[garysears]

“I am sure it would work, but who wants to live that way?”

Single people with few possessions and a free spirit. If you want a personal bailout, this has the least risk in my opinion.

Or you can gamble on hyperinflation to bail you out and lever up.

I’m not willing to do either. So I will continue to pay rent and be the sucker.

[garysears]

I disagree with trying the intentional default, few years of living for free thing. We are a few years too late for that. And you really are a slave to your credit history if you want to apply for a job ever again. There is no reason to get your name on the title at all.

I think the best way to take advantage of the situation is by squatting. You don’t have to sacrifice your credit rating and you don’t have to get in any legal trouble. Simply find an empty property not being marketed. It doesn’t matter if it is bank owned or a walk away not yet foreclosed. Look up the name of the previous owner. Write up a fake lease. Move in, pay the water and electrical bills and wait. When they come to evict you, show the contract and demand compensation to move. No one will think to question the contract. They will assume the previous owner was pulling a scam. They will pay you a few thousand to be gone without a fuss. Repeat as desired.

I would be tempted to do this if I were single. You would never have to pay rent again as long as the banks are playing games with inventory. That will probably be years. Your stay might be short or long in any one place, but as long as you keep scouting for new places you can do it and make a little off it too.

[garysears]

I disagree with trying the intentional default, few years of living for free thing. We are a few years too late for that. And you really are a slave to your credit history if you want to apply for a job ever again. There is no reason to get your name on the title at all.

I think the best way to take advantage of the situation is by squatting. You don’t have to sacrifice your credit rating and you don’t have to get in any legal trouble. Simply find an empty property not being marketed. It doesn’t matter if it is bank owned or a walk away not yet foreclosed. Look up the name of the previous owner. Write up a fake lease. Move in, pay the water and electrical bills and wait. When they come to evict you, show the contract and demand compensation to move. No one will think to question the contract. They will assume the previous owner was pulling a scam. They will pay you a few thousand to be gone without a fuss. Repeat as desired.

I would be tempted to do this if I were single. You would never have to pay rent again as long as the banks are playing games with inventory. That will probably be years. Your stay might be short or long in any one place, but as long as you keep scouting for new places you can do it and make a little off it too.

[garysears]

I disagree with trying the intentional default, few years of living for free thing. We are a few years too late for that. And you really are a slave to your credit history if you want to apply for a job ever again. There is no reason to get your name on the title at all.

I think the best way to take advantage of the situation is by squatting. You don’t have to sacrifice your credit rating and you don’t have to get in any legal trouble. Simply find an empty property not being marketed. It doesn’t matter if it is bank owned or a walk away not yet foreclosed. Look up the name of the previous owner. Write up a fake lease. Move in, pay the water and electrical bills and wait. When they come to evict you, show the contract and demand compensation to move. No one will think to question the contract. They will assume the previous owner was pulling a scam. They will pay you a few thousand to be gone without a fuss. Repeat as desired.

I would be tempted to do this if I were single. You would never have to pay rent again as long as the banks are playing games with inventory. That will probably be years. Your stay might be short or long in any one place, but as long as you keep scouting for new places you can do it and make a little off it too.

[garysears]

I disagree with trying the intentional default, few years of living for free thing. We are a few years too late for that. And you really are a slave to your credit history if you want to apply for a job ever again. There is no reason to get your name on the title at all.

I think the best way to take advantage of the situation is by squatting. You don’t have to sacrifice your credit rating and you don’t have to get in any legal trouble. Simply find an empty property not being marketed. It doesn’t matter if it is bank owned or a walk away not yet foreclosed. Look up the name of the previous owner. Write up a fake lease. Move in, pay the water and electrical bills and wait. When they come to evict you, show the contract and demand compensation to move. No one will think to question the contract. They will assume the previous owner was pulling a scam. They will pay you a few thousand to be gone without a fuss. Repeat as desired.

I would be tempted to do this if I were single. You would never have to pay rent again as long as the banks are playing games with inventory. That will probably be years. Your stay might be short or long in any one place, but as long as you keep scouting for new places you can do it and make a little off it too.

[garysears]

I disagree with trying the intentional default, few years of living for free thing. We are a few years too late for that. And you really are a slave to your credit history if you want to apply for a job ever again. There is no reason to get your name on the title at all.

