Tips on screening new tenants, (for a new landlord)??
Don't automatically rule out Section 8. As a landlord you can screen Sec. 8 tenants just as you would any other tenant. You are not obligated to take the first applicant that comes along. You might get a nice elderly lady on a fixed income or a hard working single mom with well behaved kids--don't just automatically assume that all Section 8 tenants are bad news. You will save yourself 80% of potential problems by doing some really thorough screening. Call back 3 landlords, not just their current landlord. Verify employment, check credit, check their checking account history (available with apt. credit screenings for an extra fee). Don't accept any kind of sob stories but do know that many people coming out of divorce with have a rocky patch on their credit and if everything else checks out they are worth taking a chance on usually. You want a full application on every tenant and yes, you want a lease. If they try and stick you, you will get no where in the court system if you don't have a lease. Talk to some other landlords in your area, learn the ropes. Keep in mind there are some professional con artists and they will have immpeccable stories--they are CONS, it is their "job" to CONvince you...don't fall for it. Never give out keys until you have a signed lease and deposit. Learn the laws for your state. www.nolopress.com has some great landlord/tenant books. I'd suggest reading up on it. Good luck!
How long does the foreclosure process take?
Basically there is a property I want to buy, and it should be foreclosed fairly soon. But I have been waiting months for it to foreclose and go up for auction. Some people were telling me the Big Banks screwed up the process or paper work and it could take 1-5 years for the bank to finish the foreclosure process. I am somewhat clueless. What process or paperwork did the big banks screw up? Why is foreclosure taking so long?
Buying house from early 1900's... advice?
I'm a senior in college (interior design major) and my husband is starting his MBA next month. He has a good job now that he's been at almost 3 years. We'd like to go ahead and buy a house b/c it doesn't make sense continuing to flush our money by renting, plus, we want something that is our own. All the houses in our area are like dirt cheap (even new ones) b/c it's kind of a small town. I visited my parents in Baltimore for Christmas, and houses that would be $70-80,000 here are over $200,000 there. Anyway, all the houses we can afford are old. I know our first house is going to be a fixer-upper and I'm fine with that. I know most people just look at the cosmetic aspects of the house (which I would obviously change), but forget the structure (roof, plumbing, walls, etc.) I don't want to be screwed over by some savvy realtor or a shady home inspector. What are some things we should look for? These are the houses we're looking at (keep in mind, it's a fixer-upper): http://lynchburgmls.com/pub/Results.asp
1099-A form from forclosure in wisconsin?
box 1 has the foreclosed date 1/11/12, box 2 balance of principle outstanding 171,363.77, nothing in box 3, box 4 fair market value of 210,640.12..... but i looked up the house and it was listed for sale at $117,000.00 and that was the price assesment and it was sold for $110,000.00 on 7/11/12. So how come they are saying that the fair market value is soooooooo inflated? I attempted a shortsale and had it assessed at around $120,000.00 of course I was cursed with a shady realtor that made us believe we had to move out right away cause the people that had put down earnest money were real close to signing the papers for the house and right afterwards he said they backed out but in reality their lawyer contacted me saying that somthing was shady with that realtor ectt.... anyhow we moved over the border into illiniois closer to our jobs and were renting, and he was renting our house out without our knowlege and instead of trying to hassle with all of that we fired him then called the bank and told them to just take it. ughhhhhhh big stressful time. ANYWAY... can someone please explain this to me, are they trying to screw me too? also box 5 was checked that borrower was personally liable for repayment of the debt- what does that mean???
Landlord wants me to take over house payments, what happens next?
We have leased a property from a real estate company for the last year, we were interested in renewing our lease but when we asked, the landlord said they have too many projects and want to be rid of this property. They asked if we wanted to just "take over payments" and own the house ourselves. This would be an ideal situation for us because we have wanted to buy for a long time but poor credit, income, and job history wont allow for it. The landlord (owner of the real estate company) said he would take us to his bank with whom he does all of his business and vouge for us if there were any issue with us taking over the loan, I dont know what that means, also can we be sure we can purchase this house in our poor credit situation? Also, if we are able to do this our rent would decrease over 100.00 a month.