Real Estate

I have been looking around in real estate books,online listings ect. to find rent to own homes under $50,000 and have seen TONS of homes like what I am looking for.I don’t know if I am supposed to contact the realtor about the possibility of the home being a rent 2 own or if I need to contact the actual homeowner or bank….wow…could someone plz give me some pointers.

If the house is listed you contact the Realtor, otherwise the owner. Be aware that the Realtor represents the seller, not you. Rent-to-own very rarely works for the benefit of the buyer. It is usually the seller who reaps the rewards. If you do a contract of this type you must have it prepared by an attorney or you will surely get the short end of the stick.
Sorry to sound so glum about it but I’ve been in the business for a long time and that’s the way I see it.

I have a sheet on a home for sale. In the size listings of the rooms area different rooms have different location "codes" and then the size. Such as, Kitchen, 1C, 9×13… Family room, 1HW, 9×12…. bedroom, 2W, 10×17…. bedroom, 2C, 8×20. What does this mean. Thanks!

Not sure about all of them 1HW may be one high window.
2W is probably 2 windows, 2C probably 2 closets. Someone in real estate can probably answer this pretty easily. Anyone out there???

Hi, I am trying to purchase a home in a brand new community in which the previous owner recently was foreclosed upon. Now the community building new homes and I am attempting to make a purchase. I did an MLS search of the community, and all homes in the community save one, have a status of "withdrawn". I recently made an offer on the home I wanted, and the agent flat out rejected the offer. Is this normal? No one currently lives in the community.

That does sound suspicious. Perhaps there are construction problems that make it illegal for the houses to be sold yet. Or perhaps the builder is in bankruptcy court or something, or a lawsuit, or…who knows what. Anyway, I’d look toward a different location for now.

You shouldn’t have much problem finding something in this market. It’s a buyers market now, so feel free to make offers below asking price.

(and if you’re looking in Columbus, Ohio, I have a home I need to sell…let me know if you might be interested.)

my man is from Europe and was trying to find a vacation rental for us in the usa but I think he has been the victim of American scam/con artists. They ( www.firststepequity.com ) charged his card and he cant even own a home in this country and this is not a vacation rental!!! I am so mad the bank wont talk to me because Im not his wife and he cant translate that he didnt want to charge his card for some ripoff non vacation- non rental listings that get us nothing!!! I feel that this company is a scam if you spoke to the phone salesmen you would too, Help yahoo I called the number he got but the kid was really rude and when I said the bank would talk to me he said he could not and then hung up… Oh my poor naive Fiance he can give his credit card number out over the phone but cant call the bank, we need english lessons PRONTO
oh and they are on the interweb for scaming people

If you were married the bank might talk to you but since your not there is nothing you can do. HE needs to call his credit card company and say that he did not receive product/service as expected and that he wants to charge back the transaction.

I’ve been searching in real estate listings in my area and I found a home that has been on the market for almost one year as far as I can see probably longer than that. They have lowered their price already from what I can see by 10,000 it is now 180,000 and this house is the best! It’s exactly what I was looking for. I’ve been working on building my credit score and my realitor has said she believes in 6 months or so my credit score will be good enough to get financed up to 185,000. We are looking for a lease to purchase option since I have to move from my current rental and really don’t want to move twice in one year. So what is a short sale? This is what is on the listing. Can it be done with a lease purchase option if they are willing? I don’t want to do something that in the long run can’t even be considered.

Lynn, in a nutshell, a short sale is where the owner owes more than the property is worth in the current market. What you want to be sure of is; #1 is there more than one lender, #2 are there any other liens on the property?

Don’t even ask how long it takes to get an answer. Lenders have a layered beauracy and it could take months. To be honest, I do not show short sales to my clients. It’s already emotional enough for them, without the added stress of waiting forever to hear from a damn lender.

The chances of the lender in a short sale scenario doing a lease purchase option is nil. They only want to get this property off their books. They are not interested in becoming landlords.

If you’re working with a realtor now, these types of questions are best answered by them, because there can be suttle differences in area’s state to state that most of us on Yahoo can’t address. Don’t be afraid to ask, you don’t learn new things unless you ask questions. And questions in real estate aren’t dumb questions! Best of luck!

I am really confused when it comes to foreclosed homes. There are many websites that have listings, but some have more than others in my city. How do I know when these foreclosed properties have sold? What is the best way to find available foreclosed properties in my area?

There isn’t any centralized agency overseeing foreclosures. Foreclosures are conducted according to the laws of the state that the foreclosed property is in.

The lender files in court for foreclosure. Once it goes to the court, the house belongs to the lender. He then sells the house to recoup some of his cost of the mortgage and court cost to foreclose.

Foreclosed properties are listed with realtors in the area the foreclosure is in. To get an accurate list, call any realtor in the area you are interested in and ask for a list of foreclosures.

A Realtor will bend over backwards to get a list to you for free in the hopes of getting to make a sale to you.

The web sites that charge are scams. They get notified by the county clerk when an intent to foreclose is filed. The home may or may not go into foreclosure, or may have already completed foreclosure, been listed with a realtor and sold.

A Realtor could help you.

But, in my opinion, foreclosures are not always the best deal. There are other things to consider.

There is an article below about buying foreclosures that might help you.

Ask a realtor, they are the best source.

Also, are you allowed to screen who you want to accept in your home and who you don’t?
so does that mean as the landlord I would reserve the right to inspect the property at will?

You should get the first tenants begging you on the first day you are up for rent. The backlog is huge. It is up to you to run ads.
Yes, you must screen all tenants. That is the biggest lesson that landlords learn from Section 8. Section 8 will not do any screening at all. Some people have not paid a bill on time in their lives and they won’t pay you either. Others are good as gold and will pay you on time and with a smile.
You are allowed to inspect your rental at any time with 24-48 hours notice to the tenant. You can’t just barge-in..

I need a 3 bedroom home cuz of kids and animals and I only have 1400 to spend on monthly rent. dont make enough to buy. cant find any good listings. What is a good place to look. tryed craigslist. live in san jose

Try your local news paper listing of rentals. Good luck, I know it can be tough finding an affordable place to live.