*** Official Real Estate Forum *** (3 Viewers)

Yo-

First time caller.  My in-laws own a mobile home in a senior citizens community, where my grandparents-in-law lived until my GIL sadly passed away last year.  They're now looking to sell the mobile home (they don't own the land it's on, obviously), and they're searching for the best way to do it.  My MIL found a broker, but his fee is 9%, which seems high.

She really doesn't want to do FSBO since she works full-time+ and the paperwork's a headache.  Any advice?  Many TIA.

-Gumksf

Click to expand...

Hmm, the interesting thing here is that in most states, this really isn't even a real estate deal.Mobile homes are considered just that - mobile. DMV/MVA for each state usually record them (auto departments), not land records. If you think about it, that makes sense. No land is sold here - so there is no "real estate".

I'm not ducking the question though.

What state are we talking about? How old / young is the mobile?

Often selling a mobile home can be done best by owner financing a note and selling the note. Basically, let's say you wanted $10,000 for the mobile home.

You get a buyer to give you $2,000 for it down and you will take $350 a month for five years so they can pay it off.

NOTE - Typically you want to price the payment ($350) plus the ground rent (from the MH park) to be about equal to the price of renting a 2 bedroom apartment in the area. Just a guide there.

Back to the math.

$350 a month for 5 years is a $15,000 note at 12%. So you're selling the mobile for $17,000 at face value - but you're selling it to the buyer as a home for $350 a month. MH's and lease options are sold like cars - you sell the payments, not the price.

So Ira Investor comes along and has $8,000 that he wants to invest. He sees that you have a note, secured by a mobile home. You sell him that "income stream" of $350 a month for 60 months and you walk with $8K.

(You'll notice that Ira gets a sweet deal for his return on investment, but he is taking the biggest risk since he is taking a mobile home note which are often hard to sell, and the face value is bigger than the implied value of the mobile home).

This is just ONE option.

Realtors do exist out there, and there's quite a few investors that are involved in mobile homes. Often parks don't allow tenants, but they will allow owner financed sales. They may have to approve the new buyer.

If you have more questions, post away.

Hope that helps.

Click to expand...

I posted this in the FSBO thread but got -- hoping with the heavier traffic someone in this thread can help...

---

Just finished meeting with my third agent for a market assessment and I have to admit, without putting a hard sell on me, this guy put a fairly good scare into me about the perils of FSBO...

Obviously that's his job, to try to get my business as a listing agent, but he pulled examples of properties that were listed FSBO that sat on the market even with price drop after price drop and ended up netting less profit than they would have with an agent (assuming they sold)...

I even thought I was being very pragmatic, intending to list FSBO for 30 or 45 days and then if I couldn't move the property engaing an agent...but the agent notes that time on the market compresses the price and when an agent is engaged they will want to pull the MLS and relist it (thus not saving me any cost)...and savvy agents will still be able to see the old listing to see the price drops...

He noted that buyers agent who find dealing with a FSBO frustrating will simply stop dealing with the property even if its eventually listed with an agent...

He also explained how buyers use both the price drops and FSBO as justification for low offers...that as a buyer's agent he'll actually say outright "you aren't paying a commission on this one, so we've taken that 2.5% out of the price"...

He also had stats indicating the low percentage of homes that sell FSBO and that they typically sell for like 10%-25% below the market...

I'm a pretty reasonable guy...to me this is all dollars and cents...but I have to admit he made a pretty good argument that trying to save $10,000 going FSBO may not be worth it...can anyone provide some analysis to set me straight on this one?

Click to expand...

Go FSBO for a month, then see what happens.

Click to expand...

General announcement.

Since many now know me from this thread, I'd thought I'd make it known here that I'm changing my name on this site - for the better.

You'll know me now as "Jeff Pasquino", new staff member.

Carry on.

Click to expand...

General announcement.

Since many now know me from this thread, I'd thought I'd make it known here that I'm changing my name on this site - for the better.

You'll know me now as "Jeff Pasquino", new staff member.

Carry on.

Click to expand...

Hell in a Handbag. I'm just saying.

Click to expand...

I never look at the names, just the member number, WOW what a promotion

Seriously, this reflects well upon the site as much as it does to you. I am glad to see FBG affiliating serious and valuable members to its staff. Certainly makes the site more than an one-dimensional offering.

Congratulations Mr 42

Click to expand...

Jeff, I would like to revisit options. I am looking at a neighboring three acres with a small one room house on it. It is assessed at $42,000 but the only real value to me is the land, which I would like to pick up at no more than $9,000 an acre. On the other hand, if it sold for $15,000 an acre and some less than desireable neighbors moved in, it would kill me to have let it go.

Questions - What type of attorney is necessary to write up an option or is one totally necessary (online form, etc)?

Do I need to register the option somewhere to ensure it is binding?

Do I need to consider the value of the structure, I am guessing yes, but we would tear it down?

What is a reasonable down payment, if that is the term? One percent ($420) of current assessed value?

I am most concerned about the half nearest us, can I offer a second condition of being able to offer on just half of the property if I do not want to offer assessed value for the portion with the structure on it?

Is there any way to get a feel for whether they are interested? Are they obligated to accept an option (guessing not).

