New To BP!

[Mark Byrd]

Hi

 I'm New to BP.  I would like to start flipping and Rehabbing homes. Is there any Good advice you can give me on how to find a lender or a hard money lender in Florida? I have seen a couple post about posting your deal on Craig's List is that true and safe?

Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you all.

[Michael Roy]

You absolutely need to build a relationship with a conventional banker. Preferably someone at the place your currently bank at, assuming you have a long-standing reputation there as a customer. Your cash, credit worthiness, and relationship with banker will help you secure your first few deal, but you will need to build a track record if you want to grow your operations. This means that you need to sell a few deals to show that you not only know how to buy, but how to make money on the back end as well.

I would recommend that you do not use a hard money lender. The loans are more expensive which cuts into the return on your property. They are also going to be less forgiving than a conventional lender that you have built a relationship with.

If you're serious about investing, start building a relationship. You can certainly move quickly once you establish a good position, but establishing that position takes some time. Meet with a banker that you get along with, someone who seems willing to give you a chance. If you bring a banker a good deal, they might say yes, they might say no. But if you bring a banker who knows you by name, knows your hobbies, etc. and trusts you, the chance of getting a loan approved at a fair price is much higher than the former situation.

Good luck to you!

P.S. Find a spreadsheet that you can use to bring to bankers that will outline your deal. A banker will be much more quick to trust your intellect if you can bring numbers to the table and explain them. Dont just tell them that you want to buy it for XXX, put XX into it, and you'll sell it for XXXXX. Do your homework, talk about different return scenarios, and which you think is most likely and why. Tell the banker why their loan is protected.