I think the best way to take advantage of the situation is by squatting. You don’t have to sacrifice your credit rating and you don’t have to get in any legal trouble. Simply find an empty property not being marketed. It doesn’t matter if it is bank owned or a walk away not yet foreclosed. Look up the name of the previous owner. Write up a fake lease. Move in, pay the water and electrical bills and wait. When they come to evict you, show the contract and demand compensation to move. No one will think to question the contract. They will assume the previous owner was pulling a scam. They will pay you a few thousand to be gone without a fuss. Repeat as desired.

I would be tempted to do this if I were single. You would never have to pay rent again as long as the banks are playing games with inventory. That will probably be years. Your stay might be short or long in any one place, but as long as you keep scouting for new places you can do it and make a little off it too.

[garysears]

CA renter, I did not cover my deal elsewhere. I don’t really feel it deserved its own post so I’ll briefly answer. The full story would be book length. I guess I don’t feel bad about thread jacking a dead thread.

The property was 9324 Westhill Road 92040.

My offer was 20% down conventional. Unfortunately that means it must conform to FNMA guidelines since no one is writing loans they cannot sell to the government (unless you want to pay hard money 10-12%). The property was rezoned after a legal second unit was added in the 70s. Do to the nonconforming zoning the bank finally decided after 2.5 months that they would not make the loan.

I made a lower cash offer (hard money financing) but the listing agent refused to submit to the seller. Prior to my loan being denied the listing agent had relisted as active (with no mention of escrow and at a lower price than our contract amount) and apparently found an buyer they could double end the deal through.

The listing agent waited out the escrow extension, had the seller cancel escrow due to my alleged failure to perform (didn’t send my offer to the seller even though it was sent as an amended contract), and sold the property to the buyer they had so they could double the commission (speculation on my part but I firmly believe this is what happened).

My preconceived notions about real estate were confirmed. Mainly, that fraud, misrepresentation, dishonesty, and lack of ethics is the norm in every aspect of most deals. I made a lot of dumb mistakes and am out a lot more money than I should be. A terrible first escrow experience.

Bottom line is I doubt the value of a buyers agent and will probably never go that route again. More to the point I think the entire realtor concept is outdated and flawed. I think appraisers are worthless at best and probably any left at this point are too new to be competent or otherwise lack the skills to get a job in a legitimate profession. I intend to sign a lease for another year and really don’t know if I’ll ever buy real estate in California. The current market is crap and there isn’t a single property in the county I am interested in.

But I can’t keep from watching the MLS and visiting here since it has been my habit for so long.

Marc Carpenter is the listing agent and a real POS in my book.

[garysears]

CA renter, I did not cover my deal elsewhere. I don’t really feel it deserved its own post so I’ll briefly answer. The full story would be book length. I guess I don’t feel bad about thread jacking a dead thread.

The property was 9324 Westhill Road 92040.

My offer was 20% down conventional. Unfortunately that means it must conform to FNMA guidelines since no one is writing loans they cannot sell to the government (unless you want to pay hard money 10-12%). The property was rezoned after a legal second unit was added in the 70s. Do to the nonconforming zoning the bank finally decided after 2.5 months that they would not make the loan.

I made a lower cash offer (hard money financing) but the listing agent refused to submit to the seller. Prior to my loan being denied the listing agent had relisted as active (with no mention of escrow and at a lower price than our contract amount) and apparently found an buyer they could double end the deal through.

The listing agent waited out the escrow extension, had the seller cancel escrow due to my alleged failure to perform (didn’t send my offer to the seller even though it was sent as an amended contract), and sold the property to the buyer they had so they could double the commission (speculation on my part but I firmly believe this is what happened).

My preconceived notions about real estate were confirmed. Mainly, that fraud, misrepresentation, dishonesty, and lack of ethics is the norm in every aspect of most deals. I made a lot of dumb mistakes and am out a lot more money than I should be. A terrible first escrow experience.

Bottom line is I doubt the value of a buyers agent and will probably never go that route again. More to the point I think the entire realtor concept is outdated and flawed. I think appraisers are worthless at best and probably any left at this point are too new to be competent or otherwise lack the skills to get a job in a legitimate profession. I intend to sign a lease for another year and really don’t know if I’ll ever buy real estate in California. The current market is crap and there isn’t a single property in the county I am interested in.

But I can’t keep from watching the MLS and visiting here since it has been my habit for so long.

Marc Carpenter is the listing agent and a real POS in my book.

[garysears]

CA renter, I did not cover my deal elsewhere. I don’t really feel it deserved its own post so I’ll briefly answer. The full story would be book length. I guess I don’t feel bad about thread jacking a dead thread.

The property was 9324 Westhill Road 92040.