Also, would it be acceptable to most to offer fair market value by a third party minus 3-5% since a realtor would not be involved?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

I'd be cautious about relying on this website for now. Take a look at this article.

Site's Alluring Facade Is Built on Shaky Foundation

By Leslie Walker

The Washington Post, February 16, 2006

When I saw a demo of the Zillow.com real estate service last month, it struck me as so obvious I wondered why no one had done it before.

Then when Zillow launched on the Web last week, I realized why.

Offering automated property valuations via the Internet turns out to be much harder than it seems — especially if you expect them to be accurate. But after running extensive tests on this ambitious national real estate service, I found it to be so inaccurate that it's not useful.

It's hard to quibble with the company's goal —"free, instant valuations and data for 60,000,000+ homes." You type in any address, and in most cases Zillow will spit out a free estimate of the property's market value.

But appraisers questioned whether consumers will have any idea how off-base Zillow's free valuations can be.

"What scares me is the consumer who goes out there and makes a decision based on that data," said Richard Powers, president of the Appraisal Institute, the nation's largest appraiser association with 21,000 members. "Consumers really have no way to judge the accuracy of the estimate — that really is the problem."

Powers said his board members have had mixed results on tests they've been running since Zillow's public beta test went live. "In some areas, we found the results were fairly accurate to the value of the home. In others, we found results that were at least 40 percent wrong."

Zillow president and co-founder Lloyd Frink said the free, advertising-supported site doesn't aim to replace home appraisers or real estate agents. "It is meant as something to help buyers and sellers start a conversation."

How does Zillow work? It starts by buying massive amounts of real estate information from commercial data collectors — home addresses, tax assessments, square footage, lot sizes, number of bedrooms, prior sales prices and the like. Then its computers identify similar homes that recently sold in the same neighborhoods and use mathematical models to compare their traits and create a "Zestimate," or "estimated market value."

Below its estimate, Zillow shows a mesmerizing array of other data, including features describing the house, a chart of estimated value over the past year and list of similar houses sold recently. You can call up scrollable neighborhood maps with images of the homes, with their values superimposed.

So far, Zillow has identified about 60 million homes and collected enough data to offer estimates on slightly more than 40 million, with more being added daily. Coverage is spotty to nonexistent for the District, Alexandria and Arlington, but plentiful for the Maryland suburbs and Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties.

Trouble is, because Zillow is loaded with dirty data in some places and missing key factoids in others, its Zestimates often miss the mark — sometimes so widely that I fear that anyone trying to buy or sell a home could get burned by relying on Zillow.

In my own random tests of dozens of local properties, I found about half of the estimates to be sharply off — more than 10 percent off the actual recent sales price or what someone knowledgeable about the property deemed its market value to be. Many were off by 20 percent or more.

I asked a Virginia title company to randomly pick houses that went to settlement in the past week — too soon for Zillow to have picked up those market prices — and asked an agent to identify recently listed homes, along with comparable recent transactions, using the multiple listing system run by the Washington area's Metropolitan Regional Information System.

I found Zillow sharply undervalued one home in Fairfax Station that had sold twice in the past two years, first for $560,000 and then for $630,000. Zillow pegged its value at $499,206. Oddly, Zillow not only had the first sales price in its database but also showed it right below the flawed estimate. Zillow made the same error on a Lorton home, pegging its value at $784,793 while noting it had sold last summer for $900,000.

Those estimates were likely due to a glitch in Zillow's valuation formula, which has been overriding actual sales data too frequently, according to Stan Humphries, Zillow's director of advanced analytics. He said the formula is being adjusted to give greater weight to sale prices.

Other flawed Zestimates may have been caused by stale data on the size, age and other characteristics of houses, several of which had been remodeled. For instance, a new Lorton home on the market for $899,900 was valued by Zillow at only $394,240. I'm guessing it was because Zillow's description was missing one bathroom and two bedrooms.

Zillow offers a tweaking tool called My Zestimator that allows you to fine-tune estimates by adding data about a home, such as the size and cost of renovation work — and then view, but not save, the modified value. I was able to boost the value of remodeled homes that way, though not enough to match the sale prices.

Zillow runs extensive analyses to calculate its own accuracy rate by comparing actual transactions as they occur with the automated estimates provided by its computerized valuation system. Nationwide, 62 percent of all Zestimates fall within 10 percent of the selling price, according to Zillow. That means 38 percent are more than 10 percent off the mark, which strikes me as significant.

Accuracy runs higher in urban areas where Zillow has more sales data and drops in rural areas where the data tends to be sparser. But the company's track record can be dismal in some metro areas, such as Baltimore, where the company's own accuracy chart shows more than half its Zestimates are 17.7 percent or more off the selling price.

Frink said he considers Zillow's national accuracy rate strong and isn't troubled by its misses. Zestimates, he said, shouldn't be considered replacements for appraisals, which are created by trained, certified professionals who go to a home to verify its traits and physically view comparable homes.

Frink predicted that Zillow, which received plenty of media hoopla when it debuted, will improve gradually as the company adds housing data and tweaks its algorithm for automated value calls.

But until Zillow gets a lot smarter, I don't recommend making it a trusted bookmark.

