My fiancee and I made an offer on a short sale property on June 23rd. The bank came back to us today with a contract addendum signed by them and the selling agent. Any idea on how long this process can take from today on? Any insight on the situation would be great though, because I am very unfamiliar with the whole process.

if you have an addendum you may have a deal already. If that is case then you have probably been told a certain date you need to close by. It is likely 30 days away.

I am on day 73 of a Short Sale offer and still waiting to hear final lender approval. Once that occurs an addendum will be drafted for us to sign.

I want courses that will educate me well enough to understand the principles and practices of investing in real estate.

There is nothing better than experience… what I used to get there was to read Eugene Volluchi’s book How to Buy & Sell real estate.

It’s really good about giving you the basics for evaluating property and an introduction to the math involved.

What are some ways to begin in real estate investing with litttle or no money? Can you start in real esate investing with no money?

Join a Real Estate Investing club if there is one in your area. The education is priceless.

Find a wholesaler…these are mostly the guys that have the "I Buy Houses" ads on the street corners and newspapers.

Find a lender who will lend based on Appraised Value rather than on Purchase price. This is not easy to do, but it is possible. You can also work with Hard Money Lenders…steep rates, but often worth it.

My first deal was a house from a wholesaler. It appraised for $51,500 and he was selling it for $26,200. (He got it from a bank for $10,000 I later found out).

I had a hard money lender loan me all the money and then refinanced one week later (which is not easy but can be done) and cashed out at 80%. The hard money lender arranged everything.

In short, I bought a house for $32,000 ($26,200 plus fees and closing costs) with hard money. Refinanced at $42,000. Left closing with approx. $10,000 (42k-32k) and still had almost $10,000 in equity. Not one dime of my own money.

I want to get a good buy on a foreclosure but I dont want to pay for some website. Anyone know the best way to find foreclosures for free in NC?

The people who offer you free information on Foreclosures are the same people who are trying to sucker you into paying too much for a house because you think that you are getting a deal below fair market value when you are actually paying more than fair market value.

They have ads all over craigslist to "buy this home for $XXX down, $XXX a month including taxes!"

I’ve talked to Julie (the person all the ads say to call), and they seem legit, I just wonder what experiences other people have had.

For the record, these are typically distressed properties, often REO, that banks couldn’t sell at auction.

Please let me know if you’ve ever dealt with this company before or if you currently are, and how your experience was.
I found their website:

http://homesolutionsproperties.com/index.php

I bought a house from them here in Indianapolis, IN .. They wanted $20,995 for it on payments.. I offered them $5,000 cash and they accepted. I have the deed in hand. So don’t be afraid to offer 25% of the asking price.. if it is too low.. they will counter offer you.

I dealt with a woman named Diane .. really nice.

P.S… call your county assessors office and check the back taxes.. If you do a cash deal they will quit-deed it to you and you will have to pay the taxes yourself unless you catch it first.. and I HIGHLY recommend having a title company do a title search and purchase title insurance.. no tellin what skeletons are hiding in an abandoned houses closets.. if you know what I mean.