Buying your first home in US. Headache or super fun time?

[tallcoolone 102]

sweet!!

I used to buy and sell property and flip houses. Probably bought and sold close to 200 houses.

Find someone who is desperate to sell, or needs to sell. Pick the house up dirt cheap, if it needs repairs then make them while living in the house. Keep realator out of the loop, closing cost on cheap house will run about $1,000.

Live in the house a couple of years, Fix it up sell it then you made a $20,000 to $60,000 profit after expense, Find another house and do it again.

After a few houses you have a nice sum of cash, and then you can start paying cash for distressed houses from banks or individuals, and then you will start making big bank.

Lots of people who want to make money off you in the real estate game, and you can get rid of most of them: Realators, Home Inspectors, Home Appraisers, Etc...

[silvana.toma 15]

I used to buy and sell property and flip houses. Probably bought and sold close to 200 houses.

Find someone who is desperate to sell, or needs to sell. Pick the house up dirt cheap, if it needs repairs then make them while living in the house. Keep realator out of the loop, closing cost on cheap house will run about $1,000.

Live in the house a couple of years, Fix it up sell it then you made a $20,000 to $60,000 profit after expense, Find another house and do it again.

After a few houses you have a nice sum of cash, and then you can start paying cash for distressed houses from banks or individuals, and then you will start making big bank.

Lots of people who want to make money off you in the real estate game, and you can get rid of most of them: Realators, Home Inspectors, Home Appraisers, Etc...

yeah, but where do i find these houses??

[웃 910]

I used to buy and sell property and flip houses. Probably bought and sold close to 200 houses.

Fix it up sell it then you made a $20,000 to $60,000 profit after expense, Find another house and do it again.

That is a lot of houses....and a lot of profit...

NOW IMAGINE YOU NEVER SOLD 1 HOUSE BUT JUST RENTED THEM OUT!!!!

You'd have 200 houses collecting at least $500 a month....You'd make $100,000 a month in rental income.

My goal is to have 10 rentals by the time I am 35....

[silvana.toma 15]

That is a lot of houses....and a lot of profit...

NOW IMAGINE YOU NEVER SOLD 1 HOUSE BUT JUST RENTED THEM OUT!!!!

You'd have 200 houses collecting at least $500 a month....You'd make $100,000 a month in rental income.

My goal is to have 10 rentals by the time I am 35....

The problem that i see with this is it can take a while to sell, as not a lot of people are dying to buy homes right now. That and also you would have to work full time into this to be able to take your time and look for homes and etc...but i have to say it's a great ideea. I wanted to do that in romania buy a ###### load of condos and then rent them out...but then in a year or so all housing market just sky roceked so from $10,000 a condo got up to 60,000 euro so that kind of ended that...

It is a great way to make money, i wish i would be smart like that and start my own bussines.

[Fandango 1,439]

I was doing some research online and some people are saying it's good to actually get a buyer's realtor, just to make sure he has your best interests at heart. We are meeting with the bank people on friday to get a pre-aproval..by the way...does anyone know how long it takes to get pre-aproved? I listen to your advice and we are geting pre-aproved first and then look for a realtor.

It's true, and i am very aware of housing costs that vary depending on the state. We originally wanted to move to michigan where the housing market was amazing...also florida has amazing deals too...

I will let you know of our process, and i hope no bumpy rides..

Thanks again guys for all the info, and tips. I really appreciate them.

In Florida, there is no such thing as single agency relationship. While you can get with someone who specializes in only buyers, we are all transaction brokers here, so one that chooses to specify or the other won't really matter.

I'm in FL

[silvana.toma 15]

Just a small update...yesterday we went to talk to a mortgage consultant, and it took about an hour and a half. She was very knowledgeble, and very helpfull. I have no doubt she can represent us and do a great job. She told us the inbterest would be 4.8, and as far as i know that's about avarage. She said we can do VADH i think it was? where we don't have to make a downpayment...and for me, coming from a country that goes by "what's in your hand is not a lie", i would like to have my savings in the bank instead of giving it to them as a lump sum.

NOW...again...the same problem, i looked on realtor, and found a house i liked, called RE-MAX, obviously they said "someone will contact you....then i got a phone call an hour later just so that lady can tell me: what house are you interested in? i told her the home...then she was like:ok, let me look it up some more and i will call you back...well..guess what?she didn't!

What's funny is that RE-MAX and Joey Schlager are BIG, HUGE real estate bussineses and you would expect the best customer service...obviously they are big for a reason, right? No, not my experience, i just simply guess they don't need my bussines, and that's ok because i will take my bussines someplace else where they need it. AND no matter what realtor comes here and tries to fight me on this one, i would have to say to you sorry, you are wrong!!. WE have been contacted several realtors, i also did what you guys told me -tell them you are pre-aproved, and still we get the"i don't give a flying squerrel..."

When i was working at art auctions on cruis ships...the FIRST MOST IMPORTANT thing in sales that i learned was:NEVER JUDGE PEOPLE by the way they look, talk, or act...cause those could be your millionaires dressed like the hillbillies, that talk and act like them too.

I have been working in the ultimate customer service environment and i have to say- poor customer service it's like cancer for your bussines BECAUSE there is no bigger better marketing than "word to mouth"...and once you get that wrong...well..you're kind of ...you know the word ..it's starts with F..or S

For the longest time i thought America has the best customer service in the world, well...in light of recent events(and not just with realtors), i have come to the conclusion that maybe that is just a mith?

[LaL 418]

Sounds like a rare experience. Last week I called several realtors and interviewed them on the phone in preparation to choose one as a buyer's agent. All of them spoke to me at length, and answered all my questions with patience. Sorry you did not have the same experience. Just call someone else.