Click to expand...

Copied from Another Thread

I thought this was valuable to add....

I'd be cautious about relying on this website for now. Take a look at this article.

Site's Alluring Facade Is Built on Shaky Foundation

By Leslie Walker

The Washington Post, February 16, 2006

When I saw a demo of the Zillow.com real estate service last month, it struck me as so obvious I wondered why no one had done it before.

Then when Zillow launched on the Web last week, I realized why.

Offering automated property valuations via the Internet turns out to be much harder than it seems — especially if you expect them to be accurate. But after running extensive tests on this ambitious national real estate service, I found it to be so inaccurate that it's not useful.

It's hard to quibble with the company's goal —"free, instant valuations and data for 60,000,000+ homes." You type in any address, and in most cases Zillow will spit out a free estimate of the property's market value.

But appraisers questioned whether consumers will have any idea how off-base Zillow's free valuations can be.

"What scares me is the consumer who goes out there and makes a decision based on that data," said Richard Powers, president of the Appraisal Institute, the nation's largest appraiser association with 21,000 members. "Consumers really have no way to judge the accuracy of the estimate — that really is the problem."

Powers said his board members have had mixed results on tests they've been running since Zillow's public beta test went live. "In some areas, we found the results were fairly accurate to the value of the home. In others, we found results that were at least 40 percent wrong."

Zillow president and co-founder Lloyd Frink said the free, advertising-supported site doesn't aim to replace home appraisers or real estate agents. "It is meant as something to help buyers and sellers start a conversation."

How does Zillow work? It starts by buying massive amounts of real estate information from commercial data collectors — home addresses, tax assessments, square footage, lot sizes, number of bedrooms, prior sales prices and the like. Then its computers identify similar homes that recently sold in the same neighborhoods and use mathematical models to compare their traits and create a "Zestimate," or "estimated market value."

Below its estimate, Zillow shows a mesmerizing array of other data, including features describing the house, a chart of estimated value over the past year and list of similar houses sold recently. You can call up scrollable neighborhood maps with images of the homes, with their values superimposed.

So far, Zillow has identified about 60 million homes and collected enough data to offer estimates on slightly more than 40 million, with more being added daily. Coverage is spotty to nonexistent for the District, Alexandria and Arlington, but plentiful for the Maryland suburbs and Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties.

Trouble is, because Zillow is loaded with dirty data in some places and missing key factoids in others, its Zestimates often miss the mark — sometimes so widely that I fear that anyone trying to buy or sell a home could get burned by relying on Zillow.

In my own random tests of dozens of local properties, I found about half of the estimates to be sharply off — more than 10 percent off the actual recent sales price or what someone knowledgeable about the property deemed its market value to be. Many were off by 20 percent or more.

I asked a Virginia title company to randomly pick houses that went to settlement in the past week — too soon for Zillow to have picked up those market prices — and asked an agent to identify recently listed homes, along with comparable recent transactions, using the multiple listing system run by the Washington area's Metropolitan Regional Information System.

I found Zillow sharply undervalued one home in Fairfax Station that had sold twice in the past two years, first for $560,000 and then for $630,000. Zillow pegged its value at $499,206. Oddly, Zillow not only had the first sales price in its database but also showed it right below the flawed estimate. Zillow made the same error on a Lorton home, pegging its value at $784,793 while noting it had sold last summer for $900,000.

Those estimates were likely due to a glitch in Zillow's valuation formula, which has been overriding actual sales data too frequently, according to Stan Humphries, Zillow's director of advanced analytics. He said the formula is being adjusted to give greater weight to sale prices.

Other flawed Zestimates may have been caused by stale data on the size, age and other characteristics of houses, several of which had been remodeled. For instance, a new Lorton home on the market for $899,900 was valued by Zillow at only $394,240. I'm guessing it was because Zillow's description was missing one bathroom and two bedrooms.

Zillow offers a tweaking tool called My Zestimator that allows you to fine-tune estimates by adding data about a home, such as the size and cost of renovation work — and then view, but not save, the modified value. I was able to boost the value of remodeled homes that way, though not enough to match the sale prices.

Zillow runs extensive analyses to calculate its own accuracy rate by comparing actual transactions as they occur with the automated estimates provided by its computerized valuation system. Nationwide, 62 percent of all Zestimates fall within 10 percent of the selling price, according to Zillow. That means 38 percent are more than 10 percent off the mark, which strikes me as significant.

Accuracy runs higher in urban areas where Zillow has more sales data and drops in rural areas where the data tends to be sparser. But the company's track record can be dismal in some metro areas, such as Baltimore, where the company's own accuracy chart shows more than half its Zestimates are 17.7 percent or more off the selling price.

Frink said he considers Zillow's national accuracy rate strong and isn't troubled by its misses. Zestimates, he said, shouldn't be considered replacements for appraisals, which are created by trained, certified professionals who go to a home to verify its traits and physically view comparable homes.

Frink predicted that Zillow, which received plenty of media hoopla when it debuted, will improve gradually as the company adds housing data and tweaks its algorithm for automated value calls.

But until Zillow gets a lot smarter, I don't recommend making it a trusted bookmark.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

General announcement.

