Pre-paid Legal And Sub2 Forms
So, the only thing that is keeping me from getting deals are my contracts...I don't have any. Well, I have the ones in John's book but I haven't had them looked at by a lawyer to see if they are okay to use in Texas. I checked around and the lawyers in my town are well...too expensive for me so I was thinking of Pre-Paid legal, its only like $26.00 not bad. What do you guys think about having someone with Pre-Paid Legal look at the forms to get started? Would it be better to take them to a local RE Atty?
Also, if any of you have used the forms from John Lockes book and live in Texas could you clue me in on which ones need to be "correct" for this State?
Thanks,
Mitchell
Any takers? Just wondering.
My $26 got me an answer of "Just go find some State Board of Realty approved forms and use them." kind of answer. When I asked for a second opinion, they told me that they'd be glad to refer an attorney to draw up some forms for me at a discounted fee.
Guess which five year membership will not be getting renewed.
For $26 per month, they aren't going to stick their neck out too far for anyone.
Just my humble opinion.
Jeff
Local TX lawyer too expensive? Or your deal's just not that good?
My advice would be to chuck your deal if it's not worth 200-300 for some good TX forms. This is not the place to be tight & super-frugal.
Its not a matter of future money, its a matter of no money now. I have $9.00 in the bank and I'm not expecting that to grow any time soon. I've asked my family but they have all said no. I guess I'll have to put the whole thing on hold a little bit longer. I guess sometimes people on this board that are making money forget that some people just don't have ANY at all. But hell, what can you do? Give up? Nope. That is simply not an option. One day I'll be that millionaire living on the beach drinking my fancy beers but right now I'd settle for a coke. Cheers.
I'll tell you what I did...and maybe it will work in TX too. I got tired of every lawyer telling me the same damn thing.
So I took the advice of LV and went down to a title insurance co in Buffalo...and they SIMPLY pointed me to the nearest legal forms store (2 blocks away).
It was almost TOO easy....I wish I had done it a month or 2 sooner instead of wasting my time talking to conventional "by-the-books" lawyers.
That's a damned good idea. I'm doing that tomarrow. Never even thought of that. Thanks!
Mitch
OK, now I do understand where you're "at".
Here's what I'd do, have done on occasion, and know it's workable:
Find some Ft. Worth area REI who's done some of these, offer to do all the legwork & "sweat equity" if he/she'll work with you, educate you, show you step-by-step what to do next...and you'll learn a lot faster, make money, and next time be a lot more able to do'er all yourself.
Sure, you can always buy blank RE forms, but not knowing which or what to use, you could still shoot yourself in the foot.
Best wishes & stay with it !
Where there's a will there's a way, and it sure looks like you've got the drive & will.
John
I live in the Dallas area and have done a few deals here (a L/O and a sub2). I used the forms in John's Book as a guideline and then did my own research to conform them to Texas. One thing that I will tell you: Do NOT use the Contract for Deed form in Texas.
When the tornadoes went through Ft Worth a few years back, some moron had aquired 20 houses and was selling them using a contract for deed. Well, he had the buyers paying him for PITI and told them that they were each insured. Guess what? He was just pocketing the money that was allocated for insurance and so none of the buyers' houses were insured. Guess where the tornadoes hit? Yep, wiped all of the houses out and the buyers come to find out that they are not insured. Texas legislature gets wind of this dirt bag's tactics and passes a load of legislation that makes a contract for deed way too difficult for the average Joe to legally do.
So, this is one of those issues where if you had (or do) use a form written in another state, you would do some Bubba time (read: jail time) because of your ignorance (no offense intended).
I, too, am a newbie at this, but here is my suggestion (I am not a lawyer, so do your own research, get advice from competent legal council, etc. etc. blah blah blah).
1. Have the seller sign an Offer to Purchase Real Estate that states that you will be purchasing the prop subject to the existing mortgage.
2. Aquire a property subject to. All this really requires (which took me forever to figure out, and made me say DUH! when it finally hit me how simple this is done) is to get a seller to sign a warranty deed (all parties on title) from them to you. You can get a warranty deed from a title company or www.uslegalforms.com This doc is what 99% of houses in Texas are transferred with so it is very common and easy to get (for free or really cheap).
3. Make sure to have some CYA docs that disclose in writing that the seller understands that the loan can be called, and the mortgage will stay in their name, etc. THEY MUST SIGN THIS!
4. Eat your vegetables.
5. Take care of the insurance.
That is it!
On the other end (when selling), I would suggest Lease/Optioning the property, or doing a wraparound mortgage, NOT a contract for deed.
Note that I simplified the procedure a little bit (a lot actually), but aquiring the property sub2 is pretty easy.
Jace
why would PPL just give you a referral to some discount service? the membership benefit has 10-page review for each legal matter and I condensed my series of documents into 10 pages and got reviewed by a PPL designated firm in PA.
cant beat $16/month and I get to call them unlimited times for the same $16
Here is a link to some forms used by a company that invests in foreclosures that is operated out of dallas. I use the same forms here in the houston area so they should work for you.
http://www.flsonline.com/flslinks-askgeorge.html
I couldn't find it on their dallas website but they also have a fairly cheap work book that will tell you how to fill out the deed and other forms if your buying subject to. I found it on their houston website here is the link to purchase the work book
http://www.foreclosehouston.com/[ Edited by demosthenes on Date 12/11/2003 ]
I used my pre-paid legal membership to check out the Ron Legrand contracts and he told me it was good for Philly Pa, but he suggested an inspection clause to be placed on the contract. Those are the only contracts I'ved used thus far,and I'm doing pretty darn good. I don't think Pre-paid legal is the best, but when you start off broke like I did, you learn to use whatever resources you have in the present to your advantage. Do your first deal and get some cash in your pockets before you try to hire expensive help. The point is, I was able to get by with pre-paid legal, and getting by is better than standing still. Get moving fellow investor and don't let anything stop you.
dozu,
The reason he offered to refer me to another attorney at a discounted rate was that other than reviewing what I had sent him, he had no other services to offer with regards to contracts. My membership didn't get anyone to work with to draw up or modify contracts etc. If you're happy with that, then more power to you. I was just relaying my experience.
yipes,
I am moving forward. [ Edited by jeff12002 on Date 12/12/2003 ]