Blog Posts for March 2015

The Good Real Estate Agent vs. The Bad Real Estate Agent-Part 1

So...As you know I am an active real estate investor in the New York area and a licensed real estate agent as well. And generally at all costs I avoid agents, brokers, etc because-well-duhhhh - most of them are lazy...No one likes the truth but the truth hurts sometimes. I can call 20 agents-brokers a week and if I am lucky I will get 2 call backs...There are companies that are listing properties they are looking to sell and no call backs, no return emails-phone disconnected-voicemail full-COME ON.. I will save "The Bad Real Estate Agent" for another Blog.  On this Blog I will be talking about The Good Real Estate Agent.

What spurred me to write this Blog was when my wife said: "You are finally making money-Lets buy a vacation house in Upstate NY or The Poconos-We need to get out of the city once in a while-it's healthy for our marriage". I said ok #$%$%$#^$#^%$. This is what I was thinking.  

Image

Little did I know this house above was NOT our vacation home we were going to get nor can we afford.  I think I might need to pick up another job. So last weekend we decided to tackle The Poconos...Yes.  Mount Airy Lodge-It has the Champagne Glass Bathtub and a Round bed that spins in circles in their Honeymoon Suite.

Image

We knew what we wanted to be near some action.....Hiking, Lakes, Wineries, Casino, Outdoor Markets, Historic Town, and 1hr 30 minutes from NYC.  You get the hint. 

So I called a couple of agents-brokers that I found online and went with the one that left Brooklyn NY for a weekend in the Poconos and never came back.  She seemed very nice on the phone and was somewhat attentive...Little too slow and layed back for me as they seem to be on Caribbean time.  Not a worry in the world.  So I had to set my mind to Poconos time and did not look at my watch!

Some previous emails going back and fourth I didn't like her tone or attitude but she had set up 13 showings over 2 days and I knew she meaned business....She was very educated on the whole region and I knew I had a good agent when she had no issue trampling through 300 yards of snow that was over 2 ft high to see some properties.      

Image

I knew we had a good agent when she literally made me watch her for 30 minutes draw out maps and directions of the houses we liked if we wanted to go back to see them again.  Highlighters, markers, gold stars, etc!

Image    Image     

Image                   Image                             

Note:  She had to draw out directions because she says Navigation doesn't work out here too well due to the towns and villages rezoning and changing addresses. Hmmmm.  We ended up at the wrong house only twice.

I knew we had a good agent when we asked her to get some additional pics of the property when there is not 3ft of snow covering everything!!

Image

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image

Note:  Selling broker-Agent says he doesnt want to call the owners for that.  That is a LAZY bad agent!!

So, basically I think we found a good agent after all said and done but not sure if we found the property yet....I hope you enjoyed my Blog and will keep you updated of the progress over the next month.........

Purchasing a Deed!

Remember this one: Its's a WIN-WIN and maybe a webinar!

Image

I am buying the deed on this property in Queens NY for 65K. The deal died when the seller wanted 20K more a week before we were going to close.…I said good luck-that’s not the deal we had. Three weeks later she is calling, texting, Instant mesengering me, Skyping, she even sent me a singing telegram! Guess what-I said that deal is null and void-60K take it or leave it! Don't be Greedy is the moral of this deal.
Anyway we are taking the mortgage subject to 350k mortgage. It's 3.5% interest rate(PTI-$1800 a month) and the property is grossing over 5K. Once I evict tenants and do some light work the property is worth 550K+. We are paying off her arrears of 22K to bring her mortgage current…She owns the debt-I own the Asset. And I borrowed all the money for the second position. Not a dollar out of pocket. Do you think this is a good deal and who buys deeds! Lets talk.