Scott Townsend
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We are one of those “people” that had highest bidder sale on two different houses in the same neighborhood… Our mistake was to have “showings” or “Open houses” on one weekend, then the “Sale” the following. We had ad’s in the paper, signs up EVERYWHERE, and not one person showed up… Oh, except one fellow that came as we were closing up that wanted to know if it sold and for how much ! I think he was a builder looking to unload some of his own properties.
I would do it all in one weekend; showings on Saturday; Showings and Sale on Sunday.
Thanks Jackie !
Wow… I was part of FACE BOOK for only a short time last year and didn’t get that involved with it. After reading that Face Book would not guarantee that your profile information would be kept private or that personal photos, etc. that you delete are not actually deleted, but kept in their “vault” forever, I opted out after deleting all my information first.
Then, I checked this “Spokeo.com” site and “BAM” !!! there it all was ! As they say, once it’s out there, it’s out there forever. So, I removed my info again to hopefully help in flying under the radar.
Thanks for the heads up on this !
Jackie:
I know what you mean… our “scoundrel? scammed about fifteen people in total from three countries (U.S. (multiple states), Canada, and Great Britain). When we all broke our word and started talking to each other, (this fellow was the ?spoke of the wheel? for all communication), it was amazing what a web of lies this fellow had woven.
My stomach felt sick and I could feel the blood running from my head upon hearing the first big lie come to light; but then it came back the more I got pissed off until my ears were burning. We all talked for hours, comparing stories, and later we sent each other the ?confidential emails? he had been sending to each of us.
This guy was SO good with his deceit, he told us ?THE MONEY? we had all been waiting on had been wired into a general ledger account at the bank and was just waiting for the Fed?s to clear it and release the hold to be put into his business account. He even had us sit down with the Bank Manager and Operations Supervisor to discuss ?THE MONEY? in a closed conference room at the bank.
What we did not know is that while he had told our group that the money was already there and waiting for the release, he had told the Manager and Operations Supervisor that it was ?about to me wired in any day?. So, he ran the conversation (as he always did) and talked about ?The Money?. The conversation made sense to both parties, due to his verbal skills and the pre-conceived belief about the money; we all heard what we thought was the true story.
So, as of today, more than a year after our financial collapse, he is still walking around a free man. However, his laptop is in the hands of a Special Agent at NASA?s Johnson Space Center in Houston; their computer forensics? department. You see, as part of his ?scam? he used the identities of two distinguished PhD Engineers at NASA?s Ames Research Center in White Sands, New Mexico, to support documentation he was using to drum up money; that is a federal offence.
The wheels of justice turn slowly, so we?re just hoping to one day get the news that he is now living in ?The Other Gated Community? somewhere !
PS>> He even worked the “Romantic Side” of things. He had married one gal, and after she left him six months later, he was in the process of marrying another before the divorse was even final. He had done that once before too ! This guy has no fear; he is about six-foot ten inches tall (an imposing figure) and is Sociopathically brilliant. I can only imagine if the two gals had got a-hold of him ! Geez, this could be a movie ! A “Catch Me If You Can” type thriller…
Hey Jackie,
It happens to the best of us ! I know this first hand, as you know. We lost everything recently, due to a ?scam artist?? and he was REALLY good at his craft. It?s not that our guy took huge money from us like Ken Burge did, but ?used us? for his lifestyle while all of his ?promises? were just two more weeks away. Deceit comes in many forms. Unfortunately (& fortunately), it has left us ?jaded?? I always wondered why Jack Miller was so ?hard? on his tenants or when he was putting in money to a deal, he made sure he controlled it. Now I know?
Jackie,
Some of the links you have do not work ? The beginning and end of a link-line is not clear to me. I’ve copied and pasted several of them, but only a few get to an actual website; the rest just get an error.
Do you have those links elsewhere on your computer where you can send them separated via an email to me ? I really want to pass this info on to as many people as I can, but would like clear information to support what I send out.
Hopefully you have it saved in a location that can be quickly sent out without too much trouble or time on your end.
Thanks in advance ! This is far too important to just sit by on the side lines. I know that most people have no clue as to what this Administation is trying to shove through with these new Bills. The fact that it has already passed the House is scary enough; time is running out !
Scott
Thank you Chan !
I also heard from Earl, and he recommended using a Power of Attorney. Also, if one wanted to stay under the radar for signatures on permit documents, the Power of Attorney could be someone else that I know and trust; someone not related to me or the property. This way, my name would not show up on anything if a search was done.