My offer was 20% down conventional. Unfortunately that means it must conform to FNMA guidelines since no one is writing loans they cannot sell to the government (unless you want to pay hard money 10-12%). The property was rezoned after a legal second unit was added in the 70s. Do to the nonconforming zoning the bank finally decided after 2.5 months that they would not make the loan.

I made a lower cash offer (hard money financing) but the listing agent refused to submit to the seller. Prior to my loan being denied the listing agent had relisted as active (with no mention of escrow and at a lower price than our contract amount) and apparently found an buyer they could double end the deal through.

The listing agent waited out the escrow extension, had the seller cancel escrow due to my alleged failure to perform (didn’t send my offer to the seller even though it was sent as an amended contract), and sold the property to the buyer they had so they could double the commission (speculation on my part but I firmly believe this is what happened).

My preconceived notions about real estate were confirmed. Mainly, that fraud, misrepresentation, dishonesty, and lack of ethics is the norm in every aspect of most deals. I made a lot of dumb mistakes and am out a lot more money than I should be. A terrible first escrow experience.

Bottom line is I doubt the value of a buyers agent and will probably never go that route again. More to the point I think the entire realtor concept is outdated and flawed. I think appraisers are worthless at best and probably any left at this point are too new to be competent or otherwise lack the skills to get a job in a legitimate profession. I intend to sign a lease for another year and really don’t know if I’ll ever buy real estate in California. The current market is crap and there isn’t a single property in the county I am interested in.

But I can’t keep from watching the MLS and visiting here since it has been my habit for so long.

Marc Carpenter is the listing agent and a real POS in my book.

[garysears]

CA renter, I did not cover my deal elsewhere. I don’t really feel it deserved its own post so I’ll briefly answer. The full story would be book length. I guess I don’t feel bad about thread jacking a dead thread.

The property was 9324 Westhill Road 92040.

My offer was 20% down conventional. Unfortunately that means it must conform to FNMA guidelines since no one is writing loans they cannot sell to the government (unless you want to pay hard money 10-12%). The property was rezoned after a legal second unit was added in the 70s. Do to the nonconforming zoning the bank finally decided after 2.5 months that they would not make the loan.

I made a lower cash offer (hard money financing) but the listing agent refused to submit to the seller. Prior to my loan being denied the listing agent had relisted as active (with no mention of escrow and at a lower price than our contract amount) and apparently found an buyer they could double end the deal through.

The listing agent waited out the escrow extension, had the seller cancel escrow due to my alleged failure to perform (didn’t send my offer to the seller even though it was sent as an amended contract), and sold the property to the buyer they had so they could double the commission (speculation on my part but I firmly believe this is what happened).

My preconceived notions about real estate were confirmed. Mainly, that fraud, misrepresentation, dishonesty, and lack of ethics is the norm in every aspect of most deals. I made a lot of dumb mistakes and am out a lot more money than I should be. A terrible first escrow experience.

Bottom line is I doubt the value of a buyers agent and will probably never go that route again. More to the point I think the entire realtor concept is outdated and flawed. I think appraisers are worthless at best and probably any left at this point are too new to be competent or otherwise lack the skills to get a job in a legitimate profession. I intend to sign a lease for another year and really don’t know if I’ll ever buy real estate in California. The current market is crap and there isn’t a single property in the county I am interested in.

But I can’t keep from watching the MLS and visiting here since it has been my habit for so long.

Marc Carpenter is the listing agent and a real POS in my book.

[garysears]

CA renter, I did not cover my deal elsewhere. I don’t really feel it deserved its own post so I’ll briefly answer. The full story would be book length. I guess I don’t feel bad about thread jacking a dead thread.

The property was 9324 Westhill Road 92040.

My offer was 20% down conventional. Unfortunately that means it must conform to FNMA guidelines since no one is writing loans they cannot sell to the government (unless you want to pay hard money 10-12%). The property was rezoned after a legal second unit was added in the 70s. Do to the nonconforming zoning the bank finally decided after 2.5 months that they would not make the loan.

I made a lower cash offer (hard money financing) but the listing agent refused to submit to the seller. Prior to my loan being denied the listing agent had relisted as active (with no mention of escrow and at a lower price than our contract amount) and apparently found an buyer they could double end the deal through.

The listing agent waited out the escrow extension, had the seller cancel escrow due to my alleged failure to perform (didn’t send my offer to the seller even though it was sent as an amended contract), and sold the property to the buyer they had so they could double the commission (speculation on my part but I firmly believe this is what happened).