Since many now know me from this thread, I'd thought I'd make it known here that I'm changing my name on this site - for the better.

You'll know me now as "Jeff Pasquino", new staff member.

Carry on.

Click to expand...

We have $20,000 on a 1031 exchange that needs to be parked within the month - Or We need to come up with some money for the tax man.

Any suggestions... We'll "settle" for breakeven - No 10% or 7% rule or whatever needed here.

Click to expand...

We have $20,000 on a 1031 exchange that needs to be parked within the month - Or We need to come up with some money for the tax man.

Any suggestions... We'll "settle" for breakeven - No 10% or 7% rule or whatever needed here.

Click to expand...

We have $20,000 on a 1031 exchange that needs to be parked within the month - Or We need to come up with some money for the tax man.

Any suggestions... We'll "settle" for breakeven - No 10% or 7% rule or whatever needed here.

Click to expand...

Where are you?You should be able find SOMETHING using a local real estate club.

I do not know if you can use it to buy a mortgage or a partial interest in a property - I would ask your 1031 exchange attorney about what your options are.

However - I thought that you had to identify the properties long before this point - or are you still in the "identify a property for exchange" window?

Click to expand...

We have $20,000 on a 1031 exchange that needs to be parked within the month - Or We need to come up with some money for the tax man.

Any suggestions... We'll "settle" for breakeven - No 10% or 7% rule or whatever needed here.

Click to expand...

Where are you?You should be able find SOMETHING using a local real estate club.

I do not know if you can use it to buy a mortgage or a partial interest in a property - I would ask your 1031 exchange attorney about what your options are.

However - I thought that you had to identify the properties long before this point - or are you still in the "identify a property for exchange" window?

Click to expand...

We're in NY.We have about 3 weeks left to Identify a Property.....

The Real Estate Club I tried and posted a few pages ago how they want me to knock on doors but, I am posting on their board.

Click to expand...

We have $20,000 on a 1031 exchange that needs to be parked within the month - Or We need to come up with some money for the tax man.

Any suggestions... We'll "settle" for breakeven - No 10% or 7% rule or whatever needed here.

Click to expand...

Buy another house.

Click to expand...

Good article about real estate growth in the next 20-25 year timeframe.

Real Estate in 2030

Click to expand...

Good article about real estate growth in the next 20-25 year timeframe.

Real Estate in 2030

Click to expand...

Interesting in that I liked the different bullet points described in each instance, making his arguments clear.I was a bit disappointed in the I-35 point, in that it did not explain why KC was included.

Personally, I would like to see this on the more local scale, and may use these point to try to find neighborhoods or small towns along I-70 (KC - Columbia - St Louis) that might be worth buying into.

Jeff, have you seen the Homesteps site from Freddie Mac? Thoughts? Homesteps

Click to expand...

I’ve got a question about lender ratios for home sales. When I bought my first house about 4 years ago, I pretty much held fast to the 28/36 ratio that most lenders use. Now it appears the mortgage lending industry is switching to less stringent ratios or even no ratios. Has anyone used this type of loan for a mortgage? I feel confident that I can use a higher housing ratio than industry standards….say 40-45% total debt. My question is, with no other debt beside a mortgage payment, what type of loan should I apply for? No ratio? Are there more fees involved with theses?

Click to expand...

I'm buying a condo with an equity loan from my primary residence. Since there will be no specific mortgage related to the condo, how do I go about a title search and title insurance? Every other time I have refy'd or bought I used the mortgage company's lawyer and they did all the necessary research. This condo is owned by 2 couples so I definitely want to make sure there are no liens since 1 of the couples is going through a divorce. TIA.

Click to expand...

Hey Jeff,

Can we talk a minute about easements? On the three acres of wooded land we have, a surveyor called and wanted to talk about putting a sewer line in that would require a 20 foot wide cutdown that could not be replanted for tree growth.

Obviously, if we ever developed the land, having the sewer in place would be a positive, but the downside is the clearing would take away a lot of the visual and noise barrier the trees provide from a main street located on its East side.

Do we have to allow the easement? I was told the property could be declared condemned if we don't. Are we provided any compensation for the loss (to us)?

Thanks

Click to expand...

The weather is finally breaking, and real estate markets are warming up again.

If you're a buyer, now's the time to buy before prices escalate if you're in a hot market.

Click to expand...

Neighbor's house that comps out almost exactly to mine just sold for 6.5% more than I got mine for in December. It's starting, people.

Click to expand...

We have $20,000 on a 1031 exchange that needs to be parked within the month - Or We need to come up with some money for the tax man.

Any suggestions... We'll "settle" for breakeven - No 10% or 7% rule or whatever needed here.

Click to expand...

Where are you?You should be able find SOMETHING using a local real estate club.

I do not know if you can use it to buy a mortgage or a partial interest in a property - I would ask your 1031 exchange attorney about what your options are.

However - I thought that you had to identify the properties long before this point - or are you still in the "identify a property for exchange" window?

Click to expand...

We're in NY.We have about 3 weeks left to Identify a Property.....

The Real Estate Club I tried and posted a few pages ago how they want me to knock on doors but, I am posting on their board.

Click to expand...

We have $20,000 on a 1031 exchange that needs to be parked within the month - Or We need to come up with some money for the tax man.

