Shaun O'Toole - Distressed Real Estate Expert


About Me

Welcome to my site. I have specialized in buying discounted properties since my first purchase in 2003. I have purchased pre-foreclosures, foreclosures, bank-owned properties, and short sales. I am currently in the process of buying my 7th home. I also help people ensure their home is an investment, in that it will make you money and NOT lose you money. They key to any investment is buying at the right price and terms. As you will see in my property portfolio below, I purchased my first 5 properties on or before the year 2005. I bought my 6th home in 2008 and had a gross of $76,000. I just purchased my 7th home for $125,000 less than the appraised value.

Why use Shaun O'Toole for every one of your Real Estate transactions?

  1. I will FIGHT for every dollar to get you the ABSOLUTELY BEST DEAL on the house YOU WANT. I can potentially save you 20 to 30 thousand dollars OR MORE compared to having the Listing Agent write up the contract for you.
  2. I will GIVE YOU MONEY that can be used towards your moving expenses. I will pay 0.25% of the purchase price of the home you buy. For a $100,000 home, you get $250. For a $200,000 home you get $500. For a $300,000 home you get $750...etc. There is no ceiling on this offer!
  3. I will help you buy ANY house you are interested in, no matter how you find it. Call ME at 757-724-1428 if you are interested in ANY house
    • From a listing on MY site.
    • From a listing on another agent's site.
    • In a house with a sign in the yard.
    • In a house you see in the newspaper.
    • In a house you see in a magazine.
    • Or let me know if you want me to find you a house based on your criteria, or send you a list of foreclosures and bank-owned properties.


Let's Find You a House!

You can feel free to use the PROPERTY SEARCH feature on my website. If you are ready to start looking at houses or have any questions at all, contact me directly at 757-724-1428.


Investment Portfolio


Property #: 1 - This was the 1st home I ever purchased.
Property Address: 3831 Chimney Creek Dr, Virginia Beach, VA
Purchased for: $89,000
Sold for: $165,000
Date Purchased: 09/12/2003
Date Sold: 02/02/2007
Beds: 2
Baths: 2
Sq Ft: 1220
Property Type: Townhouse
Purchased type: Owner-occupy/Rental. This house was not on the MLS. It was a For Sale By Owner.
Notes: The house was priced well-below comparables in the neighborhood at the time. The townhome appraised for $120,000 when I purchased it. I lived there for 2 years, and rented it out for a about a year and a half before selling it. I only ended up putting a couple of thousand into this place, so the net proceeds were nearly all profit. And since I lived in the house for more than 2 years, it was all tax free!
Before pictures:


Property #: 2 - This was the 2nd home I ever purchased.
Property Address: 927 Delaware Ave, Virginia Beach, VA
Purchased for: $210,000
Sold for: N/A (still own)
Date Purchased: 08/24/2005
Date Sold: N/A (still own)
Beds: 3
Baths: 2.5
Sq Ft: 1318
Property Type: Townhouse
Purchased type: Owner-occupy/Rental. This house was on the MLS. It is the only home I have purchased that was not a distressed sale (meaning a: pre-foreclosure, foreclosure, bank-owned property (REO), short sale, etc.)
Notes: I lived in this townhome down by the oceanfront for a few years. I am just now turning it into a rental property.
Before pictures:


After pictures:


Property #: 3 - This was the 3rd home I ever purchased.
Property Address: 869 S. Club House Rd, Virginia Beach, VA
Purchased for: $79,000
Sold for: $139,900
Date Purchased: 10/21/2005
Date Sold: 02/28/2006
Beds: 3
Baths: 1.5
Sq Ft: 1360
Property Type: Townhouse
Purchased type: Flip w/ renovations. This was a pre-foreclosure, meaning the owner was behind on his payments, and he wanted to sell before the foreclosure went on his record.
Notes: I found this home by searching the public records in Virginia Beach for a change in trustee. This method allowed me to identify this pre-foreclosure a couple of months before it would be published in the newspaper in the Notice of Foreclosure Section. So, I sent the owner a postcard (amongst many other properties)...He responded, and I was able to purchase his home without it going into foreclosure. I acutally only paid $30,000 cash for this townhouse. We went to closing, did a title search, and discovered a lien for $49,000 that possibly wasn't paid in addition to the $30,000. The lawyer closed the deal transferring the deed SUBJECT-TO the pending lien, which we thought might have already be paid. I started fixing up the property. It turned out the was the lien on the property was unpaid, and I had to come out another $49,000 (thank God for Home Equity Lines of Credit, which seem to almost be a distant memory of the past). I knew I would only be in worst case for $79,000 and ended up making good money.
After pictures:


Property #: 4 - This was the 4th home I ever purchased.
Property Address: 831 Cannonade Trl, Virginia Beach, VA
Purchased for: $130,000
Sold for: $170:000
Date Purchased: 11/14/2005
Date Sold: 12/20/2005
Beds: 3
Baths: 2
Sq Ft: 1100
Property Type: End Unit Townhouse
Purchased type: Quick flip/$300 paint job only. This was a pre-foreclosure, meaning the owner was behind on her payments, and she wanted to sell before the foreclosure went on her record.
Notes: I found this home by searching the public records in Virginia Beach for a change in trustee. This method allowed me to identify this pre-foreclosure a couple of months before it would be published in the newspaper in the Notice of Foreclosure Section. So, I sent the owner a postcard (amongst many other properties)...She responded, and I was able to purchase her home without her home going into foreclosure. Not to mention, I got a good deal. The week I purchased the home, I put a For Sale Sign in the front yard. I got a call from a buyer, we wrote up a contract, and we closed a few weeks later. I had only put a few hundred dollars into the fixup!
Picture (I sold this one so fast I didn't even have a chance to take pictures!):


Property #: 5 - This was the 5th home I ever purchased.
Property Address: 244 Dalebrook Dr, Virginia Beach, VA
Purchased for: $206,000
Sold for: N/A (still own)
Date Purchased: 03/29/2006
Date Sold: N/A (still own)
Beds: 4
Baths: 2
Sq Ft: 1758
Property Type: Single Family Home
Purchased type: Rental. This was a pre-foreclosure, meaning the owner was behind on his payments, and he wanted to sell before the foreclosure went on his record.
Notes: I have had this rental for 5 years now.
After pictures:


Property #: 6 - This was the 6th home I ever purchased.
Property Address: 5497 Society Ln, Virginia Beach, VA
Purchased for: $200,000
Sold for: $276,000
Date Purchased: 07/29/2008
Date Sold: 05/21/2010
Beds: 4
Baths: 2.5
Sq Ft: 2032
Property Type: Single Family Home
Purchased type: Flip turned to rental/sold a year later. Bank-owned property (also known as Real Estate Owned or REO).
Notes: This house had gone into foreclosure, and didn't sell at auction. A house won't sell at auction quite often even if it is a good deal. The reason is that investors are bidding on the property blind. They haven't had the opportunity to go inside the property or do any property inspections because the sale is involuntary on the part of the current owner. Since the risk is higher, investors bid lower to have a margin of safety and many times may not bid at all if the starting price is too high. Notice when I purchased this property. It was a couple months before the stock market crash in Sept. 2008. It was certainly a very low point for the real estate market, yet I still managed to make money. If you get the right home at the right price, you can make money in this or any market. A deal that meets my criteria as an investment might only surface once every 2 months, so you have to be ready to move once it does!
Before pictures:


After pictures:


Property #: 7 - This was the 7th home I ever purchased.
Property Address: 1294 Brigantine Ct, Virginia Beach, VA
Purchased for: $299,900
Sold for: n/a
Date Purchased: 03/30/2011
Date Sold: n/a
Beds: 6
Baths: 2.5
Sq Ft: 3060
Property Type: Single Family Home
Purchased type: Short sale. Primary Residence
Before pictures:


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