[tallcoolone 102]

yeah, but where do i find these houses??

When I first started out, I sent out 3,000 postcards every two weeks. That's how I got started and it worked out pretty good.

After a while once I was kinda established houses came to be other ways, but my bread and butter was postcards

[tallcoolone 102]

That is a lot of houses....and a lot of profit...

NOW IMAGINE YOU NEVER SOLD 1 HOUSE BUT JUST RENTED THEM OUT!!!!

You'd have 200 houses collecting at least $500 a month....You'd make $100,000 a month in rental income.

My goal is to have 10 rentals by the time I am 35....

I would say the first hundred houses I bought and sold and or flipped were in "War Zone", Places where neither you nor me would want to be after the sun set. Renting was not going to happen in these areas.

Yes getting a portfolio of rental properties is a wise investment..

If you are getting the run around. You can become a realator, It only takes a couple weeks and they have fast track classes.

[Fandango 1,439]

Call someone else. Why would realtors fight you on that? It's bad business.

[Fandango 1,439]

I used to buy and sell property and flip houses. Probably bought and sold close to 200 houses.

Find someone who is desperate to sell, or needs to sell. Pick the house up dirt cheap, if it needs repairs then make them while living in the house. Keep realator out of the loop, closing cost on cheap house will run about $1,000.

Live in the house a couple of years, Fix it up sell it then you made a $20,000 to $60,000 profit after expense, Find another house and do it again.

After a few houses you have a nice sum of cash, and then you can start paying cash for distressed houses from banks or individuals, and then you will start making big bank.

Lots of people who want to make money off you in the real estate game, and you can get rid of most of them: Realators, Home Inspectors, Home Appraisers, Etc...

I respect your POV no matter how ill advised it is. And I really don't want to start arguing with you, but I need to clarify a few things here, for the interest of reality:

If a particular house is on the mkt, then a realtor is involved (selling side). Telling her to not get a realtor is ridiculous.

If she needs a mtg (which she does) telling her to 'get rid' of home appraisers is wrong. The bank will order an appraisal to see if it's worth more than what they are loaning on the property.

If she or her hubby is not well versed in repairing a home - getting rid of a home inspector is so ill advised. Home inspectors find major faults that cost tens of thousands of dollars. They usually charge only a few hundred. Not to mention, the bank may require a home inspection.

And, in this market, many times the seller comes to closing with money. The seller is responsible for the realty fees. While most ill-advised people think 'oh it's rolled into the cost of the house' that's not true. A house (with the buyer getting a mtg) can really only sell for what or near what it appraises for. A house selling for cash is not going to be above mkt value just so the buyer pays the fees. That is ridiculous.

While I understand your position - and am familiar with it; my dad is a licensed contractor, he paid cash for their house, and their investment properties. He did not pay a home inspector because he WAS the home inspector. He did not get an appraisal because there was no bank, and he got great deals. But people like my dad - and you - are an entirely different 'animal' than a couple on the precipice of buying their first home, with a mtg, and not familiar with the process at all.

Edited January 30, 2011 by Lisa C

[Fandango 1,439]

I would say the first hundred houses I bought and sold and or flipped were in "War Zone", Places where neither you nor me would want to be after the sun set. Renting was not going to happen in these areas.

Yes getting a portfolio of rental properties is a wise investment..

If you are getting the run around. You can become a realator, It only takes a couple weeks and they have fast track classes.

So she should live in the 'war zone' for her first home?

You are using this thread just to pat yourself on the back, because you're not really offering the OP any constructive advice in her first home purchase.

And furthermore, (speaking for FL) it's not just 'a couple of classes' and then that's it. It's classes, state board exam, licensing fees, realtor board fees, hanging your license with a company, etc.

While I do agree that if one were going to devote one's whole life to investing and flipping, and one has the time, becoming a realtor would be a smart thing to do. But don't give off the impression that it's just a 'few weekends' and then that's it.

[silvana.toma 15]

So i need your help, We went to a small bank and talked to a mortgage consultant. My husband stoped paying on his student loan because he was on ships for 7 years, and out of touch with the "home reality". as soon as we got back on land he started paying on his student loan(march 2010), so now our mortgage person tells us that we need to wait till april so we have a have a year in good standings with the student loan. Then we need a letter from elecrtic, cable, rent, and cell phone where they mention that we are paying everything on time etc..

But when we called these companies they all said they don't do that. Also the interest rate was 4.87 or something like that. Should we try other banks as well?

The problem is that we have found the home of our dreams yesterday!!!, and in order to put an offer on it we have to have the pre-aproval letter, but i am afraid they will not give us that untill april. The mortgage person told us we qualify for a loan, as my hubby's credit score is ok, and he makes preety good money, so the debt to income ratio is very small in our case(like 25%). SOOO what i am saying is that we DO NOT want to lose this house because of technicalities...what should we do? should we try another bank? To be honest this is the first bank we went to, so should we also shop around?

One more thing...the home we found is a forclosure, it's listed at 184k, would it be ok to put an offer for 164k? what are the chances the bank will approve it?

Any advice?

thank you!!!!!!

[TracyTN 237]

You can try another bank - I would. I don't know if they'll give you the same answer or something different - but you won't know until you try.

It's up to the bank that holds the foreclosure as to whether or not they'll accept your offer. As far as what to offer - that is where it would be nice to have a realtor to tell you how good of an offer $164k is given all the mitigating factors.

[silvana.toma 15]

We do have a realtor, and she said about 20k less. Today we will meet with someone from another bank, and i am curious what they have to say.

I'll keep you posted!