My preconceived notions about real estate were confirmed. Mainly, that fraud, misrepresentation, dishonesty, and lack of ethics is the norm in every aspect of most deals. I made a lot of dumb mistakes and am out a lot more money than I should be. A terrible first escrow experience.

Bottom line is I doubt the value of a buyers agent and will probably never go that route again. More to the point I think the entire realtor concept is outdated and flawed. I think appraisers are worthless at best and probably any left at this point are too new to be competent or otherwise lack the skills to get a job in a legitimate profession. I intend to sign a lease for another year and really don’t know if I’ll ever buy real estate in California. The current market is crap and there isn’t a single property in the county I am interested in.

But I can’t keep from watching the MLS and visiting here since it has been my habit for so long.

Marc Carpenter is the listing agent and a real POS in my book.

[garysears]

I recently fell out of escrow on a multi-unit property. The appraiser absolutely DID see the contract. I was told it is required but I still can’t see why the contract should have any bearing on an independent opinion of the property value.

Much as there was lender pressure to “hit the number” during the bubble, I believe there is government pressure to “hit the number” in this down market. I was told that if appraisals vary by more than some certain percent (I can’t remember exactly how much) from the contract price, they are flagged by the government as potential bad appraisals or fraudulent. I believe this is creating pressure to hit the contract number.

In my case, all three appraisal values were almost exactly the same as my contract price. Somehow evaluating the property based on comps, rental value, and replacement value each yielded almost exactly my offer amount. Based on this experience I view the appraisal as completely worthless and I am really irritated I had to pay for such garbage.

There is NO justification in my mind for appraisers to see the contract. That destroys any hint of impartiality, especially if I am correct about government pressure to “hit the contract number”.

[garysears]

I recently fell out of escrow on a multi-unit property. The appraiser absolutely DID see the contract. I was told it is required but I still can’t see why the contract should have any bearing on an independent opinion of the property value.

Much as there was lender pressure to “hit the number” during the bubble, I believe there is government pressure to “hit the number” in this down market. I was told that if appraisals vary by more than some certain percent (I can’t remember exactly how much) from the contract price, they are flagged by the government as potential bad appraisals or fraudulent. I believe this is creating pressure to hit the contract number.

In my case, all three appraisal values were almost exactly the same as my contract price. Somehow evaluating the property based on comps, rental value, and replacement value each yielded almost exactly my offer amount. Based on this experience I view the appraisal as completely worthless and I am really irritated I had to pay for such garbage.

There is NO justification in my mind for appraisers to see the contract. That destroys any hint of impartiality, especially if I am correct about government pressure to “hit the contract number”.

[garysears]

I recently fell out of escrow on a multi-unit property. The appraiser absolutely DID see the contract. I was told it is required but I still can’t see why the contract should have any bearing on an independent opinion of the property value.

Much as there was lender pressure to “hit the number” during the bubble, I believe there is government pressure to “hit the number” in this down market. I was told that if appraisals vary by more than some certain percent (I can’t remember exactly how much) from the contract price, they are flagged by the government as potential bad appraisals or fraudulent. I believe this is creating pressure to hit the contract number.

In my case, all three appraisal values were almost exactly the same as my contract price. Somehow evaluating the property based on comps, rental value, and replacement value each yielded almost exactly my offer amount. Based on this experience I view the appraisal as completely worthless and I am really irritated I had to pay for such garbage.

There is NO justification in my mind for appraisers to see the contract. That destroys any hint of impartiality, especially if I am correct about government pressure to “hit the contract number”.

[garysears]

I recently fell out of escrow on a multi-unit property. The appraiser absolutely DID see the contract. I was told it is required but I still can’t see why the contract should have any bearing on an independent opinion of the property value.

Much as there was lender pressure to “hit the number” during the bubble, I believe there is government pressure to “hit the number” in this down market. I was told that if appraisals vary by more than some certain percent (I can’t remember exactly how much) from the contract price, they are flagged by the government as potential bad appraisals or fraudulent. I believe this is creating pressure to hit the contract number.

In my case, all three appraisal values were almost exactly the same as my contract price. Somehow evaluating the property based on comps, rental value, and replacement value each yielded almost exactly my offer amount. Based on this experience I view the appraisal as completely worthless and I am really irritated I had to pay for such garbage.

There is NO justification in my mind for appraisers to see the contract. That destroys any hint of impartiality, especially if I am correct about government pressure to “hit the contract number”.

[Author]

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