August 28th, 2008
I am closing a deal today and I received a call from the escrow officer telling me about errors on the sellers side. Then I was asked to give up my commission to pay the sellers outstanding utility bills ($3000). First, I was surprised to receive a call from the Escrow Officer about something the listing agent should of tried to negotiate with me. Next… the listing agent did not get all of the concessions of the primary lien holder in writing. So Escrow in the eleventh hour received calls and data from the primary lien holder with about 600.00 in new charges to the sale of the property. Now the listing agent is calling me asking me to pay out my commission for them not doing the basic of due diligence, GETTING EVERYTHING IN WRITING! What is the lesson in my rant?
1. If you are representing a Short Sale and the clock is ticking to the auction date, and another agent brings you a deal that is acceptable, Do not go asking the buyers agent for insane commission compromise to make up for your clients mistakes. The buyers agent is bringing the money to the table, be thankful. Especially when there are so few qualified buyers.
2. Have a file with all outstanding liens on the property, and a HUD prepared for what the lien holders will recieve at pay out. The house is a foreclosure short sale, the owners aren’t paying the utility bill’s. These bill’s will need to be paid at closing, the bank needs to know those numbers or their payout will be short. Then you have no deal.
3. Over all do not bite the hand that is trying to feed you.
4. Know the listing agent is making 0.00 dollars on this deal, because of them not having their ducks in a row.
Read Comments (1)
August 13th, 2008
Over the past few months a number of clients started out as leads that were all about “really giving to the Bank” in short sale deals. And every time the bank would send back the offer with a counter offer at Tax Assessment Value. Which I think was just as insulting as our low ball offer. Each time this would happen my clients would get into this huff about why the bank “should of” accepted our offer. These “Should of” statement’s looked like this:
- The Banks are loosing billion’s why aren’t that trying to liquidate this property?
- The Banks have massive inventories and they don’t want to accept this offer?
- We are helping them out of trouble.
- Doesn’t the Bank know the condition of this property?
- Doesn’t the bank know how much it will take to fix up this property?
- This is a down market and we are buying with a risk of the market slipping further.
- Why did it take so long for us to get back such a bad counter offer?
The fact is when humans want something we always think of an excuse to why we should have it. For the most part what I have learned is that the Lien Holders are in terrifying survival mode. Every person your offer goes to at the lender right now is trying to SAVE THEIR JOB. Your client is right; the banks are loosing billions; and people get fired when the company they work for loose money. So each employee that sees your file is trying to keep that dollar return value, as high as possible. The reason for that is when it is quarterly report time don’t you think every person trying to save their job is going to try to show how much money they didn’t loose, because if they don’t your eventually going to be seeing their house in foreclosure. I put food on the table everyday, because of how cheap I buy houses in this market. But when writing an offer remember lenders are fighting tooth and nail to keep their doors open. They are negotiating hard here in the Northwest to not let that house go cheap, be patient the price will come down. But you will need to prove to the lien holder, why it needs to. By you not giving in, and by you inundating them with a paper trail showing them why that price needs to come down, the lien holder then can justify that sale price. It is not easy, it does take time, and you will have head aches over the process. Sometimes people cry.
Read Comments (0)
June 18th, 2008
1. This is the most problem prone and strenuous type for real estate purchase.
2. You NEVER get a perfect house. You get price per square foot. You must be willing to put in the time and money to create your perfect house.
3. You must have more capitol to purchase a distressed property. On average you need 10% of the market value in cash to reinvest in the property. Turn key distressed properties are extremely rare here in the Seattle area.
4. Most if not all of the time the seller (if it is a bank, trust company, or Relocation company) has no knowledge of the properties previous history. So, the inspection process on the house is more costly, because of all the types of issues that will need to be inspected. It is recommended that the potential buyer do more than a typical inspection. It is recommended that the potential buyer also pay for “Sewer Scope” (about $250.00) and any contractor’s charge “estimate fees” for project estimates.
5. In most if not all distress properties the water and electricity is shut off. The Trust Company and or the seller WILL NOT turn them on, so the buyer might test the plumbing or electrical systems as part of the inspection. In most cases the buyer will have to pay an outstanding bill, to have those systems turned on. If the purchase is continued after inspection the seller will reimburse buyer for paying outstanding bills at escrow. “You have to Pay to Play”.
6. This is a down market you are BUYING Distressed Property; where there is one; there are others. So, if you see market values slipping in the same area as the foreclosure you are purchasing, your purchase is also will be a part of that slipping market.
