Live & Flip

Silly Bank Profits are for Investors

I just sent an offer out for a property in my target area. $550 above listing. So why bash the banks as wasteful? This is the same property I bid on almost exactly 1 month ago. It was in short sale back then. The bank refused to go below their asking price. Now it is bank owned and listed for 5k below my original offer. Since there is one other bid out there, I am bidding just a hair above. Still its 4.5k below my original offer. I'm sure they have a valid reason (okay maybe not), but I...

Good Networking

I finished my refi on Friday. Took about an hour. I had to sign three sets of loan documents. You can guess what my signature looked like at the end. I brought in bagels for the loan office and you would have thought I brought in lost puppies. They were a huge hit. Doesn't anyone do those type of things anymore? Over my Asiago Cheese bagel my broker and I had a great chat. We discussed purchasing properties like my first two rentals. Only this time, I'm in control of the transaction. ...

Final refi numbers

Assuming I close on Friday, the final refi numbers are as follows. Rental 1 $250 back at closing, $3222 added to principle and payment reduction of $183 Rental 2 $0 back at closing, $1530 added to principle and payment reduction of $59 My home $168 back at closing, $1763 added to principle and payment reduced $127 Total $6515 added to principle - $418 back at closing minus $2235 saved in no mortgage payment for Aug. $369 dollars a month in reduced mortgage costs. $3862 Total Cost/$369 ...

No new personal home (+Late Update)

Just got off the phone with my Realtor. They gave the nod to the other bidder on the short sale property we were hoping to make our next home. Were not discouraged though, the next home is around the corner. I will say that I am very disappointed with the seller Realtor. His communications were very poor, he made promises he didn't keep and overall did not give a good name for his profession. He told us he would not take more offers once ours was in, since it was the first offer in weeks....

Pins and Needles

Quick update on our future home bid. The property is a short sale that requires both the sellers approval to move forward. Unfortunately the short sale is due to a divorce and job loss. The sellers are difficult to get together to make a decision. I have no news at the moment, which has me on pins and needles. No news in Real Estate is generally bad news. In this case we have been in touch with the selling agent. The sellers agreed to make a decision tonight. My buyers agent and I had to...

New Home, Maybe!

Gonna make a bid tonight on a possible new home. Its a SS that needs around 30k worth of work. Its in a southern neighborhood of my farm. Has everything were looking for. No other bids yet and I'm going to offer 12k less than asking. The BPO will take place on Thursday. If we happen to get that property, my current one will become our third rental. My current property will rent for $1000/mo. The mortgage will be $585. I'm looking at positive cash flow of $50-$100/mo. My combined cas...

Refi Madness

I got a call from my mortgage broker this week. He's one of those guys you love to have on your team. He'll make something work that 10 others didn't. I've have an opportunity to refi on all three of my properties (my house included) and reduce my mortgage payments by $328/mo. I've been trying to take advantage of these rates for months. I have one loan through his office (he underwrites his own loans). He is able to refi this one with minimal costs. Paul wisely takes the conservative a...