In this issue:

Getting Started

Advanced Strategies

THE POWER OF PRAYER

Upcoming Events

Who Votes?

Getting Started 

Q. I have a hand-written option to purchase a property. I paid $20 cash consideration and had the executor (son of deceased owner) and the daughter of the deceased owner both sign the option agreement. Can I take this to a notary to have it witnessed as proof of the valid option, in order to file a Notice of Option on this property? Both of these people are out of town, the executor is out of state. The property is in San Jose, CA.

Thanks,
Walter in California

A. Remember I am not an attorney. A notary can not sign for a person who is not there but they can notarize YOUR signature. With luck, that might be enough to get it notarized.

You can also fill out the notice of option all by yourself. Just do it as a self servicing document, stating that you HAVE the option and have that recorded. If nothing else, put it under miscellaneous documents. This is okay to do since you DO have signed document.

(Next time, do what it says in the course. When you have anything to sign, get it all signed at once and do the notarizing at the same time.)

If I understand you right, your original hand written option is not notarized. I would suggest make a good Xerox of the original, make a notary page and say at the top something like “the prior three (3) pages are an exact copy of the original option signed and executed personally by the undersigned,” or however your lawyer tells you to write it. Then add the notary part, then send one to each of them with a $25 check to pay for the notary (I know it won’t cost that much, but it is good to over-pay them) and self addressed, postage-paid envelopes. You will really be so much better served with a notarized original.

Also if you give out cash, have a receipt signed. As an alternative, give them a check for $20 and then have them endorse it and give them the $20.

The check is great proof that you gave them consideration.

BZ

Q. Dear Mr. Zick,

I am a Robert Allen student who absolutely loved your Creative Real Estate A to Z CDs. In particular, I was struck by the concept you described in which you help out seniors by buying the appreciation they will never use, in return for paying their property taxes and agreeing to maintain their home. You allow them to continue to live independently in the home they love and with more financial security, dignity, and peace of mind. I live in an area with quite a few retired people and I hear regularly about how expensive it is to retire, and would love to learn more about how to set up and market a business that focuses on helping seniors in this way. I would sleep so much better knowing that I am helping others sleep better. I realize you are insanely busy, but can I get some help from either you or a student of yours who has done this?

Thank you very much for your time and for sharing your real estate and financial insight.

Christopher

A.  I have brought a lot of people into my camp by letting Bob license that album. If you want to know the REAL DEAL, that A to Z was a short version of 28 of ours of CDs and about 300 pages of text. It has parts of “How to Get Started and Stay Motivated” normally $495, the mega course “Hidden Profits through Real Estate Options” retailing for $1995, and the “Creative Financing” mega course retailing for $1995 (which also includes the mini-course of STP). If you want the REAL DEAL, I invite all my Bob Allen people, who I believe paid $5000 for the short version, to get all three of these complete sets this month for $1995. This is a super deal because I don’t believe I have ever offered this high-powered combo for anything less than $2,995 in the past. (What the heck, it is good for all my readers.)  Just click on April REAL DEAL Special or call our office at 800-677-3253 to order.

BZ

Advanced Strategies

Q. If we have a Lease Option on a house, can we create a note when we sell it, instead of a sandwich L/O? We thought that if we only had a L/O that we could L/O or rent the house but not sell it on a contract for deed or bond for title. We have a house in the country, really pretty house, built in ‘98, but a real problem to fill because it is on a dirt road and surrounded by mobile homes. We are trying to think of different possibilities for it.

Thank you,

Angela

A. Yes, you can create a note when you sell it. You can only sell the right you have...that is the limitation. Let’s say the house is worth $60k and the loan s $40. Take a personal note for the $20,000. Or you could record a memorandum saying that you have a lien on their equity in their little house. Or you could secure the note with other property, maybe a car, truck or lake lot.

However, it would seem to be so much clearer just to do a contract for deed sale to them. That way you have a debt instrument and it would be tied to the sale of the house. You again can only sell what you own. So that means that the contract for deed has to end before the lease option you have to purchase.  They have to pay enough and in a timing and format that makes it clear you could cash their purchase out into your purchasing under the lease option contract you have.

BZ