7. The house has to be livable in order to get financing.
8. Banks have a bottom line too. They will only go so low no matter what the issue is with the property. Lending institutions are losing billions of dollars, a few hundred dollars matters to them. You have to be willing to take on the issue for the price or walk away.
9. You will be scared. You will be nervous. You will have Doubt. Your Realtors job is to negotiate that price to a large enough margin; so if you screw up; you will not be upside down in your purchase.
10. If there is not commission built into the purchase price, you will have to add it to the purchase price. You are making money, and so should your Realtor.
Read Comments (0)
May 25th, 2008
Over the past three months my clients and I have presented nine contracts to pre foreclosure, REO, and Short Sale Sellers. Out of those nine contracts nine have been beat by better offers. In the Northern Seattle area there currently very few REO properties, and in terms of real Short Sales I have seen under ten that are decent over the past month. I wish I had the finesse to illustrate how important it is to negotiate a WIN/WIN offer. I can simply say writing a contract for bottom dollars in the hope of catching a whale is only going to bring up a boot. The Seattle market is not what you see on the news; hear on the radio, or read in the paper in terms of the rest of the nation’s foreclosure woes. The money in this town has just shifted from buying retail to buying wholesale, and there are a lot of hungry wallets burning holes for positive equity investments.
Things to keep in mind for this market:
- Land is an extremely limited resource in this city, Seattle could not experience the “Urban Sprawl” boom resembled of some many other cities foreclosure woes.
- Seattle metro area has a strong economic foundation with many companied that are doing extraordinarily well due to there international presents.
- We have one of the most highly educated populations in the country.
- Our Median house hold income is about $72,000 per year. This also is among the highest in the country.
- Because of the lack of “Urban Sprawl” in Seattle we do not have the inventory of Foreclosure homes that the rest of the country has. I say this all the time to my buyer’s, at auction there is a huge crowd competing over six to ten properties. Even then these homes are being purchased at a 20% less then market value.
So, if you want to beat the competition when it comes to an equity positive real estate investments do not think cheap, think Win/Win. It makes a transaction so much less of a nightmare, and in a few years you will have built yourself a great Real Estate Portfolio is what I think is the best city in the United States.
Read Comments (0)
April 14th, 2008
My father lives in Costa Rica Most of the year, He is a fisherman, and a great one. He just caught his first recorded worlds record fish. I wanted to share the article with everyone.
Friday, April 11, 2008 World Record Rooster Gets Thrown Back
There’s nothing like breaking the world record for a roosterfish in the 80-pound line class.
Maybe except for when it’s an official, International Game Fish Association (IGFA)-certified record.
Not important, says Richard Shank, who pulled in an 85- to 90-pounder (38.5 to 40.8 kilograms) in Guanacaste on the Dario, a boat from Playas del Coco, unofficially breaking the previous 66-pound (29.9 kg) record.
“I do not kill fish unless by hook kill or if I am going to eat them,” he told The Beach Times earlier in the week. (Roosterfish meat is most definitely edible, but not too popular with seafood diners.)
Notoriously, live bait will bring around the most roosters (Nematistius pectoralis), which is what Mr Shank found out using a greenjack, or cocinero.
The roosterfish, or gallo as it’s called in Spanish, is a member of the jack family, and gets its common name from its “rooster comb” of a dorsal fin — the species is said to be one of the most exciting inshore fishes on the line.
This upcoming weekend anglers will be heading farther offshore for some slightly bigger game during the 12th Annual Presidential Challenge of Costa Rica Sport Fishing Tournament, in which both private and charter boats are scored on their release of sailfish, blue marlin and striped marlin.
A world billfish series-sanctioned event, the three-day tournament begins Saturday with teams trolling in waters eight to 10 miles off-shore using dead bait called ballyhoo. Per Costa Rican Fishing Law, circle hooks, say organizers, are used for a safe catch and release.
The difference between a circle hook and a J-hook, is in the design of the hook. “A J-hook is tougher to get out of the fish; it does damage,” explained Tournament Director Joan Vernon, during last year’s event.
“To make sure the fish is in good health upon its release we either cut the leader very close to the hook, or remove the hook entirely.”
Monies raised from the team entrance fees — last year about $20,000 was raised — benefit the conservation efforts of the Billfish Foundation and OSPESCA (Organización del Sector Pesquero y Acuícola del Istmo Centroamericano).
http://thebeachtimes.com/article.php?id=3
Read Comments (0)
April 6th, 2008
I deal in a lot of rehab projects. With that comes a number of properties in diverse locations. As part of my service for my clients I have spent sometime at the department of Planning and Development researching a lot of different zoning and land use issues. Here are a few zoning terms that could help you.