Any suggestions... We'll "settle" for breakeven - No 10% or 7% rule or whatever needed here.

Click to expand...

Where are you?You should be able find SOMETHING using a local real estate club.

I do not know if you can use it to buy a mortgage or a partial interest in a property - I would ask your 1031 exchange attorney about what your options are.

However - I thought that you had to identify the properties long before this point - or are you still in the "identify a property for exchange" window?

Click to expand...

We're in NY.We have about 3 weeks left to Identify a Property.....

The Real Estate Club I tried and posted a few pages ago how they want me to knock on doors but, I am posting on their board.

Click to expand...

Blue,Please take this Comment from Mike Anderson general citizen, and not Mike Anderson, representative of FBGs. In no way am I making an official endorsement here.

That said, if you are just looking at a Break even position in your own market, you should consider other markets as long as you could trust someone to run it for you, and it is a better financial position.

Posting in this thread is Bass. Although I do not know Bass personally, nor do I understand his business ability, I can say that I have "known" him on this message board for years, and he is worth recommending as Common citizen Mike Anderson. By the virtue of being a Full time Property Manager for years now, he must be doing something right.

I might "Suggest" that a single path of research in your overall plan would be to contact a PM in a different market, and at least speak with them. A simple PM on this site might start the process of understanding the Property Management game in other markets. Perhaps something in AZ where you could write off your Vacatio.... Errr Business trip to check on it every year. Perhaps the market that Bass operates in would be more able to buy well with $20K which I assume is difficult (Impossible) in NY.

Although I know nothing about it, I do know that 1031 buying groups exist, where say 20 investors put in $20K to purchase a $400K building, and run it like a Corporation.

Anyway, trying to help you look outside the box.

Click to expand...

I'm buying a condo with an equity loan from my primary residence.  Since there will be no specific mortgage related to the condo, how do I go about a title search and title insurance? Every other time I have refy'd or bought I used the mortgage company's lawyer and they did all the necessary research.  This condo is owned by 2 couples so I definitely want to make sure there are no liens since 1 of the couples is going through a divorce. TIA.

Click to expand...

You'll still need a closing agent.A title company or an attorney can do this.

If you have a favorite one of either option, call them and ask them to do the transaction.

Do them a favor and try not to close the last day or 2 of the month - everyone closes then and it is hectic.

Click to expand...

I'm buying a condo with an equity loan from my primary residence. Since there will be no specific mortgage related to the condo, how do I go about a title search and title insurance? Every other time I have refy'd or bought I used the mortgage company's lawyer and they did all the necessary research. This condo is owned by 2 couples so I definitely want to make sure there are no liens since 1 of the couples is going through a divorce. TIA.

Click to expand...

You'll still need a closing agent.A title company or an attorney can do this.

If you have a favorite one of either option, call them and ask them to do the transaction.

Do them a favor and try not to close the last day or 2 of the month - everyone closes then and it is hectic.

Click to expand...

Got an attorney int the state I'm purchasing(maine). He has dealt with this condo complex several times and he stated that I didn't need title insurance. He would get it for me but said it would just add to his pocket and he didn't think it was necessary. Honest and lawyers don't go together(kidding). I know that there is a problem with the old management co. Apparently he kept some deposits for rentals but he came forward and is going to repay-or so they say. What do you think-title insurance or not? Thanks again.

Click to expand...

I'm buying a condo with an equity loan from my primary residence.  Since there will be no specific mortgage related to the condo, how do I go about a title search and title insurance? Every other time I have refy'd or bought I used the mortgage company's lawyer and they did all the necessary research.  This condo is owned by 2 couples so I definitely want to make sure there are no liens since 1 of the couples is going through a divorce. TIA.

Click to expand...

You'll still need a closing agent.A title company or an attorney can do this.

If you have a favorite one of either option, call them and ask them to do the transaction.

Do them a favor and try not to close the last day or 2 of the month - everyone closes then and it is hectic.

Click to expand...

Got an attorney int the state I'm purchasing(maine). He has dealt with this condo complex several times and he stated that I didn't need title insurance. He would get it for me but said it would just add to his pocket and he didn't think it was necessary. Honest and lawyers don't go together(kidding). I know that there is a problem with the old management co. Apparently he kept some deposits for rentals but he came forward and is going to repay-or so they say. What do you think-title insurance or not? Thanks again.

Click to expand...

I'm buying a condo with an equity loan from my primary residence.  Since there will be no specific mortgage related to the condo, how do I go about a title search and title insurance? Every other time I have refy'd or bought I used the mortgage company's lawyer and they did all the necessary research.  This condo is owned by 2 couples so I definitely want to make sure there are no liens since 1 of the couples is going through a divorce. TIA.

Click to expand...

You'll still need a closing agent.A title company or an attorney can do this.

If you have a favorite one of either option, call them and ask them to do the transaction.

Do them a favor and try not to close the last day or 2 of the month - everyone closes then and it is hectic.

Click to expand...

