a property I will have to see if it is a Fannie Mae Property.

Thanks!

Hi Matt,
Thanks for taking the time out to still help! Continued success to you.......Lubertha

Okay Matt I have one more questions for you. This Short Sales that I'm trying to close on. I was wondering exactly how I would go about selling this property to a home buyer for my asking price. I've bid $83,940 on this property and intend to sell it to another buyer for $110,000,(even before I officially close with the original seller). So is there some process in which I can bring the new buyer into the closing process where I close for my original price and then re-sell to them for my price?

Hey Matt, That house i was talking about is now a HUD home. I spoke to the citibank REO dept today finally after calling a few times. The woman told me that it was auctioned and is now a hud home. She said I cant make them an offer before it goes on the market and that i would have to wait til it was listed.
SO my question is, Is it possible to make an offer on a hud home before they list it? I am not sure if you tried this yet but if anyone knows about the huds its you.
Thanks
Richie.

Hud list their properties with a broker you will have to go through Hud broker to submit a bid on the home. Checkout Hud.gov, on the left side navigational menu click on Hud Homes than click on your State (e.g. Georgia) and lastly click Go to Requested Page that link will take you to the site that lists the Hud homes in your state. Finally you would have to navigate through that prospective site to view the homes in your city or county depending a upon your search options. HTH.

HI Matt - I am new to this site - loved Deans books and your included input.
Really appreciate you taking the time to assist us. Quick question, I have
been investing for about 3 years - I needed some fresh insight was fealing stale
and had worked myself in a box so to speak doing things one way. I have a property
I paid cash for and completed the rehab with no mort. as well. We normally bought,
renovated and sold properties - however, the market isn't moving hear - not a good
time for me to sale - I would rather hold and rent - it is a great property. I felt I needed to sale to cash out on this property - but maybe I can cash out with financing and renting with 12 mo. lease concerned I wont be able to get
financed due to high debt to income ratio, any suggestions? My husband works
a full time job and this is what I do real estate - thanks Matt so very much in
advance for any input you may have.

What is going on in the NY real estate market?

Sandra

First thanks for your help both with the book and with this thread! I'm strongly considering implementing your 25:1 system. Just a couple of quick, simple questions from a guy starting out knowing very little but learning very quickly.

If you do an assign on your 25:1 system, how much do you pay your Realtor on the transaction?

In PFRERN you state to wait to inspect a property until after a low offer has been accepted. I assume you make the offer with the contingency to be able to withdraw if not satisfied upon inspection? (Told you I'm new.)

How do you find cash flow notes and can you make LLCs and websites for free?

Hello Matt,

You should consider Missouri for buying properties as well.
Please let me know and I can help you find some good deals out here.

Hey Matt,

Im so grateful you're able to find some time to be able to start a post something like this one. Anyhow when it comes to flipping properties are you having to pay the capital gains (20%)on these properties that you're flipping, or is there anyway around that other than a 1031 exchange which sounds hard to do with all the properties you've acquired. What I got out of it is when you are flipping them are you actually getting them in your name for a period of time? Again thank you for the valuable time you're sharing.