USVI-On-Line

Lovermont wrote: Wow... I like the methodology, but I don't think I could execute it. I'm impressed.
Lovermont

Yeah, my buddy Al is shrewd but smart. The key is that many houses for sale have complex dependencies behind them (job relocation, divorce, job loss, commitment already made on another house, etc.) BUT some don't (I have a neighbor who puts his house on the market once every year or two just to see what it is worth..what I call a "fishing expedition"). If you can find a house you like with a highly motivated seller you can really WIN...but it will likely be more work than just paying the asking price. Who knows what we'll do next time we move....may find out soon.

An update:
We've signed the purchase agreement.
We went online Thursday night, to sign the mortgage application, and it had the wrong address listed, so we emailed the agent. When we woke up Friday morning, the address was correct, but the closing costs had increased by about $5,000 and the mortgage payment had more than doubled ! I was just sick. This is our first time, and I didn't know if we were going to be stuck paying those costs, since we had signed the purchase agreement.
I was heartsick, waiting to hear back from our loan agent.
Well, when he corrected the address, the TAXES hit. Apparently, the "city" taxes are astronomical, and hadn't been figured into the numbers we'd been given. The purchase amount we agreed to is much less than the assessed value, so our real estate agent called the assessor's office. The house had been on the market for over 900 days, so they agreed to base the assessment on our purchase price.
So we're back down to closer to our original mortgage payments, and waiting to hear if everything is copacetic
Keeping fingers and toes crossed!

Oh, AND when Blaine went to give the landlord the bad news that we're probably leaving, he was greeted with the news that the house was being taken for unpaid taxes.
So we're moving, one way or another.
Poor guy's business has gone bad and he's going bankrupt.
He was afraid to tell us.... He didn't get the reaction he expected!

Whew,talk about timing being everything. When was your landlord going to tell you? Still going to need time to get all the documentation,etc done on the house.

Am still praying that all works out well for you,no more set-backs w/the house buying and now that will be able to stay in place till it's all done.