Got an attorney int the state I'm purchasing(maine). He has dealt with this condo complex several times and he stated that I didn't need title insurance. He would get it for me but said it would just add to his pocket and he didn't think it was necessary. Honest and lawyers don't go together(kidding). I know that there is a problem with the old management co. Apparently he kept some deposits for rentals but he came forward and is going to repay-or so they say. What do you think-title insurance or not? Thanks again.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure if this link has been posted, but here are CNN Money's predicted growth rates for select US markets for '06.

link:

http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/02/real_estat..._2006/index.htm

Click to expand...

Man, busy day today.

I visited 2 potential sites to buy, a house we're working on, a new purchase, and talked about two more potential houses to buy.

Unreal this time of year. And tiring.

Now I have to catch up on 50 players changing teams....

Click to expand...

So after tearing apart everything but the problem... OR SO I THOUGHT, everything ballooned out of Control all day, and I learned a new way of doing things.

What I THOUGHT was a simple cut out the 4 Inch Cast and replace with PVC and rubber boots, turned into much more.

The Cast was cracked down the side big enough to put fingers inside of it for about 5 feet. This was the biggest, worst pipe I have ever seen. On top of that, it went into a 90 degree turn, and then another 90 degree turn to get into the basement inside the wall. I didn't want to replace all the 90 degree turns, and the cast was good at the Bell below.

I go to a Local Hardware store where their thing is that a Retired General Contractor is on Duty all hours that they are open. I explain what I have, and he recommends a way of doing this that I would have never thought of.

I put the PVC down into the Bell, packed it with Oakum and then an Epoxy Putty that you can work in your hand. Neat way of doing it, I wish I had known for my last plumbing disaster, it would have saved a TON of effort.

So the bottom is packed, about 5 feet of PVC with a Boot at the top. All is right with the world.

Until the toilet was flushed and it leaked from above.

Turns out that there is an entirely separate break in the cast some 5 feet up at the connection for the Toilet. When I grabbed the Lead Toilet line (That went into Copper, that went into Lead, that went into the cast - ####### weird)it came out in my hands with just a slight tug. 3 inch lead to cast at the bell, and it was held together by maybe 2 inches at the top.

Of course this involved tearing out the sofit for the Cabinets below, tearing out the ceiling, tearing out the Floor in the bathroom above. At this point, you can see the basement floor from the second floor bathroom.

BEST PART: In cutting away the floor around the Toilet flange, it turns out that the Water supply lines for the Toilet, Tub, and sink was the flexible Copper and was butted up exactly right beside the Toilet Flange. Cut right through the Hot water line, spraying everywhere, and resulting in no water to the entire house all day. There is not a good system of cutoffs in the house.

So at this point, There is a hole from the second floor to the basement. The upstairs has no Toilet, and the downstairs has no kitchen.

I was really shocked that there were two difficult issues in the line some 5 feet apart from each other.

Very cool to see/do the Oakum and Epoxy deal to connect PVC and a Cast bell in good shape. REALLY wish I knew about that one job ago.

Click to expand...

I'm buying a condo with an equity loan from my primary residence.  Since there will be no specific mortgage related to the condo, how do I go about a title search and title insurance? Every other time I have refy'd or bought I used the mortgage company's lawyer and they did all the necessary research.  This condo is owned by 2 couples so I definitely want to make sure there are no liens since 1 of the couples is going through a divorce. TIA.

Click to expand...

You'll still need a closing agent.A title company or an attorney can do this.

If you have a favorite one of either option, call them and ask them to do the transaction.

Do them a favor and try not to close the last day or 2 of the month - everyone closes then and it is hectic.

Click to expand...

Got an attorney int the state I'm purchasing(maine). He has dealt with this condo complex several times and he stated that I didn't need title insurance. He would get it for me but said it would just add to his pocket and he didn't think it was necessary. Honest and lawyers don't go together(kidding). I know that there is a problem with the old management co. Apparently he kept some deposits for rentals but he came forward and is going to repay-or so they say. What do you think-title insurance or not? Thanks again.

Click to expand...

As with any insurance, it depends on what you believe the risk vs. liability is. You obviously think there's a potential problem here (or down the road). Spending a few hundred bucks to save tens of thousands of an investment in both time, effort and aggravation - sounds like a bargain to me.

I ALWAYS get title insurance. ALWAYS. I will burn $500 easy just to make sure I don't have an issue with a house.

Click to expand...

I'm buying a condo with an equity loan from my primary residence.  Since there will be no specific mortgage related to the condo, how do I go about a title search and title insurance? Every other time I have refy'd or bought I used the mortgage company's lawyer and they did all the necessary research.  This condo is owned by 2 couples so I definitely want to make sure there are no liens since 1 of the couples is going through a divorce. TIA.

Click to expand...

You'll still need a closing agent.A title company or an attorney can do this.

If you have a favorite one of either option, call them and ask them to do the transaction.

Do them a favor and try not to close the last day or 2 of the month - everyone closes then and it is hectic.

Click to expand...

Got an attorney int the state I'm purchasing(maine). He has dealt with this condo complex several times and he stated that I didn't need title insurance. He would get it for me but said it would just add to his pocket and he didn't think it was necessary. Honest and lawyers don't go together(kidding). I know that there is a problem with the old management co. Apparently he kept some deposits for rentals but he came forward and is going to repay-or so they say. What do you think-title insurance or not? Thanks again.

