April 8th, 2011

Hello and Welcome to the ReiFax.com Webinar Training Archive for April 8th, 2011. Here are some of the questions our subscribers asked in today’s training. Please watch the video to see the answer to all these questions and more:

• Q: Hi Ramon, how can I run a search for free and clear properties? (no mortgages)
• Q: How to identify the lenders in specific condo also lenders sorted by lender for rectangle shape neighborhood
• Q: When owner phone # is listed what is the source of this info
• Q: what is REIFAX source for By Owner information
• Q: After doing a search, and 20-30 properties are now being shown, can you pick and choose the ones you are interested in only and put them on an excel spreadsheet along with the information regarding the listing agent?
• Q: What is the difference between Entry Date and List Date when looking at a property?
• Q: When researching a property, and you hit the Comp Tab – what does “N” stand for in the column marked Foreclosed?
• Q: what is the difference between active value and market value
• Q: WHERE CAN I WATCH THIS VIDEO AND OTHER VIDEO’S THAT I AM NOT ABLE TO WATCH RIGHT NOW  ?
• Q: In search I fill the max price to look for but the result are prices higher than i input. Does this feature work ?
• Q: Can you do a Probate search for me. thanks

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Filed Under: ReiFax Trainings Archive Tagged with Adsense, April, Excel Spreadsheet, Feature Work, Google, Hello, Lenders, Max Price, Mortgages, Neighborhood, Owner Information, Probate Search, Property Owner, Rectangle Shape, Subscribers

Miami has its share of drive by violence. But we are talking about a different type of bad drive by, being the victim of a drive by BPO as a real estate investor. We have been victims and want to help you from becoming a statistic.

We are real estate investors and work extensively in the pre-foreclosure market. Many times sellers are financed 100% or close to it and there is no deal to be had so we try to negotiate with their lender to do a short sale or short payoff. As part of the process the lender needs a BPO to determine fair market value.

What is a BPO? A Broker’s Price Opinion is a market value assessment usually performed by a licensed real estate agent or broker. These are most often done on properties that are in foreclosure. A lot of times when the property is not sold before or at auction, the BPO that did the opinion will get to list the property. Sometimes it can be a full time appraiser looking for extra work that may do the BPO. Because of the fact the agent may eventually get a listing they tend to sometimes give a high appraisal.

Now realize that market value generally assumes a home in great shape needing no repairs. 90% of retail buyers will not buy a home that needs any repairs. Many lenders will not finance a home that needs wood replaced or roofing done.

What is a Drive By? A drive by consists of a BPO going to the house and stopping in front, taking a picture of the outside and driving off. They never get out of the vehicle, never to see the inside or any damage or repairs needed on the property. Comparable sales, past appraisals and tax records will be used to determine the value of the home without taking needed repairs into account. A lot of houses have good curb appeal, once you step thru the front door it’s a different story. We have had the BPO agent miss the fact that a tarp was on the roof to stop the rain from coming in the house because the holes in the roof were on the back of the house and the agent never stepped out of their vehicle.

How can I get an accurate BPO Appraisal? Be there early. Bring pictures and the list of repairs from your first visit. Develop rapport and become best friends with the appraiser. Do your homework on the neighborhood. Look for true comps. Example: If you are looking at a stucco home and the rest of the neighborhood is brick. You can’t find true comps. For future reference if you are in a mid to high humidity area, get a moisture test on the stucco and bring the results with you.

