notequeen

I can't tell you the number of lenders that refuse to take a good short sale offer. You'd think with the mounting losses, that they'd try to stop the bleeding, but I've seen them refuse a short sale offer of $375,000, just to put it on the market three months down the road at $275,000. I guess it really doesn't matter that much to them . . . we will just keep bailing them out, and they know it.

Increasingly, sellers are becoming more flexible and carrying paper (taking back a note) in order to close escrow on their investment properties. So, how does that work in the context of a 1031 exchange? Can it still be done?

One of the things I love about Pasadena is the intelligence, creativity and fun-loving nature of the trees. These palm trees behind Pasadena's Gold Shell in Memorial Park are doing a good job of making shadow shapes that definitely look like . . .

As a property owner who might want or need to sell now or in the near future, you don't have to be at the mercy of the institutional lending community. Flexible sellers can create their own liquidity, become the bank on their own property, and maneuver around the ailing banking industry altogether.

Notes are often created in the image and likeness of their Creator . . . sometimes we can look and call that good. Sometimes the note isn't worth the paper it's printed on. When you decide to take back a note, you want an investment you can feel good about holding or selling.

Many sellers of real estate automatically think they need an all cash buyer, but do they? What many people need is a steady flow of income.

When buyers with FICOs of 800+ have a hard time getting a loan, what's the world coming to? Are we going to be able to close transactions, or are things going to come to a grinding halt? When sellers have at least been open to the idea of carrying paper, and will let me advertise as much, I've seen the interest in their property easily double. When you offer terms, you expand your list of potential buyers exponentially.

Do sellers carry paper on purpose? Actually, yes, they do. About 5 years ago I bought a small commercial property from an older couple who were ready to retire. They had purchased the building for their travel agency 27 years previously, and they had paid off the mortgage knowing that eventually, carrying paper would be a significant part of their retirement income. In fact, they paid off their commercial building before they paid off their house!