Click to expand...

So after tearing apart everything but the problem... OR SO I THOUGHT, everything ballooned out of Control all day, and I learned a new way of doing things.

What I THOUGHT was a simple cut out the 4 Inch Cast and replace with PVC and rubber boots, turned into much more.

The Cast was cracked down the side big enough to put fingers inside of it for about 5 feet. This was the biggest, worst pipe I have ever seen. On top of that, it went into a 90 degree turn, and then another 90 degree turn to get into the basement inside the wall. I didn't want to replace all the 90 degree turns, and the cast was good at the Bell below.

I go to a Local Hardware store where their thing is that a Retired General Contractor is on Duty all hours that they are open. I explain what I have, and he recommends a way of doing this that I would have never thought of.

I put the PVC down into the Bell, packed it with Oakum and then an Epoxy Putty that you can work in your hand. Neat way of doing it, I wish I had known for my last plumbing disaster, it would have saved a TON of effort.

So the bottom is packed, about 5 feet of PVC with a Boot at the top. All is right with the world.

Until the toilet was flushed and it leaked from above.

Turns out that there is an entirely separate break in the cast some 5 feet up at the connection for the Toilet. When I grabbed the Lead Toilet line (That went into Copper, that went into Lead, that went into the cast - ####### weird)it came out in my hands with just a slight tug. 3 inch lead to cast at the bell, and it was held together by maybe 2 inches at the top.

Of course this involved tearing out the sofit for the Cabinets below, tearing out the ceiling, tearing out the Floor in the bathroom above. At this point, you can see the basement floor from the second floor bathroom.

BEST PART: In cutting away the floor around the Toilet flange, it turns out that the Water supply lines for the Toilet, Tub, and sink was the flexible Copper and was butted up exactly right beside the Toilet Flange. Cut right through the Hot water line, spraying everywhere, and resulting in no water to the entire house all day. There is not a good system of cutoffs in the house.

So at this point, There is a hole from the second floor to the basement. The upstairs has no Toilet, and the downstairs has no kitchen.

I was really shocked that there were two difficult issues in the line some 5 feet apart from each other.

Very cool to see/do the Oakum and Epoxy deal to connect PVC and a Cast bell in good shape. REALLY wish I knew about that one job ago.

Click to expand...

God I hate rental properties.

Click to expand...

So after tearing apart everything but the problem... OR SO I THOUGHT, everything ballooned out of Control all day, and I learned a new way of doing things.

What I THOUGHT was a simple cut out the 4 Inch Cast and replace with PVC and rubber boots, turned into much more.

The Cast was cracked down the side big enough to put fingers inside of it for about 5 feet. This was the biggest, worst pipe I have ever seen. On top of that, it went into a 90 degree turn, and then another 90 degree turn to get into the basement inside the wall. I didn't want to replace all the 90 degree turns, and the cast was good at the Bell below.

I go to a Local Hardware store where their thing is that a Retired General Contractor is on Duty all hours that they are open. I explain what I have, and he recommends a way of doing this that I would have never thought of.

I put the PVC down into the Bell, packed it with Oakum and then an Epoxy Putty that you can work in your hand. Neat way of doing it, I wish I had known for my last plumbing disaster, it would have saved a TON of effort.

So the bottom is packed, about 5 feet of PVC with a Boot at the top. All is right with the world.

Until the toilet was flushed and it leaked from above.

Turns out that there is an entirely separate break in the cast some 5 feet up at the connection for the Toilet. When I grabbed the Lead Toilet line (That went into Copper, that went into Lead, that went into the cast - ####### weird)it came out in my hands with just a slight tug. 3 inch lead to cast at the bell, and it was held together by maybe 2 inches at the top.

Of course this involved tearing out the sofit for the Cabinets below, tearing out the ceiling, tearing out the Floor in the bathroom above. At this point, you can see the basement floor from the second floor bathroom.

BEST PART: In cutting away the floor around the Toilet flange, it turns out that the Water supply lines for the Toilet, Tub, and sink was the flexible Copper and was butted up exactly right beside the Toilet Flange. Cut right through the Hot water line, spraying everywhere, and resulting in no water to the entire house all day. There is not a good system of cutoffs in the house.

So at this point, There is a hole from the second floor to the basement. The upstairs has no Toilet, and the downstairs has no kitchen.

I was really shocked that there were two difficult issues in the line some 5 feet apart from each other.

Very cool to see/do the Oakum and Epoxy deal to connect PVC and a Cast bell in good shape. REALLY wish I knew about that one job ago.

Click to expand...

God I hate rental properties.

Click to expand...

Note to self...post 1970's properties only.

Click to expand...

So after tearing apart everything but the problem... OR SO I THOUGHT, everything ballooned out of Control all day, and I learned a new way of doing things.

What I THOUGHT was a simple cut out the 4 Inch Cast and replace with PVC and rubber boots, turned into much more.

The Cast was cracked down the side big enough to put fingers inside of it for about 5 feet. This was the biggest, worst pipe I have ever seen. On top of that, it went into a 90 degree turn, and then another 90 degree turn to get into the basement inside the wall. I didn't want to replace all the 90 degree turns, and the cast was good at the Bell below.

