Wow, so much going on, and not enough time to write…looks like this is going to be another overall update to bring everyone up to speed:
House #1: The Corn House
The Lease Purchase tenants at The Corn House moved in last week, and sent us a very nice email just the other day. They wanted to tell us how nice the house way, and how excited they were to be living there; they finished with, “We can’t wait until the house is ours!”
Not only did this make me feel good, but the fact that they’ve been in there for over a week without any issues is a good indication that my contractors did a good job on that house. There were many things that were never used before (brand new shower, new faucets, new toilets, new decks, etc), and I expected for the tenants to find at least one minor issue (and I told them to let me know if they do find anything, so I can fix it). Perhaps they’re just not telling us about it, but according to their email, everything is working fine.
We’re planning to check their progress on improving their credit in a few weeks (they’ve been using the credit repair company for two months now), and hopefully the news will be good.
The best news is that their first rent check cleared…
🙂
House #3: The Second Chance House
We’re hoping to close on the sale of The Second Chance House on Monday. So far, everything is going smoothly, and unless something crazy happens in the next couple days (it’s happened before), I think we may actually get to closing without any major issues.
More on this next week…
House #5: The DIY House
We still haven’t gotten any information on the appraisal for The DIY House. Apparently, with VA loans, the appraiser completely bypasses the mortgage broker and sends his report directly to the underwriter. This happened two days ago, and we’re hoping the broker gets the appraisal information in the next day or two, so we know if this closing is going to happen.
Other than the appraisal (which really shouldn’t have been an issue), I see no major obstacles to this one closing in the next week or two…
House #6: The Red Garage House
The Red Garage House is the current MAJOR FRUSTRATION for us right now. We finally got pictures on the MLS earlier this week, and within a couple days started getting calls. The very first buyer who walked through the house loved it, and wanted to put in an offer!
That’s the good news.
The bad news is that the buyer wants to use FHA financing, and we’re still subject to the FHA 90-Day Rule for this property (we purchased it on February 12). That would normally mean we should be able to close around May 14 (91 days after purchase).
The really bad news is that the clock starts ticking on the 90 days not when we purchased the house, but when the deed was recorded (as I mentioned in yesterday’s post). Unfortunately, the title company that closed this deal screwed up the deed recording, and IT STILL HASN’T BEEN RECORDED. Yup, that means the 90 days hasn’t yet started ticking, and there’s no way to close this deal with an FHA buyer before July, at the earliest.
Which means the buyer who really wants to put in an offer is out-of-luck as well…
House #7: The Roach Duplex
This one is under contract, and the buyer has until next Friday at midnight to perform his due diligence. We won’t know anything more until then — unless he backs out of the deal earlier…
House #8: The 16-Bid House
First, here are some BEFORE pictures of The 16-Bid House…
We still haven’t closed on this house. The title company is now telling us that they think they should have clear title in the next week or two, and are confident that we’ll close before the end of the month.
This one is really frustrating, because we have little else to do these days, and our contractors are all on-hold waiting for this property to close. Hopefully they won’t find any other long-term jobs in the meantime.
House #9: The Hat Trick House
First, here are some BEFORE pictures of The Hat Trick House…
This one is scheduled to close on April 20, which means it will likely close before The 16-Bid House, despite us getting it under contract a month later. Hopefully they’re planning to use a better title attorney.
So there you have it — we have 7 houses that we’re “working on” and we essentially have nothing to do. We’re putting together Scope of Work and Materials List documents for The 16-Bid House and The Hat Trick House, but those are pretty much exactly the same as The Red Garage House, so the work is essentially done.
We’re also looking for more houses to buy, and currently have three offers pending, of which we hope to get one accepted.
Forgot to tell you this morning but haven’t had a chance to get to the post office to send out the lights. Since you don’t haven’t any work to do that’s seems okay. I’ll get them out this week
Huh?
What’s “the lights”
The three houses look very similar from the outside. I know you mentioned same neighborhood, I didn’t realize they were the same model. Hope all goes well with them.
Have you considered lease option for the FHA buyer?
Bilge –
Definitely considering a lease option for The Red Garage House, if we can’t figure out any other way of selling it before July.
Other options are trying to find an FHA underwriter who will allow us to use the settlement date as the start of the 90 days (the closing attorney offered to write an affidavit saying he screwed up the filing), or finding a local bank that can provide loans that are similar to FHA without the seasoning period.