How can I keep from being a victim? Arrive 45-60 minutes before appt. Do not allow the home owner to greet the BPO instead of you. Stay where you can see the road. If you see a vehicle pull up and stop, jump out and holler politely,” Would you like to see the inside of the home”? To make the experience better for yourself and the BPO offer help. Tell them what you have found. Don’t take it personally if they don’t want help from you. Do your homework. Don’t let the homeowner show them around as they will try to point out nice things. Your job is to point out the flaws of the house and drive the appraisal down. Make sure the lender knows you are the point of contact for the BPO agent and to contact you to set up the appointment for the BPO. The pictures that you took on the first visit need to be printed out; if digital take them to a kiosk that makes prints. Have 3 copies made. Put two to a piece of paper, go with colorful construction paper, yellow is a happy color, go to your local office supply store and get printable file folder labels. In detail tell what’s wrong in the picture. Give the BPO agent 1 copy. Let them know what you have found wrong with the house or yard. Give them a repair list. Any true comparable sales you have found within a 5 mile radius will also help. Always pick the lowest comps. You will document a lot more problem area’s with the house than the BPO will see. This will be the difference of making 30k or 5k on a house.

Filed Under: Articles , Foreclosures Tagged with Adsense, appraisal, Appraisals, BPO, Broker Price Opinion, comparable sales, Curb Appeal, Different Story, Foreclosure, Foreclosure Market, Full Time, Google, Great Shape, Holes, Lenders, Licensed Real Estate, Market Value Assessment, Pre Foreclosure, Real Estate, Real Estate Agent, Real Estate Investing, Real Estate Investor, Real Estate Investors, Retail Buyers, Roofing, Short Sale, Statistic, Tarp

Banks and mortgage companies have been selling mortgage notes in the secondary for years. They even buy and sell those notes to other lending companies. This most likely has happen to you or to someone that you know at some time or another. Why do lenders do this? They do it in order to keep a steady reserve of cash on hand to make other loans.

The information in this message is designed to help you understand about creating trust deeds, real estate notes, or if you have a business and have contracts you also have a business note which will bring you a cash flow that you can receive monthly payments, which brings you steady cash flows. You can also have the option to sell whole or part your real estate notes, trust deeds or business notes. The whole idea here is to first elevate your potential of meeting a home buyer to sell your home to.

Time and time again you might find houses that are for sale but are on the market for a very long time. Most of the time home buyers don’t qualify for a 100% loan and must get 2 loans to equal the 100%. The home seller can offer “Seller Financing” in order to get the house sold.

The home seller has one objective and this to sell that property as quickly as possible. To do this you can create a trust deed which is secured by real estate. This is a real estate note. The real estate note has several purposes and the most important reason is to help the home seller close on the house.
The trust deed that you now have is because you agreed to finance the home buyer so that the buyer could get the house and you can your cash at closing.

Not only do you have cash at closing but you now have a real estate note that you will be receiving monthly payments on from the new home owner. Your home is sold and you have residual income from the trust deed you created. This creates steady cash flows from the trust deeds, real estate notes or business notes you may have. This is what “Seller Financing” is. This occurs when the buyer makes regular monthly payments to you instead of the bank. You now hold an asset that you can choose to keep for steady cash flow or sell part or all of it for cash right now.

This should motivate any home seller to give this a try, after all what could it hurt and it will be a win/win situation for the home seller, as well as for the home buyer. “Owner-Financing” is widely accepted and is an alternative for the home buyer who can’t qualify for a conventional loan. Even if you have real estate notes, business notes or trust deeds for a while you can generate cash flows by selling all or part of it for cash now.

Isn’t that great news for the home seller? This will give the home seller a boost in getting the house sold. Most people would consider buying that house if the they knew that the home seller was willing to create a real estate note or trust deeds to secure the home buyer qualifying for the house. Just envision selling your home much faster then your neighbor down the street because you possess the key to selling your home. “Owner Financing”.
You also have created cash flows created from your real estate notes, trust deeds, or business notes and that can be the key to your financial future.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged with Banks, Business Contracts, Business Note, Business Notes, Cash Flow, cash flows, Cash Loans, Google, Home Buyer, Lenders, Long Time, Mortgage Companies, Mortgage Notes, Objective, Real Estate Note, Real Estate Notes, Residual Income, Seller Financing, Time Home Buyers, Trust Deed, Trust Deeds

Location, Location, Location

In real estate investing, you will drive yourself insane looking at properties in random areas of the country or state. You need to select your location first and then see what properties are available. It’s no good buying a beautiful mini mansion in Ohio if there haven’t been any significant sales in that town for ten years. Once you get your location chosen, then you can focus on the properties.