I go to a Local Hardware store where their thing is that a Retired General Contractor is on Duty all hours that they are open. I explain what I have, and he recommends a way of doing this that I would have never thought of.

I put the PVC down into the Bell, packed it with Oakum and then an Epoxy Putty that you can work in your hand. Neat way of doing it, I wish I had known for my last plumbing disaster, it would have saved a TON of effort.

So the bottom is packed, about 5 feet of PVC with a Boot at the top. All is right with the world.

Until the toilet was flushed and it leaked from above.

Turns out that there is an entirely separate break in the cast some 5 feet up at the connection for the Toilet. When I grabbed the Lead Toilet line (That went into Copper, that went into Lead, that went into the cast - ####### weird)it came out in my hands with just a slight tug. 3 inch lead to cast at the bell, and it was held together by maybe 2 inches at the top.

Of course this involved tearing out the sofit for the Cabinets below, tearing out the ceiling, tearing out the Floor in the bathroom above. At this point, you can see the basement floor from the second floor bathroom.

BEST PART: In cutting away the floor around the Toilet flange, it turns out that the Water supply lines for the Toilet, Tub, and sink was the flexible Copper and was butted up exactly right beside the Toilet Flange. Cut right through the Hot water line, spraying everywhere, and resulting in no water to the entire house all day. There is not a good system of cutoffs in the house.

So at this point, There is a hole from the second floor to the basement. The upstairs has no Toilet, and the downstairs has no kitchen.

I was really shocked that there were two difficult issues in the line some 5 feet apart from each other.

Very cool to see/do the Oakum and Epoxy deal to connect PVC and a Cast bell in good shape. REALLY wish I knew about that one job ago.

Click to expand...

God I hate rental properties.

Click to expand...

Note to self...post 1970's properties only.

Click to expand...

That wouldn't fly around most parts.Older properties are where many "deals" are, but not entirely.

Rentals - another story perhaps (and I don't want to hear about deferred maintenance) - but for rehabs, I'll take a 90 year old Baltimore townhouse in a growth area, gut it, modernize it, and make good coin.

But you have to make it new. Properties with a "skeleton" of 30+ years (pipes, electrical, HVAC, etc.) are a ticking time bomb.

Click to expand...

So after tearing apart everything but the problem... OR SO I THOUGHT, everything ballooned out of Control all day, and I learned a new way of doing things.

What I THOUGHT was a simple cut out the 4 Inch Cast and replace with PVC and rubber boots, turned into much more.

The Cast was cracked down the side big enough to put fingers inside of it for about 5 feet. This was the biggest, worst pipe I have ever seen. On top of that, it went into a 90 degree turn, and then another 90 degree turn to get into the basement inside the wall. I didn't want to replace all the 90 degree turns, and the cast was good at the Bell below.

I go to a Local Hardware store where their thing is that a Retired General Contractor is on Duty all hours that they are open. I explain what I have, and he recommends a way of doing this that I would have never thought of.

I put the PVC down into the Bell, packed it with Oakum and then an Epoxy Putty that you can work in your hand. Neat way of doing it, I wish I had known for my last plumbing disaster, it would have saved a TON of effort.

So the bottom is packed, about 5 feet of PVC with a Boot at the top. All is right with the world.

Until the toilet was flushed and it leaked from above.

Turns out that there is an entirely separate break in the cast some 5 feet up at the connection for the Toilet. When I grabbed the Lead Toilet line (That went into Copper, that went into Lead, that went into the cast - ####### weird)it came out in my hands with just a slight tug. 3 inch lead to cast at the bell, and it was held together by maybe 2 inches at the top.

Of course this involved tearing out the sofit for the Cabinets below, tearing out the ceiling, tearing out the Floor in the bathroom above. At this point, you can see the basement floor from the second floor bathroom.

BEST PART: In cutting away the floor around the Toilet flange, it turns out that the Water supply lines for the Toilet, Tub, and sink was the flexible Copper and was butted up exactly right beside the Toilet Flange. Cut right through the Hot water line, spraying everywhere, and resulting in no water to the entire house all day. There is not a good system of cutoffs in the house.

So at this point, There is a hole from the second floor to the basement. The upstairs has no Toilet, and the downstairs has no kitchen.

I was really shocked that there were two difficult issues in the line some 5 feet apart from each other.

Very cool to see/do the Oakum and Epoxy deal to connect PVC and a Cast bell in good shape. REALLY wish I knew about that one job ago.

Click to expand...

God I hate rental properties.

Click to expand...

Note to self...post 1970's properties only.

Click to expand...

That wouldn't fly around most parts.Older properties are where many "deals" are, but not entirely.

Rentals - another story perhaps (and I don't want to hear about deferred maintenance) - but for rehabs, I'll take a 90 year old Baltimore townhouse in a growth area, gut it, modernize it, and make good coin.

But you have to make it new. Properties with a "skeleton" of 30+ years (pipes, electrical, HVAC, etc.) are a ticking time bomb.

Click to expand...

Working on my first rehab as we speak. Bought it for $14K on the innernets. Quite the learning experience. Going to my first auction next week for a property that I have some history with. Starting to run low on capital.

Click to expand...