Thread: What Have I Done?! Help!

Fannie Mae did not know about the problem so they could not have disclosed it to you.

I have heard on this forum that real estate investors don't need inspections because they know what they are doing but you have just shown all of us that inspections are indeed necessary and do work to save buyers from major problems.

Lucky for you it is only $5,000.

Always inspect, the small cost of an inspection is nothing compared to the costs you just discovered. I am very sorry and hope you can find a way to overcome this problem.

Penny wise, pound foolish. Home inspectors cost very little money.

Were you represented by a real estate professional in your transaction?

The first step in recovery is admitting your mistake. Check. Second step, dont beat yourself up about it anymore than you have to. Everyone makes mistakes, but what makes a good investor is the fact that they learn from their mistakes. I bet every house you buy from now on will have a pretty thorough inspection. Third, you have the property regardless of whether it was a good investment or not, so now its time to figure out how to make the best out of a bad situation. Sit down and brainstorm. Is there ANY possible way to feasibly fix the problem? Any creative solutions. Try thinking outside the box. Figure out how much you could sell just the lot for, worst case scenario. Figure out if a buy and hold strategy would work? If the property is still legally inhabitable, at the very least you can give someone a hell of a deal on leasing it. That way, at least you will be earning a small income to help offset expenses. There are a million and one ways to go about getting the best-bad deal out of this. And as someone said before, its better to make this mistake with 5k rather than 100k's. Best of luck.

If I were in that position, several options to consider but first and foremost, get a second and third opinion on that wall and do not approach the contractors from a position of weakness....let them sell you and not the other way around.

Then...

(1) I am unsure of what you were considering allocating for repairs but you can shift that allocation to the foundation and then as money comes in that you can afford the other repairs, make them.

(2) If you just don't want to deal with it, Craigslist the property or visit your local real estate investor's association. Sell it short and get out. Cut your losses. Lesson learned and you will have recovered some of that $5000. Do not overprice it, especially now as it may cost you more in the long run.

(3) Remember, it's a $5000 property. Either it's location is horrible or the condition was horrible or both and more. The contractor, if his estimate is correct, may be a possible buyer. He might charge you $10,000 for the repair but it won't cost him that do it. He may be a possible purchaser.

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]If it

If the house isn't falling off the foundation, fix it up to the degree necessary to put a renter in it.

Did you buy it for well under its retail value? You may be able to refinance for more $$ after 90-180 days, and use that money to buy another property.

If you're feeling down, think of it this way. You learned about the importance of getting a home inspection with only $5,000 out of pocket.

If you hadn't learned it now, and started investing in higher-priced properties, you might learn the lesson when you were $20K or $100K out of pocket.

Looks like a pretty cheap lesson then!

As the buyer, what did say your free to you Real Estate agent, that worked freely for you without you to pay him anything while giving you the best free tips on your purchase, about that property?