We took over the mortgage payments on this house with foundation issues

We pride ourselves on the network and relationships we have in Louisiana. We are able to buy so many houses in Louisiana because we have a lot of partners that can assist in different situations. In this particular case the seller had foundation problems, mold and other issues and this actually meant that the value of the house was less than what they owed. Obviously when your mortgage is upside down it can be hard to sell your house.

We brought it one of our partners Courtney Fricke who is a creative real estate investor that we buy a lot of houses with. She helped structure a deal where we bought the house for the full value of the mortgage but instead of paying off the mortgage we left the lien against the property and took over the payments. It was a real win-win as nobody else was able to offer him a price equal to or above his mortgage and he didn’t want to write a check to the mortgage company to sell his house. He was very happy to be able to get out of the property without a loss.

While we wouldn’t be able to buy the house for that much cash since we didn’t have to pay the cash off straight away and instead were able to just pay for the rehab and foundation repairs. This meant we didn’t have as much cash out so didn’t have to get as high a return. We were now happy with the deal and so was the seller. Most people don’t know how to structure win-win deals like this and thats why we love having such a large network of people whose expertise we can draw on.

To learn more about this situation and the solution watch the video or read the transcript below.

Video Transcript 

Hey, guys, Aussie Steve here from Home Buyer, Louisiana. We buy houses in any condition in Louisiana. I’m here at a property we’re in the process of purchasing. We’re on the North Shore in Covington in St Tammany Parish. The seller had reached out to us to sell the house. He’s a landlord, and he owns a few properties. But unfortunately, with this one, he’s had some issues. There’s some water coming in under the house, and it’s caused some damage to the flooring, and there’s mold and stuff we’ll show in a second. He tried to sell it on the market, but wasn’t able to find a buyer. So, he reached out to us. He was initially looking for a cash offer. Unfortunately, with the damage to the property, a cash offer actually would be less than what he owed in the property. So that was always going to be an issue because no one wants to write a check to sell their house.

Fortunately, I have a partner I work with, who helps with situations like this. Her name is Courtney Fricke. Courtney is the president of the North Shore Real Estate Association. She’s also on WWL Home Improvement show on Saturday. She’s really good at structuring deals that work for the sellers. We own some properties together in partnership, and often, if it’s a bit of a tricky situation like this, we get her on board. So, Courtney will tell you what happened.

“Hi, guys, so this landlord really just said, hey, I’m done with this. The last tenant had really beat the property up. You can actually see down there the  foundation issues. This was a property he tried selling on the market. But the market, which has been one of the hottest markets we’ve seen, didn’t respond. All the offers were below what he owed the bank. As a creative real estate investor, I like to be able to tell you, but what I can do, not what I can’t do. A big part of that was saying, look, I know all the offers have been below what you owe, and you don’t want to go into foreclosure. Also, you don’t want to have to write a huge check to the bank to be able to make up the difference for that cash offer. And so, I said, ‘You know what? How about this? You have something valuable with the rising interest rates. Also, you have a loan with a good rate that’s fixed. Let me take over making your payments, so that I can help, and I can make it to where you don’t have to write a check at closing. You don’t have to be afraid that you’re going into foreclosure; and we can find a situation where it can be a win-win, and we’ll have it all drafted in front of an attorney, so that you understand what’s going on, and I’m happy to answer any questions you have.’ He told us he wanted to discuss it with his wife. He felt it was a good solution for them, as they will be able to continue with their other properties, and get rid of this, which was weighing them down and causing them issues. So, I consider myself a problem solver. Again, I don’t like to tell you what I can’t do. I have to tell you what I can. Look, let’s be real. Cash isn’t always able to help, and so I’m thinking we will find a solution for them.”

So, Courtney has been a real asset. She owns a lot of properties by herself as well, and we own properties by ourselves. But just on certain deals, we collaborate just because she’s very good at structuring those deals. So, if you have a house you’re looking to sell, reach out to myself or Courtney. We’re happy to discuss options to sell your house. We’re just after giving you the best options. You can decide if it works or doesn’t work. We will often give you options that don’t involve us buying the property. We don’t need to buy every single property from people we speak to, there’s plenty of properties out there. We want to make sure that we give you some solutions. And if the best solution isn’t us, perfect. That’s great. We’re happy to have helped. If it is, then we will be happy to work with you.

You could also visit our website, homebuyerlouisiana.com, there is lots of helpful information there.

Thank you so much guys. Have a good one!