how do you find out?

[focusonmoney]

hi, im a beginner wholesaler and i saw this property today it was vacant and had wooden boards on the windows. i was wondering how would i find out information about the house if nobody lives there? i want 2 find out if its a foreclose home etc.. And also when i want 2 make a offer on a pre foreclose house and assign it to a investor, do i have 2 get the house appraise first? and if i get the house appraise that means im coming out my pocket to pay for that appraisal. how can i avoid paying for that process?

thankx......

[reoconsultants]

Call your local title company and tell them you want a O and E or Ownership and Encumberance on the property it will tell you owners name and all liens on the property. This is a great place to start.. There is no point in getting it appraised until you know how much is owed on the property if it worth the price and how much work is involved. Your county records will tell you who owns the house but not how much is owed..

P.S. what city is it in?

[focusonmoney]

Im located in New York. Say if i find out how much is owed on the property and its good enough profit to assign to the investor, will i have to pay to get it appraise or the investor will? is it any other way to find out how much the property is worth...?

[tedjr]

Howdy Focusonmoney:

These days lenders actually order the appraisals. They either have an appraiser on staff or they want the appraisal from one that they approve. Do not order your own appraisal. Let your buyer deal with his lender and their appraiser.

You can find the value yourself or with the help of a Realtor in the area. Just find similar houses, same part of town, square feet, condition and find out what they sold for. Also check to see what is currently available and how long they have been for sale. If your deal is run down you want to know what fixed up houses are selling for. Subtract the fixup costs and this will give you an idea what to pay for your deal. You will also have to subtrcat a profit from the repaired sales price if you want to make some cash for yourself. Once you get to know an area you can do all this in a matter of minutes.

Here is an example of a deal I just did. I saw a house here in Dripping Springs and knew within a few seconds that it was a bargain. The Realtor said it was a tear down and the value was in the land. Land in the area is selling at $20,000 per acre and this was 1.3 acres with a value of $26,000 off the bat  just for the dirt.  It was under contract when I called on the MLS listing so I asked to be contacted if it fell thru. The Realtor said no way, the buyer is approved and the survey is ordered and the deal is set to close in a week. All I could think is that another one got away. I did not even go look until I got the call saying it was available again. I went to see it and wrote an offer that same day. Although it needed a lot of work $55.000 plus, I saw potential in the poor design and rotten condition. We have almost finished the wood replacement and new siding and are getting ready to resheetrock the house. We are doing more than we even planned but it will still work out great.

I had figured an asking price of $120,000 but the lenders appraiser (see) said it will be worth $153,000 when complete. It cost a fortune to get the hard money loan funded 5 points and 5 months up front interest but we were able to roll all that into the loan and actually got $2000 at the closing table.

I probably could have flipped this for a few grand profit but I am greedy and want all the profit but am working like a dog doing the remodeling.

Hope this helps a bit. I feel like I am giving you more than you asked but I hope the example helps some too.

[focusonmoney]

thanks for all your help...