THE most IMPORTANT member of MY team.

General Real Estate Investing
1

I thought I’d pass this along…hope it helps someone.

I STILL BUY & SELL HOUSES!!!

Yep, even in my crapper of a market I am STILL making money buying and selling rehabs. I love the entire process…with the exception of the LAST part.

GETTING PEOPLE FINANCED!!!

I will tell you how I have solved this problem…

I sell most of my Houses MYSELF, no realtor, and I pass the $10,000+ savings along to the buyer. I have found that NO ONE knows that home better than me, and I can OUTSELL any realtor I’ve ever seen. I’m not trying to brag but let’s face it…I have a hell of a lot more riding on the sale than they do!

The problem in todays market is FINANCING…unfortunately, you can’t LOOK at a person and tell if their a dead beat or not.

With that in mind…THE MOST IMPORTANT guy I know these days is MY mortgage broker!!

M Y M O R T G A G E B R O K E R !!!

What I do is this…A buyer comes to look at one of my homes…If they like it, I ask them for their contact info and talk to them about terms of the sale. I then tell them that the only way I’ll consider any offer from them is if MY mortgage broker PRE-QUALIFIES THEM. This is the part were some of them tell me…Oh, we’re already pre-qualified… I politely explain that I need them to talk with my broker if they want to continue the process. I also explain that they are under NO obligation to use him for the loan. But…if they want the house, I will have him call them for some info.

If these folks are REAL buyers they won’t have a problem with it. I can not tell you how many DEAD BEATS are walking around out there with BS pre-approvals. By using MY BROKER, I get a first hand account of any issues he see’s with a potential buyer. They get the green light or they get the BYE, BYE.

This is THE MOST IMPORTANT part of flipping homes now a days. Don’t let the buyer take controll of the transaction. YOU TAKE CONTROLL. I don’t sign a P&S until MY BROKER gives me the green light. It works BEATIFULLY for both of us because he knows I’m sending ALL my customers to HIM, he qualifies the good ones and kicks out the losers. He ends up just doing the mortgage for my buyers because he’s a PRO and even the BUYERS can see this. EVERYONE WINS!!! We both make money, and very little time is wasted waiting for some dope mortgage broker to FINALLY getting you a DENIAL. By doing this you have incredible control over TIME. If you let your buyers just go with who ever THEY want that boker has a committment to THEM. My broker is committed to ME!!!

BIG DIFFERENCE!!!

2

I had something like this on a foreclosure. Countrywide had a house that I placed a bid on. They said I had to be prequalified with countrywide before they would accept my offer. They didn’t have the financing deal I needed for the rehab loan, so they couldn’t do the financing anyway. Because I am such a butt hole I let the deal go rather than giving Countrywide my information. I use my financing not your financing. It is not because I am a deadbeat, it is because I am a control freak. I guess 2 control freaks will have a heard time doing business with each other.

3

I see that all the time with CW owned properties. Just laugh when you say they are control freaks, b/c now they are going to be controlled by Bank of America. haha.

FDJake -

I agree, a quality broker is an essential part and an often forgotten part. Alot of people don’t want to take the time to be knowledgeable and get involved and that is why they go through several offers before they actually get someone who can qualify. But I would think that YOU would be the most important part of the team??

Curious though, you say you sell your houses on your own with no realtors - what are you doing to bring the attention to your property and get the exposure needed to sell quickly? How are you advertising the home?

4

How much do they have to pay your broker? If I already paid a broker a fee to qualify me, I wouldn’t pay again. But if it works for you, more power to you. It sounds like a good setup for you and your broker.

5

I have some mortgages with Countrywide. I have one house that has an 80% 20% loan to get out of PMI. The reason this works is that you spread the risk between 2 banks so that one bank doesn’t take the whole risk. As you know banks buy and sell these mortgages. I now have a house with the first and second with Countrywide. These guys have bought both mortgages and now they don’t have any risk protection. Speaking of not knowing what they are doing.

6

All my broker needs from them is a Social # to weed out the dopes… He can pull their credit and THEN point out the advantages of going with HIM instead of someone else, all at no cost to THEM. In the end it’s up to the buyer, but I decide WHO that buyer is.

CRAIGSLIST has sold more houses for me than ANY REALTOR EVER!!!

You have to know HOW TO WRITE an ATTRACTIVE AD. And…the house should sell it’s self if it’s done right and priced right!!!

7

phlemboy - most brokers wouldn’t charge anyone for a pre-approval, or at least I don’t know anyone who would.

bluemoon - lenders do that all the time, spreading risk isn’t the main reason they do it. The main reason was just another selling point - “look we have loans that have no PMI!” But when you take the difference to what you were paying with 1 loan and PMI, and compare it to 2 loans with none (one with a higher rate) it usually just washes out.

fdjake - that’s interesting, just CL? ads in the paper? signs?

8

I had a broker tell me a while back that he charged a fee for that. I think it was like over $50. Then he would credit that later if you used him. Even though I didn’t know if that was normal, it sounded fishy to me. So far he’s the only one I’ve seen that does that.

9

He’s probably just covering for his credit report charges and then a little extra - some brokers like to do that to help retain their clients - I say if you’re good they’ll stay without the $50, and asking for money up front scares people off. some do it, some dont’.

10

Hey Pete,

Can you post a link to one of your houses on craigslist???

Or maybe go over one of mine??

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/apa/585066016.html

11

I was just about to ask if we could see one of your ads pete.

12

Here’s the last one, also as you will note, the reason for the original post.
SOLD for $179,000!!! DONE…NO REALTOR

Oh and as we all know. comps as provided can be wide ranging. This neighborhood was huge and had homes from 1100 sq. ft. to 3000 sq. ft. thus the range in prices. USE THAT TO YOUR ADVANTAGE

13

Great use of CAPS! Makes the key words JUMP OUT! Kitchen looks nice too!

14

Those numbers seem imaginary for that kind of home, compared to Northern NJ. 10,000 sq ft? The only time I’ve seen a lot size that big being advertised, was vacant open land or commercial space.

Anyhow, great job… how did you find this motivated seller if you don’t mind me asking.