Tag Archives: foreclose

The Other Side of Short Sales and Foreclosures

As investors, when we hear the words short sale or foreclosure we may naturally start to salivate; and rightfully so. If you know the ins and outs; they are a great opportunity to make large amounts of money.

What we don’t always think about is the other side. The person who is having to short sale their property or being foreclosed on.

And it doesn’t matter if it’s an investment property, primary residence, second home, you name it; it’s not a fun place to be and most of the time, they are less educated on the process and potential ramifications. And that makes it a pretty dangerous and scary position to be in.

That being said, here are some words of advice that might make the situation a little better as well as make your long term future a little clearer and a whole lot less unsure.

  1. You Must Educate Yourself
    There are a lot of moving pieces in a short sale or foreclosure and you have to get educated on processes. You need to take your head out of whatever you are doing and understand what exactly is coming down the pipe. Once you start, you’ll be kicking yourself for not doing this a lot earlier. Take control of your out of control situation.
  2. You Must Get Professional Advice!
    This goes hand-in-hand with educating yourself; but you must make sure it’s the right information! Find a professional attorney, accounts, whomever you many need and get answers to your questions. Also, make sure it is someone who is actively doing business in these ? elds, not someone who is resting on old laurels or never really had the experience in the ? rst place. You’ll realize that getting some of your biggest “fears/questions” answered; it may not really be as bad as you think.
  3. Only You Have Your Best Interest in Mind
    I know, that sounds negative but unfortunately it’s true. Even though you many have lawyers, Realtors, title companies all working on your behalf, stay involved. Take the 15 minutes or so every other day to do your own follow up and make sure everything you are being told is getting done, is actually getting done. You are the one who has to live with the consequences, not them. It will certainly be worth it!

Foreclosure Investing: Persistence Pays Off

We’re currently working on a short sale for a property on which the owner hasn’t made a payment since February of 2008. (Yes, the banks CAN take that long to foreclose!).

There had been a few offers along the way, but they were either refused by the lender or the Realtor® she was using didn’t know what to do in order to get the deal closed. In addition, the lender is AHMSI, who is difficult to say the least.

Offers came and went because the bank simply didn’t respond. When we finally got involved, we moved right up the chain of command, contacted the Attorney General for the State of Florida and a few other agencies. Amazingly enough, we got a reply within a few days. Continue reading

2010 Real Estate Investing Predictions

It’s been a year of mixed reviews for many people! Certainly, there were highlights, but many folks are happy to see 2009 ushered out and welcome 2010!
With the New Year – and new decade – there are going to be lots of changes to come in real estate investing, online marketing, information marketing, and business in general.

I know that lots of people are posting their thoughts, predictions, and opinions for the coming year! Here are just a few of my predictions for real estate industry – specifically for investors.

  1. Property Values Will Stabilize.
    We’re not going to see a huge change in property values this year. Many of the markets have bottomed out, or are close thereto. However, there is a lot of inventory that has yet to hit the market before we can start to see an increase in value. This will make it easier to evaluate properties and determine the after repair values as there’s less decline to calculate. However, there are still Continue reading

Are You Emotionally Ready For Financial Freedom?

This may sound like a funny title for an article, but think about it for a moment! How many people have you met that are just as broke at $90,000 as they were at $20,000?

You see, we tend to always try to “keep up with the Jones'” and buy the latest and greatest gadget or trinket. So, even though we live in a nicer home and drive a nicer car, at the end of the month, we’re left with little more than a few dollars at the end of the month – if we’re lucky! So what does all this mean?

It simply means that in order for you to achieve true financial freedom Continue reading

Hard Money Loans: How to Get the Best Rates

Whether you’re a seasoned real estate investor or brand new to investing, you will – at some point in your career – need to turn to hard money!

Many people turned away from hard money except on the REALLY UGLY properties for much of the early 2000s or if they had pretty beat up credit. This was because conventional lenders were giving money away for all intents and purposes! Virtually anyone ““ first time home buyer to seasoned investor ““ could get 100% financing on their properties and it didn’t seem to matter how many properties one had!

Well”… welcome to the new market: The “conventional” lenders (like Chase, Indymac, Countrywide, etc.) have tightened their reins, and for good reason!

Before we go into how to get hard money, let’s talk about some of the pros and cons of hard money versus conventional financing! Continue reading

The 4 Stages of Finding Foreclosure Properties

Every time you turn around, the word ‘foreclosure’ is all over the news! So… if you’re a home buyer looking to buy a foreclosure property or an investor wanting to learn how to invest in foreclosure property, then you’re timing couldn’t be better!

There is a lot out there on foreclosures; from how to stop your own foreclosure to how to ‘get the deed’. You could probably go to a different foreclosure seminar every other night for a month to learn the tips, tricks and tactics.

BUT… NONE of that matters unless you know how to FIND FORECLOSURES. It doesn’t matter how you negotiate with homeowners, what you say to Continue reading