Vic,
We had a 2-story duplex rental for years. When we went to sell it four years ago, we did an inspection first to (1) see if there were any issues and (2) to be able to show to potential buyers. The entire attic was MOLD ! A bathroom vent fan duct had come off years earlier and the tenant never told us; they just sprayed “Anti-mold bath cleaner” on the bath ceiling to get rid of it on the interior.
We ended up having to tear off the entire roof, down to the trusses since everything was black looking. We sprayed diluted bleach on the trusses and re-roofed. We also added two automatic attic fans. Total cost was about $6,000. But, when buyers looked into the attic, the wood was fresh, the roof was new and the attic fans also helped keep the units cooler in the summer.
Bottom line is, if the numbers still work after padding for the worst case known repairs, you’re good to go.
Jackie,
We are totally open to doing that, but…
We now have a “Construction Loan” in place that needs to be paid off. That loan paid for the land, the MFH, and all the improvements (Septic, Power, Water, Right of Way road, etc.)
That Construction loan has already been extended twice and the bank is looking for us to pay them off ASAP ! So, we’ve been looking around for a standard 30-year fixed rate loan to take its place… there lies the problem !
We can’t find a lender to make that type of loan on a non-owner occupied MFH. For some reason, the stigma of the MFH is making this much more of a challenge since it’s not “US” that will be living there. Having this be for “Resale” or a “Rental” isn’t setting well with the banks.
We are trying to see if we can’t get this through by saying it’s a “Second Home”, since it is in another County…
That’s why I thought I’d get some names of lenders that would do this deal so we CAN either sell it out-right or have a highest down payment auction, etc.
B
Sorry for taking so long to get back to this forum…
This is not a MFH park; it is a 1/4-acre lot with one MFH on it. Real life value when finished should be around $210,000 (Land and Home). Actually, nothing has sold that low for some time. If it were priced at $199,000, it would fly out the door.
I’m only into this for $135,000. It can be either a rental property (which I’m finding is not on the lenders top of the list loans) or we can sell it to an end buyer (owner occupied).
So far, all lenders have wanted 50% equity. That is the cause of the frustration.
B
Been sending out “Letters of Intent” to purchase SFH’s for two weeks now. One home that is Bank Owned was listed for $196k. They accepted our offer of $160k. We now have five days to go and see it (kick the tires) and see what it might need and how fast we can turn it or keep it as a rental.
No money out of pocket (have a passive invester)
Never left the office (just faxing offers over)
Don’t need to buy it if we don’t like what we seeJust another tool in our Jack Miller tool box to use for aquiring houses.
Development can be a REAL headache ! Ask me how I know…
We have about the same experience and we developed 6-homes so far. One was a Manufactured Home on a smaller lot. This “little” project has taken more time and money than we had ever thought possible.
I would do as little as is possible to have a quicker turn-around, like Jackie said. Changing from agriculture zoning to Single Family Homes or even Commercial land will greatly increase the value, with the least amount of headache.
If you want to make a little more money, you could spend more time and money getting a neighborhood plat set-up and approved by the City/County. That adds value as well, but it will cost you to have it engineered, but would save time for a developer who could step right in, buy the land and get building permits sooner; especially if the developer used “Stock Plans” already on file with the City/County. Less holding time for the developer means more money in his pocket (and yours)… but again, it’s more of a pain.
If this is what you did for a living, I’d say “go for it”… but if it’s not, do the minimum and turn it.
Taking on a “Builder / Partner” can easily lead to even bigger headaches, so I would avoid going that route.
Scott
Jack,
We have two New Construction homes that aren’t even being shown and are on the MLS. One is a 3 bed, 2-1/2 bath on 1/2-acre, priced at $367k in Gig Harbor. Nothing is that low, comparable, in the area.
The other (wish we hadn’t started this one) is a 5-bed, 2-1/2 bath, granite counters, wood floors on 2-1/2 acres on a private air strip with views of the Olympic Mtns. Listed at $649k. Again, nothing that low for comparables even without the air strip.
Had a “Highest Down Payment Auction” last weekend on the first house, and no one came (except neighbors!)
The large house was just finished, but has been listed since it was weather tight.
No offers and very few showings. Comments are, “This is a great house”… ?
What to do ? Not looking for the huge profit as before. Really just ready to get rid of it and do other things. Even offered seller financing, but no bites ?
Scott
