Back On the Market

I decided to take a trip out to the HUD property which I submitted an offer on Wed that was then rejected. There were three concerns made in the HUD inspection report: soiled carpet, hole in wall, and water pressure dropping. Of course, I couldn't do anything about the last item, but I wanted to check out the other two. It turns out the carpet is soiled in spots throughout the house. However, the hole in the wall turned out to be only 1-2" wide, which isn't a big deal. There were two rooms, though, that would definately need repainted as the previous owner used ... well ... rather bold colors. I'm still debating whether or not to up my bid and resubmit. The plumbing is still a concern as it sounds like there may be a leak somewhere. Someone may wondering why the heck would I even still be interested in it? One thing I picked up in Richard Roop's audio was trading sweat equity for a downpayment. IOW, sell the home via owner financing and offer a downpayment, but also stipulate the property needs some minor repairs, and you are willing to trade some/most/all the repairs in lieu of a downpayment. This saves you the burden of having to use YOUR time, YOUR money, and YOUR resources on something that could better be used elsewhere. Often times, according to Roop, you can even come out AHEAD as the repairs needed can sometimes cost more than the downpayment! Genious! So, if I originally offer a $5k downpayment, I can leave the house as-is and advertise that I'll trade the $5k downpayment for sweat equity (or whatever the term is he used). Replacing the carpet would be about $2-3k itself. Painting, probably another $200-$2,000, depending on how much they want doen and if they do it themselves. Plumbing, I'm not sure, but I figure AT LEAST a couple $100's. I'm still thinking about it, tho.

Well, I got on the HUD processor's web site for my area first thing this morning, since HUD releases their new foreclosures every Friday. What did I find? ALL those properties that were in the "Lottery Round" earlier this week!!! Whoo-hoo! It turns out my agent was wrong when she said they must have been snatched-up by someone. And, instead of the normal 2-week owner occupied only period they usually give, they are all only 1 week now.