Many in real estate investing prefer to work with preforeclosure properties than ones already in foreclosure. You not only feel good helping the homeowner out a little bit, but you can often save as much as 40 of the house’s market value.

Don’t be surprised if the homeowner doesn’t answer the phone or the doorbell. They may be scared that you are a bill collector. They may also feel shame and confusion. Be patient. Slip a note under their doors if you have to, just to let them know that you are not a bill collector or their lenders.

Talk To Your Accountant

In order to save more money, those in real estate investing may be entitled to a large rebate for every foreclosure or preforeclosure piece of property they buy. This is due to the Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008. However, since tax laws seem to change by the minute, don’t count on the rebates. If they happen – great, but do not gamble everything on getting a whopping great rebate check.

Filed Under: Articles , Foreclosures Tagged with Accountant, Answer The Phone, Confusion, Doorbell, Doors, Foreclosure Prevention, Lenders, Little Bit, Location Location Location, Money Investing, Pre Foreclosure, Preforeclosure Properties, Prevention Act, Real Estate Investing, Real Estate Investment, Rebate Check, Rebates, S Market, Shame, Significant Sales

While home foreclosures are on the rise, there is another side of this economic dilemma. Many investors are targeting foreclosures as profitable investments; unfortunately, this is not good news for most homeowners. Foreclosures are causing property values to decrease therefore reducing the value of homes that are not facing foreclosure. While people like to point out the good things about foreclosure, the key to preventing this from happening across the United States in too a avoid foreclosure in the first place.

Foreclosed homes invite vandals and a squatter looking for a place to go that is out of the weather. This spells disaster for neighborhood that has a high rate of foreclosures. Vacant properties will bring trouble and therefore drive property values down.

When lenders try to unload foreclosure properties as quick as the can, in many cases this means that lenders sell the properties at up to 40 – 50% of the market value. Even with properties selling this low, some foreclosures can remain vacant for an extended period. Just because the home is sold does not mean that there is someone moving in, many investors have vacant properties in there portfolio.

Here are a couple things that you can do to help protect the value of your home:

Keep your eyes open

Keeping watch of the properties in the area that have been foreclosed and are not vacant will help to keep your neighborhood free of vandals and squatters. Foreclosures are on the rise and thousands of homes a month are going into foreclosure. Keeping watch of the homes in your area will help keep the vandals from stealing appliances, damaging the property and forcing lenders to board up properties. Boarded up properties, are invitations to more trouble property values. Lenders will sell homes that have been boarded up for even less, just to move the property.

Do not panic and sell

Home ownership is a long-term investment, and while foreclosures are, on the rise, they will level out and the market will recover at some point. Remain calm and do not panic, no is probably not the time to sell your home especially if you are trying to make a little money. Home values are being driven down; buyers are looking to buy them cheap and below market value right now. In some cases you can still sell your home for a profit as originally planned, do not try to sell just because the local markets are flooded with foreclosures.

Home foreclosures are expected to rise considerably more in 2008, so hang in there, do not dump your house just because of foreclosures in your area. You bought it as a long-term investment to begin with, and this is a short-term problem. The houses market will recover at some point and your property value will likely rise once again.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged with Appliances, Avoid Foreclosure, Disaster, Economic Dilemma, Facing Foreclosure, Foreclosure, Foreclosure Properties, Foreclosure Rates, Home Foreclosures, Home Ownership, Invitations, Keeping Watch, Lenders, Long Term Investment, Neighborhood, proctecting home values, Profitable Investments, Property Values, Selling Your Home, Squatter, Vacant Properties, Vandals, Weather