First, I don’t work a lot with foreclosures. I generally find better deals elsewhere. But for those of you that call on a daily basis I thought I would make this foreclosure website available to you.
The Foreclosure Investing Web Guide: 100 Useful Resources
I neither endorse nor condemn this website. Like I said I’m just trying to make it available to the real estate investor who is interested in the foreclosure market.
Filed under Real Estate Investing, Worth Reading
Before we begin let me once again say I am not opposed to cash flow. For goodness sake, why would I not like one of the 4 Benefits of Real Estate Investing? But have you ever noticed most of these stories go along with low income housing?
Dude sends me an email about 10 days ago saying he wants out of his investment property he bought in a fringe neighborhood in KC. By fringe I mean most nights nothing will go wrong but on some nights you could become a material witness to a crime. Anyway, he tells me his home is freshly rehabbed and he put a tenant in there and he wants to sell because this just isn’t what he thought it would be.
A little research shows me the property had been on the market without any takers for the previous six months. I give him a short answer email back saying he needs to slash the price by about 25%, market it with me at 7% (and believe me, I still won’t make any money) and follow my directions exactly and we might just get it sold. If he never responds, oh well.
Turns out the guy did respond and is willing to listen to me and follow my advice. (Personal aside here: Since speaking with this real estate investor and meeting him I find him to be a very likable guy. He just happens to own a property I would never have sold him. That’s all.) So the guy is willing to listen? Great. I’ll do it.
I meet him at the house on Friday. I do the tour. Meet the tenant. Give her my card. Everything seems amicable but I did sense some dis-trust coming from the tenant. (Keep in mind she hadn’t paid June’s rent yet but was assuring the owner he’d get it.) But nothing was said so I said I’ll be back Monday to put a sign in the yard, take pictures and work with the tenant in any way I could so as to not be an inconvenience to her.
This morning I get an email from the investor who says (and I’m paraphrasing here) “Wait a minute.” Seems the tenant has decided that since the investor is “selling the house right out from underneath her” she doesn’t feel she owes June’s rent. Nor July’s. And to top it off she’s decided that she’s staying!!!
Now, you can tell me this could happen in higher income houses. But it never seems to happen. Neither do the gun shots I’ve heard. Or the missing air conditioning compressors or the, well, I’m gonna stop there before I just get myself in trouble.
I seriously have to get back to my analysis work for an investor from Seattle and another from Olathe. I just needed the break and this keeps replaying in my head. So I thought I would share… Okay. I just have to say it. If cash flow is your only consieration when purchasing investment property this is very likely to happen to you, too. (I feel better.)
The Kansas City Star has put together all of the metropolitan area county government’s tax appraisal sites into one handy little web page. Simply click on Property Tax Valuation and follow the link to your county.
I checked a few of my properties and was quite please, from a homeowner standpoint, that the property tax valuations had dropped a little for my homes in Olathe. Now, if I were selling I wouldn’t be thrilled! Funny thing is that I think my personal home is actually worth every penny and more of last year’s tax valuation. This year’s dropped. It’s an imperfect science for the county and I realize that. So I’m not too worked up about it!
Filed under Kansas City Real Estate
I’m writing today as to why you should hire a professional real estate agent as a follow up to yesterday’s post. I had a phone call and a couple of emails telling me all the reasons why hiring a real estate agent may not have helped.
Listen, I’m not trying to insult anyone. And I am not perfect. Just ask my kids and wife. And yes, there are certain items/situations that no man, woman or child can forsee. However, you really need to hire a PROFESSIONAL REAL ESTATE AGENT WHEN BUYING OR SELLING REAL ESTATE!!!! Period.
Not a housewife that works part time. Not a guy that “works it in” at lunch. I’m talking about an honest to goodness real estate agent that goes to trainings above and beyond the required continuing education. A real estate agent that knows the area or classification of house you are looking at. Etc.
Not to brag, but I’ve only had to testify one time during my real estate career. It was back in 2004 and it was for an investment client I represented on the sell side. He was an out-of-stater. I’m not going to go into the details, but when his attorney called me to the stand I had written notes and photos of the issues in question and documentation that the buyer was fully aware. Slam dunk. Buyer loses and gets to pay all the costs of his attorney and the court.
Want to tell me again how you saved money on your last FSBO buy or sell? Fine. Just know that liability comes with it. So does lack of insider knowledge and many other factors. Sure, experienced guys like Christopher Smith can do transactions on their own. But if you are a buyer or seller once every 5-12 years or you are a first time home buyer I would strongly urge you to hire professional real estate help. At the very least you know where I stand.
Filed under Legal Issues, Misc. Real Estate
I had to laugh out loud yesterday as I was reading through Trulia Voices. Seems someone had purchased a home FSBO because they wanted to “save the commissions.” Ah, I’m not even going to discuss that the seller was selling FSBO because they wanted to “save the commissions.” (So who saved?)
Anyway, now that the FSBO Buyer had moved in they found a bunch of stuff that was wrong. Really? I’m shocked! They say they had an inspection. Who inspected? I don’t know. Are they an ASHI inspector? Or a brother-in-law? Who recommended? They also say that none of the items they were now having problems with were disclosed. Oh, and there were some new developments between when they had the home inspected and after closing. (Do you think a pre-closing walk-through may have turned some of this up?)
Well, the nerve comes in (at least in my opinion) where they are asking REALTORs on this board what they should do. As kindly as I could I stated that since they “saved money” on professional counsel during the buying process that they would now have money for the legal process.
Let me say here that I do not know these poor, unfortunate buyers. And I am NOT gloating in their misfortune. But people, this is one reason you need a professional REALTOR on your side. Not just any real estate agent but one that knows his/her stuff and comes recommended. You are about to invest upwards of 35% of your monthly income into something. Don’t you think it would be good to have some help with this very large purchase???!!!???
Filed under Uncategorized
Wondering how to buy an investment property in Kansas City? Follow these easy steps.
Before You Call Me
After You Call Me
There are times when I’ve varied from this almost always with disastrous results. I show people one thing that they are telling me they want and then I never hear from them again because it didn’t meet their goals. That’s not their fault. It’s mine. They/you come to me for professional real estate consultation services regarding real estate investing. I let them/you down if I just “meet you” at a house and we work on the fly.
Let’s do this thing right. Contact me today.
Filed under Real Estate Investing
For the past few days I have not published any posts. As I sit here in Olathe, exhausted and still thirsty I realized I’ve done more manual labor in the last 72 hours than I’ve done cumulatively over the last 12 months. I’m such a REALTOR.
You see I’m pulling down a 5′ privacy fence that is well worn and putting up a new, open picket fence and pushing that out to the actual property lines. It’s gonna be really cool. But I don’t have a teenager’s body any more and right now I’m sore. Oh well.
But here are some things I’ve read over the weekend that caught my attention. See what you think. I’ll go grab another lemonade.
101 Ways to Know if You’re a Real Estate Investor…by Joshua Dorkin
Investment Returns: It’s Always Relative…by Scott Burns
If It’s Such A Great Investment Property Why Are You Selling?…Athol Kay
Oh, and I just got through buying my tickets for the family to the Baltimore Aquarium. I haven’t been there in nearly ten years…and I can’t wait to go back while we are on vacation at the end of this month going between Charlotte, Washington and Baltimore. Talk to you tomorrow.
Filed under Misc. Real Estate
BBQ Capital | Kansas City Real Estate Investing 
