Today in "so much winning"!

[TDub]

All good things japhy

[Deleted User 89]

debating buying a house in the next year or so (would be my first)...can’t decide how long to wait before pulling the trigger

(and i’m not a millennial...lol)

A lot of the decision making process should be driven by what is going on in your location. Prices aren't dropping in a lot of places but it is shifting to a more buyer friendly market even in places like Denver. Interest rates will likely drop again this year but don't let interest rates drive your decision, base it on opportunity. Another half percent interest isn't going to change a good deal to a bad deal. Watch these two websites.

https://www.hudhomestore.com/Home/Index.aspx

https://www.homepath.com/#

These will give you a good idea of the foreclosure market in the location you are looking at. Know that buying homes from HUD seems to always be more of a pain than FannieMae but the deals might be better. Always get title insurance, the foreclosure process can get sloppy with such things as property descriptions and you won't find out until you get ready to sell and it can take months to clear up a title. Prices on these sites varies during the calendar year. In a Colorado mountain town they will want to clear their inventory before the weather turns and start with zero inventory in January. Other cold weather locations will probably do the same. If you look at these websites right before Thanksgiving you can find towns with virtual fire sales of houses as they try to dump inventory so that they don't have to maintain them over the winter. In 2011 I went through 10 homes in one day, all were listed on those two sites and the sale prices ranged from $10K to $40K in Pagosa Springs CO. Every one sold to an out of state buyer in a week after listing, every one had a million dollar view, all sales for cash. You sleep and take a shit in your house, you live on your deck looking at the mountains. All but one house was move in ready and had working appliances. My guess is everyone who bought one of those houses at least got 4X their money back if they held on for 5 years. At those prices you could easily rent them and make money, or use them as vacation homes to keep them from getting torn up by renters. You don't necessarily need to live in the house as a primary residence to make money. The cash you make from the sale of a vacation home might be the cash you put down as a bigger down payment on a primary residence 3-5 years later. Do research and look at County Assessors Parcel viewer maps, this will let you know who owns property nearby and what they paid for it and when. Homes can be a lousy investment because you only make money if you sell and then you have to find another place. But residential real estate can be a good way to build wealth. My "home" is my family and my community and other trappings; the house is a building that it resides in, for now. Best to shop for value and look at pictures of your dream home in magazines unless you have stupid money and then anything goes. Always look at the basement and foundation before looking at the kitchen or anything else. If there are cracks in the foundation walk away before anyone falls in love with any other aspect of the house. My wife hated buying a house with me, but she saw the value of that approach later. Just my two cents, OK maybe that was five or six cents.

wow, thanks for the info

we’re in SLC, and have a friend (former landlord, actually) that still rents multiple units in the metro. thought we’d pick his brain for sure

[japhy]

Find a buyers rep realtor you like and trust and only use them when you need them. If you have done your research ahead of time they will be happy to work with people who have figured out what they want before they start. Don't be afraid to approach people who don't have property for sale and ask if they are interested in selling. This reduces your chances of getting into a bidding war. We bought a townhouse in Lakewood/Denver that way. We found the neighborhood we wanted to be in and then did research on owners using the county tax assessors parcel viewer maps and then contacted an owner. Turned out they were interested in selling but hadn't listed it yet, and they were realtors so they would handle the deal themselves. Cool, let's cut out the middleman and cut to the chase. Get a written contract ASAP if you make a deal. On the Lakewood townhouse the realtor listed the house for one day on the MLS just so the house sale price could be considered in future comps of the area. The Owner/realtor showed it 6 times and got 4 offers on the place in that one day. I assume some were higher than our contract amount because they tried to void the contract a couple of times so that they could relist it.

Another tip, go to your bank and get to know your loan officer. Talk to them about what you are doing and fill out a loan app early. Keep all of your money in one bank so they have some loyalty to you. If you get a car loan use the same bank and use the same loan officer. On the Lakewood deal the owner sent me an email on a Friday afternoon at 4:00 PM MST stating that they had used a loophole and added a condition to the contract stating that we needed a letter from our bank stating that we could fund the purchase regardless of what the appraisal came in at. They knew the appraisal was coming in low. They wanted this letter by 6:00PM MST on that same Friday night. My realtor in Denver called as soon as the email hit her computer and was furious, there's no way they can do this, your bank is closed, it's 5:00 PM there and you can't make this happen. I texted my banker and told him I forwarded an email and I needed him to respond tonight. I had a text response in 20 minutes saying he was on it and a letter in my email in 30 minutes and we responded to the seller with an hour to spare. I don't have a million dollars in UMB but my banker read the letter from the seller and said "fuck those bastards we aren't going to let them screw my buddy japhy". Having a banker on your side can be crucial at times.

