TXNB Buzz

New Strategies, AudibleAd.com

2008-08-06T19:47:56-04:00

Last week another major institutional buyer of seller-financed notes exited the business. Investors are calling to ask if we still buy notes and what our strategy is under these conditions. Our strategy has not changed, although our source of funds for helping real estate investors sell properties and assisting buyers with financing continues to evolve as the market for these notes dwindles.

TXNB is focused on helping investors sell properties. The ways we help the most with this are by pre-qualifying buyers and by helping the "credit challenged" buyers with credit repair. We also have access to a government program that literally gives buyers we qualify down payment funds to purchase a home.

Many buyers are attracted to our "Easy Start" program that allows our sellers to help their buyers with house payments for the first couple of years into their purchase. Do you think you could get buyers interested by advertising "Seller Will Help Pay Your Mortgage Payment for the First TWO YEARS" ?

We provide a toll-free AudibleAd line for each property where a prospect can call and listen to pre-recorded information about your house. The prospect can press a button and be connected directly with the seller, with our office, or just leave a message for someone to call them back.

This line can be used to screen out calls from the curiousity-shoppers so you only talk to the ones who are serious buyers or just those who have been pre-qualified for financing. This service also allows you to track which of your marketing activites generated the lead (yard sign, classified ad, etc).

Did you know that more than 80% of those shopping for a home these days start their search on the internet? We provide a free website for your property to showcase multiple pictures, a virtual tour, or any other information you would want to include. But, most importantly, the details of your property get posted to Google, Craigslist, and several other online real estate marketplaces so it is easily found by those looking to buy.

We do consistent follow-up marketing to those who show interest in one of your houses but need to go through credit repair first. We keep in touch with them and constantly reinforce that you are the best one to buy from when their credit repair is completed.

At TXNB, we are experts in using seller-financing to help sell homes and then purchasing the owner-financed notes for cash after the closing. We review every buyer to help you put together the best combination of financing to get the deal done and put the most money in your pocket.

The marketing activities we do for you combined with our creative financing strategies will help you sell to the maximum number of buyers possible. We'd like to help you sell your houses faster. Just let us know when you're ready to get started!

FHA 90-Day Seasoning Rule

2008-07-18T12:09:57-04:00

What Real Estate Investors Need to Know about FHA's Recent Change in their 90-Day Seasoning Policy

This morning I was discussing a new deal with a customer who referred a well qualified buyer for one of her houses. Reviewing the details, I noticed the owner of the property had just taken title a couple of months ago. "We're going to need to wait another month to do a contract," I told my customer, "because of FHA's 90-day seasoning rule."

My customer said that FHA no longer has the 90-day seasoning rule, that it was recently changed, and that anyone could now buy a house using FHA financing and there is no longer a requirement that the seller own the property for 90 days prior to selling.

Being the research geek that I am, I thought it best to go to the source and look up the HUD press release regarding the 90-day seasoning rule. It turns out that my customer is partially correct. The Bush Administration announced just last month a temporary policy that allows the immediate sale of "vacant foreclosed properties" to buyers utilizing government-backed mortgage insurance (FHA). These properties will no longer be subject to the 90-day waiting period provided they are being purchased by owner-occupants.

"That's great!" But here's the catch, this temporary measure only applies to properties that are being "marketed and sold by property disposition firms on behalf of lenders." In other words, if a real estate investor buys a foreclosure and wants to sell it before the 90-day waiting period has expired, the owner-occupant buyer still won't be able to use FHA financing.

This new guideline won't help a real estate investor sell their property any faster, but it will make it easier for lenders and the realtors representing these properties to market them faster and to a greater market of FHA buyers.

The Texas Two-Step is back!

2007-05-17T12:36:46-04:00

Many of you will remember our simultaneous close program from several years ago. We traveled all over Texas showing real estate investors how to sell properties faster and easier using owner financing (step 1), and then how we could buy that owner financed note right away before the first payment was due (step 2).

We made it really easy by checking credit and prequalifying buyers right up front so the investor would know how much cash they'd have in their pocket after closing. The days of blindly owner financing a property to the first warm bodied buyer, holding the note for 3-12 months for seasoning, and then hoping to sell it for a good price were over (by the way, if you're still doing business that way.. you need to call me). Even after our focus shifted to subprime lending a few years ago, we continued to have customers ask if we could still do the Texas Two-Step program.

You've probably heard on the news or read somewhere that over the last six months the subprime lending market has practically disappeared with over 60 lenders going bankrupt or exiting the business. Several investors have told me they are seeing increased foreclosure activity (opportunities) in their areas, but that they are hesitant to buy properties not knowing if their buyers can obtain financing. The few subprime lenders who are left won't do the rehabs--they want the seller to have owned the property for at least 6-12 months ("seasoning of deed", "title seasoning") and they're going to have a problem if you bought the property for 50k last month and now you're selling it for 100k.

Here are the highlights of our Texas Two-Step program:

3-5% down payment
buyer needs only one score above 600
no source or seasoning of down payment funds
minimal closing costs (appraisal, title, recording.. no survey!)
no minimum "seasoning of deed" requirements
10-14 day closings!

Our customers rarely own a property more than 45 days, and buying at a distressed price, fixing it up, and selling for appraised value is the norm. Nearly every day I talk to a buyer who had a subprime approval that fell through, and now they are buying a house from one of our investors using our Texas Two-Step program. Take a look at this page for some more details. As always, please feel free to call me with questions.

New Website Design

2006-08-18T17:41:58-04:00

On August 16, 2006, the web server which hosted our website and controlled email crashed and burned. My best guess is that some software we were experimenting with on a different domain had a security problem which was exploited, causing problems for the entire server. I had been wanting to redo the site for quite some time and figured this was a perfect opportunity to go ahead and tackle that project.

We've changed a few things around on the website to make information and forms a little easier to find. It'll also be much easier for us to add information, program descriptions, and new forms. Please take a look at our new online QuickApp for new buyers, and let us know of anything else we can improve to make this site more useful for you.