A “Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure” While offering a “deed in lieu of foreclosure” is much better, from a credit perspective, than having a foreclosure on the records, it’s still not wonderful. Jerry’s credit record still noted months of non payment. And today many mortgage lenders ask in their application if a would-be borrower has … Read more
What Can You Do When You’re in Default? Most of us today know of someone who has lost his or her house to foreclosure in the not too distant past. It has become that common. However, here’s a story that’s been told less often. Jerry and Pat had just bought a comfortable upscale home in … Read more
What Is the Foreclosure Procedure? The foreclosure process varies from state to state. But in general it always involves a period of time during which the borrower can make up back payments and correct any default. {Default is a technical term that means that the borrower has failed to meet, or has defaulted, on the … Read more
How Do You Negotiate Financing? The final deal point we’ll consider is the financing. It’s important to remember that the very best institutional financing in the real estate world goes to owner-occupants of single-family homes. When you’re working with an investment property, the financing is much less available and usually at a higher price. For … Read more
How Do You Negotiate over Deposits? Deposits, the cleaning and security kind that tenants give to land lords to hold during the tenancy, may seem like small potatoes. But in recent years they have become increasingly important. In fact, in some cases they are the deal point around which a sale hinges. How can this … Read more
How Do You “Negotiate” the Rents? What should be obvious is that the value depends on at least two things: recent sales prices and the current rent from the property in question. While accurate recent sales prices of comparables should be fairly easy to obtain (call a few agents who deal in income property), determining … Read more
Negotiate on Investment Property: Negotiating the Price of Income Property There are many different methods of determining the value of an investment property. These include capitalizing the income of the property or determining the return on the actual cash invested. However, the most commonly used “quick method” for real estate income property is the gross … Read more
How Do You Appeal an Improvement? When you improve your property by, for example, adding a new room or putting on a new roof, you will likely get a new appraisal. Generally speaking, most counties will reevaluate your property at that time and often will significantly increase its value. Again, appeal—first to the appraiser in … Read more
How Do You Challenge the State’s Appraisal? This is a rather different matter. Whenever you own real property, the state (or county) appraises it for tax purposes. These appraisals are typically made when the property is first improved (a home built on it), when it’s sold, and, in some jurisdictions, every so many years thereafter. … Read more
How Do You Challenge a Lender’s Appraisal? There are essentially two methods of challenging a bad (in your opinion) lender’s appraisal. The above example lists one: go to a different lender, one who has some reason to see it your way. TRAP Arguing with a lender over the amount of an appraisal is a futile … Read more