https://slco.org/assessor/new/javaapi2/ ... D=&query=Y

Get familiar with using this tool, it is invaluable. Drive around the area you are interested in and look for properties that are overgrown, the lights are never on, a car parked in the driveway that never moves, signs of neglect in an otherwise good location. Then look up the owners on the parcel viewer. Most of these will give you the ownership trail for the last 40-50 years. If the current owner is a trust of some sort, the owner likely died or is in an institution of some sort. If the title shows a quit claim deed, transfer was likely because of a divorce. Things I have found out through this....the house was in a family for 50 years and the wife got the husband's grandpa's house in the divorce. This says owner may be happy to cash out and leave her ex and everything associated with him behind.

Don't be afraid to write to the owner and tell them how you got their mailing address from the tax records and ask if they are interested in selling. Most of the time I get no response. I recently found 6 commercial buildings held in a family trust. Quickly figured out through newspaper obits that the family is down to 2 living members one of whom still lives in small town but is 83 years and her sister who was co-owner of the buildings died 6 months ago at 86. Did I already call this vulture capitalism? After looking at the buildings from the street and alley and google maps, they seem in good condition but they have been vacant for at least 10 years. There were no "for sale" signs or indications they were interested in selling. I had a realtor contact them and see if they were interested in selling. The owner called me back on my cell phone in an hour and we talked for 45 minutes. In two weeks I have an appointment to see every piece of property she owns and hear about the history of the family "real estate empire" (commercial storefronts, movie theater, grocery store, houses) which dates back 70 years and now she wants to sell. Just because I asked and showed an interest. No realtor listing, I told her I would pay all of the realtor's fees and we would use my realtor for contracts. No competition for the buildings, they are mine if I want them and we can agree on a fair reasonable price.

I never buy new cars and I try not to buy from car dealers. I buy mostly direct from previous owners and get a better deal. You can buy real estate in a similar no frills way if you are willing to do some research. In the old days real estate developers used to have to spend hours at a County Courthouse going through old plat books to get this kind of info and now it is all on the internet for anyone to access quickly and anonymously.

I don't know the Salt Lake market but my guess would be that the foreclosure market is small and the discounts are not huge based on demographics. Mountain towns nearby are probably a better foreclosure bet. Tax assessors records and driving around neighborhoods on weekends might be a good start to look for bargains.

Whatever you do don't waste your money buying, "The Art of the Deal", sign up for the japhy premium real estate online buyers guide website and get some useful shit.

[Deleted User 89]

but will japhy’s guide double as a door-stop?

[japhy]

nope, and it won't provide emergency toilet paper on a camping trip either

[Leawood]

The secure supply of toilet paper is the only reason why I only camp at any Four Seasons.

[TDub]

I assume similar principals can be applied to the tracking down and purchasing of land, with an emphasis put on researching historical water rights.

[Shirley]

All good things japhy

^^^

Great advice!

[japhy]

All good things japhy

^^^

Great advice!

And don't buy property in Florida, it will all be underwater some day. Maybe as early as Tuesday.

[japhy]

The secure supply of toilet paper is the only reason why I only camp at any Four Seasons.

I thought you said you go there for the bottomless coffee? .....or was it the topless maids? It's hard to keep up with you.

[twocoach]

Drama says the republic is crumbling. I disagree.

The state of our union is not perfect.

Trump said the republic was crumbling and that only he could save us so he conned a bunch of people into believing he would make all those changes.

Now he says that anyone who claims that the republic isn't great is unamerican and should leave.

Our nation has improvements to make, I certainly agree with you. We'll start with a change in the Oval Office.

[chiknbut]

All good things japhy

^^^

Great advice!

Yes, great advice.

As a real estate broker for six years now, I agree with everything Japhy wrote. His methods are what a lot of us do to find potential clients - tax records, etc. Though keep in mind he's looking for fairly specific things. Most real estate transactions aren't anywhere near as complicated as this. Education is the key - know about a place and an area before you get involved - and rely on professionals. You can put a place under contract, but you can always get out of it with an unfavorable inspection. Like Japhy said, if the place has a crack in the foundation or a past history of water problems, it's not a place you want. Water always wins.

