14 Comments

1. 

   Nicholas Weaver on May 7, 2011 at 12:21 pm

   God bless dumb banks: $2500 of “Savings” which will drop $10K off the purchase price… If not $20K.

   Its like mine when I bought: missing stove. So you can either think of it as “no stove” or, that because it drops $5K off the purchase price dispite only costing ~$800, “Free Viking Range with proof of purchase”

2. 

   Kingside on May 7, 2011 at 12:53 pm

   I got 5K off on a B of A investment deal because they would not evict a squatter before closing.

3. 

   Another Investor on May 7, 2011 at 2:52 pm

   Recently saw several very nice REO clean ups by Wells Fargo in the Phoenix market. New carpet and paint and a thorough cleaning. Very neutral and tasteful. In each case they were tired and worn from years of use and abuse when Wells Fargo took them back, usually by tenants. Don’t know if the same asset manager handled the houses or who picked the colors, but they sold quickly at or near list price.

4. 

   tj & the bear on May 7, 2011 at 6:13 pm

   Not too worried about BofA watching your videos, are you? 😉

5. 

   lgs on May 7, 2011 at 6:52 pm

   Worthy of some of the repairs seen here:

   http://thereifixedit.failblog.org/

6. 

   Jim the Realtor on May 7, 2011 at 7:51 pm

   LOL – great link lgs!

   4.Not too worried about BofA watching your videos, are you?

   I hope somebody in Bofa’s senior management is watching.

   She literally told me to take my contractor over there and re-quote carpet repair for just the parts needed. I told her it was the same quote – $2,500, for all or part.

   She said she was ready to list it Friday, if it wasn’t for the trip hazard. My guess is that it’ll take another month for them to figure out what to do.

7. 

   Jim the Realtor on May 7, 2011 at 8:06 pm

   P.S. This is the 2,500th post on the blog – thanks everyone for participating!

   (a few hundred were deleted when we changed over to wordpress).

8. 

   Susie on May 7, 2011 at 10:09 pm

   “She said she was ready to list it Friday, if it wasn’t for the trip hazard. My guess is that it’ll take another month for them to figure out what to do.” JtR

   *Chuckle* Whether it’s bank bureaucracy or government bureaucracy, it’s usually “hurry up and wait”.

   PS I’m still waiting for BoA to get back to me re: a MERS mistake. They said they’d call “tomorrow”. That was about five months ago…

9. 

   chrisanthemama on May 8, 2011 at 10:07 am

   “Nuthin’ that duct tape won’t fix”–Jim the Handyman

   lol

10. 

    shadash on May 8, 2011 at 11:51 am

    I’m with Kingside. Give me the cash for keys money and I’LL evict the deadbeat living in the house I buy.

11. 

    Peter on May 8, 2011 at 1:14 pm

    Add duct tape to gold and silver as hedges against inflation…. Thanks, Jim – now you’ve divulged my investment strategy.

12. 

    Geotpf on May 9, 2011 at 1:28 am

    Now, there’s a rental property that pencils out, with the monthly income is 1% of the purchasing price. Much less than that is not good.

13. 

    Joe on May 9, 2011 at 9:15 am

    I smell a new Bravo series: “Ducktape Decor with Jim the Realtor”.

14. 

    ewhac on May 9, 2011 at 1:46 pm

    Covering ratty carpet with duct tape? I’m surprised you didn’t use…

    (*puts on sunglasses*)

    …a TARP.