What are ECA markers?
ECA markets are controls put in place by the Environmental Protection Association, these are there to protect wet lands and to help prevent land erosion, and everyone other type of environmental protection you can imagine.
Zoning:
L1= structure every 1600sqft
L2=structure every 1200 sqft
L3=structure every 800 sqft
For all Ya’ll that want to build a little commercial under some apartments, you need NC=neighborhood commercial.
NC230= build 30ft high
NC250= build 50ft high
Hope thats helps a little.
Read Comments (0)
April 1st, 2008
I recently had a client contact me over some fear he has been feeling over purchasing in the market and I wrote him this response…. I want to share it because I feel a lot of might be getting similar fear based questions.Hi Nova,
It seems that the whole American economy is going down and the real estates market is going so slow. And the equity in the property is now not going up but going down badly. How could you think it going up every year? In the past 10 years, what is the average rate for going up locally and nationally? How do you think the real estate market in next 5-10 years? I got a lot of negative feeling with the American economy and the market. You don’t need to answer my questions. I just want to discuss some questions with you.
Thanks!
Dr. ****
“Where do I see the market in 5 to 10 year’s?”
I don’t know. For the most part I see the housing market adjusted back up and stable. It is what I have based my whole business off of. Buy Low during this buyer’s period and reselling in actually 2-3 years. I think the full adjustment will be full actualized in another year. Then from there we will have another year flat. But Dr. **** we are going to have a new president after November and they will pull us out of Iraq, ad start a major economic stimulus package. The cowboy politics will end after November and large corrective changes will begin. At least that is what all Americans are pushing for. The dollar will recover. SO I have started with business that will operate in the down window. So in thinking you are going to be able to buy lower later is going to create a pattern of missed opportunity. And in 3 to four years you will be saying “what if I bought then?” I promise. The time is now. If you can take advantage do it. That is my whole business model. Your negative feeling is right, the economy is shifting, but that is my model is taking advantage of this shifting market. The properties I am showing you will yield money, because the margins of profit are so great.
Also, the Seattle market will continue to grow slowly, but it will continue to grow. We are like San Francisco is that manner there is now more room and the job market here is not based off of housing market it is driven by companies with strong International foot holds. So this is a city that will prosper for many, many years. Dr. **** you have the ability to take advantage of the fear the media is creating, that fear is not based on what is happening in the area is it based off of neighborhoods that where over built and homes sold to people that could never afford that type of life style. I am here with a business model that will allow you to buy cheap and profit greatly in the long run (meaning 2-4 years). The development in queen is a great opportunity because of land scarcity, and housing demand. Queen Anne is still having a 14% equity appreciation because of its proximity to downtown; it is the largest in the city. North Seattle is at 5%. These are the latest numbers. I hope this helps..
Read Comments (0)
March 24th, 2008
Read Comments (0)
March 24th, 2008
I spent the weekend walking through some pretty distressed properties, with a client that wanted to build an apartment building on the site. One place was so bad, we were walking arm linked on the second floor encase one of use fell through. I was getting hammered by my client by him wanting numbers of what it would take to build a building. Which of course we wanted those numbers in that moment. I am not a GC, I know a bunch of them, but I am not one. But knowing my clients mind set, I prepared by have a CG show up so there could be a rough idea of what it will take. This in turn got me a phone call this morning from that client thanking me for thinking ahead, and a compliment tell me in ten years of his transactions he has never that an agent give him that kind of anticipated response. Calling a GC is free, having them come out to walk a potential job free, gratitude form your client Priceless.
Read Comments (0)
March 21st, 2008
Yesterday I posted a blog on Activerain.com about how I have my clients get bids on services from vendors.The reason I do this, is to keep my friends in the industry sharp on their job performance and to save my clients money with competitive rates. I got the comments in return referring to how I might be setting my clients up for discount service. Which has me a little preachy now. My preachiness is over the personal belief that I represent my clients first, it is my job to guide them; service them, and protect them from taking more aspirin then me. So, if I am doing my Job right, my clients should be receiving the best value for their dollars, not me taking my clients to the bank so my “friends” can have all their dollars. Granted paying for good value is just that but not having all those people you know that provide great service compete for a job, how is that not servicing your client with the best customer service? If I am to have my business grow, how are broke clients going to purchase more real estate?
Read Comments (0)
« Previous Page —
Next Page »