In my opinion most of your problems can be taken care of by having a good and honorable realtor/broker (we are required to be brokers in Illinois), who can help set you up with a good home inspector and a real estate attorney. The attorney might be the most important part. I also personally prefer to use a mortgage broker instead of a local bank - but that's a personal choice.

It's a good time to buy. Like Japhy said, prices aren't going down, but inventory isn't moving much. And new construction is steady. If you find a place you like but think the price is too high, submit an offer anyway. There's a good chance they aren't receiving any offers and yours will be considered. Everyone thinks their house is worth more than it is. Sellers sometimes need to see a lower offer to open their eyes.

[TDub]

Any advice for people who would rather do fsbo properties? I cant stand dealing with real estate agents. No offense chickn, I'm sure some of them are terrific, but the vast majority I've come in contact with are pretty terrible and will say anything to get their piece of the pie. I've found one guy who I think is pretty dang good but still seems like I should be able to do most of this stuff myself.

[chiknbut]

Any advice for people who would rather do fsbo properties? I cant stand dealing with real estate agents. No offense chickn, I'm sure some of them are terrific, but the vast majority I've come in contact with are pretty terrible and will say anything to get their piece of the pie. I've found one guy who I think is pretty dang good but still seems like I should be able to do most of this stuff myself.

None taken. I've chosen a profession filled with scumbags and idiots. Well aware of that.

FSBO is tough. I get that you don't want to pay 2.5 percent, that's normal. Believe me, I deal with that every single day.

But in the end, a house sells because the market deems its price to be correct. It has nothing to do with home owners or realtors. Most FSBO's I've dealt with are horribly over-priced to begin with. Doesn't matter if you think your house is worth $425,000 if a similar house down the block sold for $400,000.

As I wrote before, most home owners believe their house is worth more than it is. And these people get really frustrated that they can't sell their homes. Has nothing to do with the realtor who is really only there to either help set a price and sell it or help someone understand the market and put in a fair offer.

My biggest obstacle right now is a softening luxury market. I have an amazing listing in a great neighborhood in one of the best school district's in Chicago. Got an offer one month into the listing and my clients didn't accept it because they thought they could get more. It's been 4 months now and no other offers. Because they waited, and because the market has softened, they'll be lucky to get under contract within $30,000 of the first offer.

One other thing: FSBO's are a key marketing demo for realtors. Mainly because they don't sell. So when the listing is cancelled, realtors sweep in and offer up the bad news with the hope of getting the listing at a more realistic price. FSBO's beat you up pretty bad, so they turn back to a realtor just to get the damn thing sold.

[Deleted User 62]

I get the same thing in high end luxury yacht brokerage.

A seller feels that the fees charged by a broker are too inflated. So they list it themselves. They usually over value the listing, and think that their boat is so much nicer and better equipped that it will bring higher than book.

We have a client purchasing a 2019 Galeon 68' fly. He was working with a couple of folks selling their own boats before he signed with us.
Thing is, the individual sellers have absolutely NO idea what it takes to get a boat that big moved from Florida to Dallas.

When a boat that size is moved, the power company has to shut down power lines..
..drop them....let the boat pass...then reinstall and re-power. Overpasses are out of the question.

$220,000 and 3 weeks to go from Freeport Texas to Dallas.

[ousdahl]

What does one do with a 68 foot boat in Dallas?

[Deleted User 62]

What does one do with a 68 foot boat in Dallas?

68 is big. By no means the biggest in Dallas.

Most people don't know that the Dallas metro is surrounded by lakes.

[ousdahl]

ha, sweet.

Once a boat that size gets to a particular lake does it normally stay put? Are the waters connected at all?

[Deleted User 62]

No connection.
For boats over 50'..
Lake Texona
Lake Lewisville
Possum Kingdom

Are the most popular.
There is an odd rush of really large boats going to Lake Ray Hubbard (where this boat is going). About the size of Lake Perry...but pretty shallow.

A lot of folks use these big boats as basically a water front condo to get drunk and not have to drive back to Dallas.

[TDub]

Boats just have always seemed like a terrific waste of money to me