Aaron Lewis

First, to verify: you are referring to 2025 Miller Ave, Modesto, CA 95354, correct? I show this property was foreclosed on 7/3/08 for an amount of $5,000. The buyer was a family trust. There is a $13,000 mortgage made in 6/06 from a private party, which is likely the same family trust that acquired the property at the trustee's sale. As a result, it is unlikely they will be offering the property for sale any time soon, and if so they will certainly attempt to get as much money for the property as they believe they can.

Unfortunately, I'm guessing this changes the assumptions you had which made you want to purchase the property. If not, and you are still interested in the property, please contact me and we can talk about other options that may exist.

Best of luck,

Aaron Lewis
The Lewis Team
Prudential California Realty
http://www.weworkharder.com
alewis@prucalifornia.com
209-633-2727 tel - Mon Oct 20 2008, 09:36

The home you mentioned at 1541 Marin Ave, Modesto was recently foreclosed on by Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp, which I think refers to either Fannie Mae or Freddic Mac. Therefore, this home will no doubt be listed for sale soon, though it does not appear on the MLS currently as of this time. Unfortunately, nobody except for the assigned real estate agent knows who does/will have it for sale.

If you'd like, I can put a search on the MLS for this particular property address, which will generate for me an email notification in real time, the moment the property hits the MLS. You will then be able to view, inspect, and make an offer on the property at that time, if you wish.

Let me know if you'd like to proceed in that fashion.

Thanks,
Aaron Lewis
Prudential California Realty
209-633-2727
alewis@prucalifornia.com http://www.weworkharder.com - Mon Oct 6 2008, 14:08

I am originally from Modesto and have lived and worked here most my life, it's a great place. I'm not aware of any 100% financing options any more, though there were as recently as a few months ago. What you heard of may have been an FHA loan with Nehemiah. This is a typical FHA loan (requiring 3% down) in which the seller "gifts" up to 6% of the home's sales price to a non-profit org called Nehemiah, which after deducting a small admin fee "gifts" the amount to the purchaser. This "gift" covers the 3% down payment, with the remaining 3% covering much of the closing costs. That's probably what you heard of. You end up inflating the sales price by 6% to cover what the seller is indirectly "gifting" to you, but it allows for 100% financing.

UNFORTUNATELY, this program was done away with in a new piece of legislation that takes effect on 10/1/08. So now there is no 100% financing left. The closest thing you have is FHA loan, which requires a 3% down payment. So if you're buying at $250,000 that'd be $7,500 for the down payment. You can still request the seller to pay up to 3% of the sales price ($7,500) towards your closing costs, which may be around $9,000 or so depending on various factors (credit, income/debt/asset info). So $7,500 for down payment + $1,500 of your closing costs that you'd have to pay--for a total of $9,000.

However, most lenders will want you to have those funds PLUS "two months' reserves" (mortgage payment) in your bank account. Then there'll be costs to do the move--especially cross country--and likely some small things you'll want to do to the house before moving in (minor repairs, new paint, etc). So all in all, you should probably plan on having at least $15,000 available for buying before trying to do it.

Hopefully this helps. Again, my team covers the Modesto area and we'd be happy to help when you are ready.

Aaron Lewis
The Lewis Team http://www.weworkharder.com
alewis@prucalifornia.com - Mon Sep 29 2008, 16:17

The property was formally foreclosed on by the lender on July 28, 2008. The transfer price was $205,000. However, that doesn't really mean much. It just means that the existing mortgage balance minus $205,000 was written off by the lender as a loss on their books. Chances are the home will go up for sale as a bank-owned property (REO) within a month or two, and it will be a separate price based on the bank's opinion of what it can sell for. Based on my understanding of that area, I'd say it's nearly guaranteed the asking price at that time will be significantly higher than $205,000. Hopefully that answers your question. If not, feel free to contact my office at 209-633-2727.

Aaron Lewis
The Lewis Team
Prudential California Realty - Wed Aug 13 2008, 11:21

Anita,
You pose the $150,000 question! The reality is, with that kind of potential liability on the line, nobody (including myself) would want to stick their neck out on the line with a confident answer that you rely on and get yourself into an issue on. That's probably why nobody short of a real estate attorney would want to get near that one. What I can say with some confidence is that buying at auction as you describe would not include title insurance, which would prevent something like that from happening. A couple of ideas, therefore: (1) shop only for those homes you are 100% sure have only one lien on them, so there is nothing else out there. You will not want to rely on RealtyTrac for being 100% sure, so you may wish to have a title company do a title search on such properties you are thinking of buying. (2) make sure that the existing liens, even if added on top of your auction price, still leave you a huge buffer where you could still sell the property very quickly and make a tidy profit even if you did have the 1st come after you later.

Hopefully this helps. The only other suggestions I could give you are to try asking the other investors and auctioneers at the auctions, or try a real estate investing course like a Carleton Sheets or some other CD/book program--they probably address that issue in their materials.

Good luck! - Tue Jul 29 2008, 13:02