Best Strategy for Acquiring Subto VA Loans

[Otto Kinn]

Quick preface, I'm a cash home buyer. I do 20-30 flips/wholesales per year. I've largely stayed away from the "sub-to" buz word, but I have done a couple sub-to flips knowing that I only needed to hold onto them a couple months and I was prepared to pay off the notes if they were called.

Sub-to for long-term hold on the other hand has me nervous. 
HOWEVER..
I'm getting a fair number of deals with significant cashflow and equity that make these amazing buy-and-hold opportunities at 2 and 3% interest. So I'm strongly considering adding a handful of these to my buy & hold portfolio.

I understand that there's no "risk-free" method to acquiring these properties subto, but have any of you had success over the long-term acquiring properties with VA loans attached? How can I best protect the seller as well as myself? Should I explore putting these properties into land trusts? (I'd love to just do a regular assumption on these, but I've more or less maxed out the number of houses I can buy in my name already)

What I've done on these sub-to deals in the past:
1. Bought on Contract For Deed and only recorded the notice.
2. Got property specific PoA. (to protect my interest if seller is unreachable in the future)
3. Got added to the property insurance policy as additional insured.
4. Received access to mortgage portal to ensure all payments are made (including escrow).

Anything else here I should do or not do if acquiring for the long-term?

Alternatively, do the risks outweigh the benefits of $500+ cashflow plus 30% day one equity and less than 2k out of pocket?

[Otto Kinn]

Title might be confusing, I'm asking for help or input on what other people have found success doing, not claiming to have any sort of sound strategy myself!!

[Don Konipol]

Quote from @Otto Kinn:

Quick preface, I'm a cash home buyer. I do 20-30 flips/wholesales per year. I've largely stayed away from the "sub-to" buz word, but I have done a couple sub-to flips knowing that I only needed to hold onto them a couple months and I was prepared to pay off the notes if they were called.

Sub-to for long-term hold on the other hand has me nervous. 
HOWEVER..
I'm getting a fair number of deals with significant cashflow and equity that make these amazing buy-and-hold opportunities at 2 and 3% interest. So I'm strongly considering adding a handful of these to my buy & hold portfolio.

I understand that there's no "risk-free" method to acquiring these properties subto, but have any of you had success over the long-term acquiring properties with VA loans attached? How can I best protect the seller as well as myself? Should I explore putting these properties into land trusts? (I'd love to just do a regular assumption on these, but I've more or less maxed out the number of houses I can buy in my name already)

What I've done on these sub-to deals in the past:
1. Bought on Contract For Deed and only recorded the notice.
2. Got property specific PoA. (to protect my interest if seller is unreachable in the future)
3. Got added to the property insurance policy as additional insured.
4. Received access to mortgage portal to ensure all payments are made (including escrow).

Anything else here I should do or not do if acquiring for the long-term?

Alternatively, do the risks outweigh the benefits of $500+ cashflow plus 30% day one equity and less than 2k out of pocket?

Otto, in my opinion the kind of ROI you’re talking about is well worth the “risk”.  Of course if you are required to pay off the 2% mortgage then your cash on cash ROI goes way down, but with a 30% equity cushion you’re still way ahead.

I really dislike contractor for deed, lease option, or not recording warranty deed as “solutions” for the due on sale clause.  Too much can go wrong in the interim.  Here’s a method of transferring ow worship that worked for me. (There’s no way to transfer title that can legally prohibit enforcement of due on sale, except transfer to the owners REVOCABLE trust or transfer to children upon death).  Form an LLC using the name of the seller in the LLC, so if the seller is John Smith you form, an LLC with the name John Smith Property Acquisition Trust. LLC.  You purchase in the name of said LLC. There’s a good chance that if lender finds out of property transfer via title records, insurance policy beneficiary, bank account submitting mortgage payments, they’ll assume that John  Smith formed a trust to own title and will not flag the  file for any action.  Don’t know if this will continue to work in the future, but has worked for me in the past.