Damn that's a small farm.

I've gotten set up through USAA with an agent already but I appreciate it.

 

A small farm? Is that sarcasm? It's plenty of space for myself and 1 horse lol....

 

I'm not in Orlando or even in Florida, but process is same in most aspects though out the sates.

I'm also currently in process of purchasing a short sale property in WA state. Although the process has just began I'm confident that it's going to move alone quite quickly and be no longer than 90 days.

Obviously time frame and everything else will vary based on a property you are looking to get, If looking for a turn key property, you'll end up being involved in a very long process if it's a short sale.

I was looking for a fixer and my process is anticipated to be quite short compared to other short sale processes.

The advice I can give is relative to a fixer type of the properties. Do a detailed inspection of the property and locate everything that is structurally and cosmetically wrong with the building. Run your findings by the engineer and have him write up a letter of structural defects and repairs that need to take place.
Also helps if property been on a market and vacant for a while which lets bank know that the longer they keep it on the books, more it's going to into distress.
We started looking at the property when it was priced at $165k, milked bank till $149k and now after inspections and engineers reports negotiating a $100k sale price. If all goes well I anticipate to pick it up at no more than $120k. And all that for 2118 sqft house with 2.7 acre lot in a very quiet neighborhood. Once flipped property could easily go on a market for $270k.

 

No just way more land than I'd ever know what to do with. But if you have a horse then it makes sense.

 

Wow joker that a lot of good info. And I'm pretty aware of the defect issues in buying houses but I didn't know you could argue that much I'll def look into that.

 

Ive been workjng in the field for a while now.... my parents have their own real estate company. I suggest findinf the area u want first as previously stated. For ur price range h can get a bad *** house. I def recommend going with a short sale.. cuz u can save a ton... right now its a selllers market ans the banks r getting a ton of offers on ahort sales. I actually have a really nice house in dr. Phillips right now if u want to look at it and it hasnt been listed

 

Hmmmm color me intrigued.

 

It's true I'm getting one hell of a deal with my short sale, however you gotta have some serious patience....I learned a lot in the process, gotta get your preapproval before most realtors will show you a property...etc. and paying for inspections, appraisals, etc...

 

Yeah I've got the forms for the Va filled out an can get pre approved from usaa before they even finish filing

 

And yeah I'm not super exited about having to go through inspections but like joker said that can be brought into negotiations

 

Btw when is the house warming? You've got enough land to have a bonfire too. Uhh ohhhh party.

 

It certainly can.

My inspection uncovered 70k worth of needed remodeling in the house. Only two issues were structural and required engineers letter to back it up. Roof and floor joices. I have a feeling that those are the only ones that bank will consider while negotiating a price. I priced them at 22k for repairs, but considering the fact that entire property has been vacant since December of 2011 and longer it stays vacant, harder it's going to be to sell, I will strongly push for a 49k reduction in price due to the fact that my inspection uncovered 70k worth of repairs that need to be done to a property.

Here is how I approached and negotiated the price on that property.

It was listed at $165 when we started looking at it. I contacted listing agent and expressed my interest in it, but did not talk anything solid, simply giving him hints that price is a bit high for the conditions (I do have my own agent that I'm working with). A week goes by and they drop the price to $149.500. I give an offer for a full price on a same day they drop the price under two conditions. 1st: Septic needs to pass county's inspection. 2nd: My offer is contingent on complete inspection of the property. Bank accepts terms of my offer and property gets "Pending" status on the market. This reduced amount of interested parties in the property placing ball in my corner as I was the only one making offer on the property. Week goes by and I do an inspection discovering $70k worth of repairs in the property. We submitted inspection report with request to lower the sale price to $100k to sales agent. He in turn contacted agent of the lien holder and asked them what is the process of price reduction due to the structural defects. They responded saying that we need to provide engineers letter to support our findings. We got a letter from an engineer supporting our findings regarding structural defects and submitted that to the bank with our final offer of $100k last Friday.
My agent and sales agent are very confident that bank will accept my offer due to strong evidence of structural defects of the property and due to the fact that during this entire time I was the only offer on the property because of how we submitted our initial offer.

 

All you have to do is just hire a contractor to do an inspection.
It helps if you are related to one.
My brother in law happens to be a general contractor so the inspection did not cost me a thing. And since he is a general contractor he got connections with engineers that know him and trust his adequate inspection. As a result engineers letter ended up costing me $100.

If I don't get the property, it's not a big loss. If I do I end up spending $100 to cut $49k from a sales price.

If you don't have any friends or relatives in the construction business............All that should not cost you more than $600 I would imagine, and that's only in case if you will need an engineers report. Contractors inspection alone should be $250-$300 and if you will not be asking for serious price reduction bank might take contractors report and negotiate price based on that. Just make sure that when contractor does inspection report, he gives you top dollar prices for an estimate to do the repairs so you get a greater negotiating leverage.

 

This next post is my opinion, you can take it as an advice or not, it's up to you.

If I were buying a house now (which I am) I would only buy it if it's well bellow CURRENT market value. Emphasis on a word "Current".
In my opinion we are on a verge of an "Economical Crisis After Shock". I believe we are going to be hit by it sometime at the end of the year, possibly before elections.
Europe is very unstable at the moment and it's going to be until they figure out what to do with Greece.
Crisis is like a sinking Titanic. Everyone feels the initial blow when they are told that we are sinking. Everyone is in the same boat on a first wave of economic crisis. Then, when everyone makes their way to the life rafts, it appears as tho we are safe and we are just a step away from being in the life raft and overcoming a crisis when another wave hits and we are told that only women and children are allowed to enter the life rafts.
So anticipating a second wave of the crisis, I believe that there is still room for real state market to drop.
So I personally would hold of on real state purchases at current market price at least until after the elections or until Europe figures out what to do with Greece, which I believe will happen during the same time. If you are buying now............negotiate and get it bellow market value, you do not want to be upside down if the second wave hits.

 

Fortunately for me, my dad is a licensed contractor as well as inspector.

Yes, in some instances you can negotiate repairs, however in my case the sellers straight up said they weren't paying anything extra since they had no money. So it's a case by case basis.


well due to recent events at my condo, my landlord is letting me out of my lease early without penalty. I have placed an offer to my sellers to move in early and rent from them until the sale goes through. I a, hoping to hear back tomorrow. Cross your fingers! If I do get to move in early and rent, I'll need help painting to get the smoke smell out of the house lol... Volunteers welcome!