From: Geoff Whitfield
Hi,
I'd just like to share this.
I have a friend who is really enthusiastic about real estate- but who is just starting out, with very little equity.
He's been in his unit ($40K, country) for a while, and has been in the process of buying a house ($140K). It as supposed to settle in December, but there's been a lot of problems- from financial institutions, on both sides.
To make it worse, prices have gone up a lot in the area lately. The vendor may well be able to get more than the 10% penalty she would lose; she was finding it hard to find another place she could afford (the bank would foreclose, and was looking for something small).
In the meantime, my friend found a unit in his block which had been unoccupied for a while. He sought out the owner, and arranged a very attractive price- he wanted to add value. The price was very attractive.
But when his own sale was almost falling through, he arranged with the vendor of the house he was buying to buy the cheap unit.
It cost him perhaps $5K in foregone profits- but saved him perhaps $20K in what it would now cost in today's market (remembering $140K total price).
Very nice lateral thinking.
Hi,
I'd just like to share this.
I have a friend who is really enthusiastic about real estate- but who is just starting out, with very little equity.
He's been in his unit ($40K, country) for a while, and has been in the process of buying a house ($140K). It as supposed to settle in December, but there's been a lot of problems- from financial institutions, on both sides.
To make it worse, prices have gone up a lot in the area lately. The vendor may well be able to get more than the 10% penalty she would lose; she was finding it hard to find another place she could afford (the bank would foreclose, and was looking for something small).
In the meantime, my friend found a unit in his block which had been unoccupied for a while. He sought out the owner, and arranged a very attractive price- he wanted to add value. The price was very attractive.
But when his own sale was almost falling through, he arranged with the vendor of the house he was buying to buy the cheap unit.
It cost him perhaps $5K in foregone profits- but saved him perhaps $20K in what it would now cost in today's market (remembering $140K total price).
Very nice lateral thinking.
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