All Forum Posts by: Andrew Taylor

@Naeem Kapasithat's kind of what I figured - and that's something I have a lot of time to do.

After sleeping on your "partner with a flipper" idea above, I think that's an idea that has a lot of potential. I may not be in a position to invest in a property right now, but I'm certainly capable of helping scope a rehab/flip job, and I've got trade and supplier contacts that might be helpful. That idea seems like it has a lot of promise.

@Charlie Fitzgerald, good info, thanks for that.

I really haven't given much thought to which loan product I'd go with. It just so happened that the ARM product was at the top of the page on the guy's desk, so that's the one we used to run the hypothetical numbers.

I left there with copies of his cheat sheets, and I plan to update my spreadsheet with closing costs, fees, interest rates, etc. so I know as much as possible before I walk in the door.

So part of my "Learn to be an Investor" plan includes seeking out and interviewing local specialists that might be candidates for my future team (as recommended by Rich Dad). Today, I met with a local BP user who is both a real estate broker and a property management guy. We spent a couple of hours shooting the breeze, and I learned a great deal. More importantly, I took my first concrete, non-reading-a-book step toward my goals.

On the way home, I stopped at a local bank to meet the loan officer. I think this guy is going to be an excellent partner; they're a "cashflow lender" and he pointed out several times how they really like making commercial loans. Rates were low (3.5% if you go ARM) and I thought the terms were reasonable. The banker himself was very nice, and overall I was just really pleased with the visit.

While I was there, as we discussed my particular situation re: income, equity, savings, etc., I gave him the numbers on one of the properties I analyzed for practice the other day. It turns out that because of the equity I have in my home (it's paid off), I can actually do the deal just by signing papers. No money changes hands anywhere. I just sign on the dotted line and I'm into positive cashflow.

So I guess my question is (and why I didn't think to ask this while I was there, I have no idea), what does this transaction look like in terms of either limiting or enabling other, future deals? We actually live in what will be the guest quarters on our property; we built it first, then moved into it when I got laid off last year. When we are ready to build the main house, I'll need to take out a construction-to-permanent mortgage. If I've used the equity in the property as collateral on the theoretical deal, am I still going to be able to take out a loan for the construction of my house? Would I just need to pay down the original loan enough so there's enough equity again to make the LTV on the new house work?

I'm really just not sure how all that works, but I don't want to buy a property and then find out later that I can't build my house because all my money is tied up somewhere else.

As usual, thanks in advance for your input.

@Naeem Kapasi, that's a good idea.

Also, I just got a sort of part-time-slash-temporary-slash-contract position that requires me to drive all over town to meet customers. I'm not sure what "driving for dollars" is, but this new position should be a good opportunity for me to get eyes-on on lots of different properties in lots of different areas on a daily basis.

Thanks for the tips, folks. @Tim Shin, I agree with you that my current strengths are time and energy. As of right now, I don't really have much else to bring to the table.

That being said, I think construction/contracting might be something I could leverage if there are investors locally who could use somebody who knows that end of the business.

I'm a new real estate investor, just starting out in the Houston area. I'm planning to attend a few of the REIA meet-and-greets in the area in the near future to start building a network of contacts, and I'm trying to figure out the best way to build that network. I want to learn the basics, meet new people, figure out how to pay for my first deal, find professionals and build a strong team, etc.

Although I am currently out of work (shout out to the oil & gas industry), I've got 15+ years of residential new construction and remodeling experience, and it seems to me that the combination of unemployed+construction experience+a group of people that deals in real estate might be something to look into.

I'm just curious about whether this will seem like an opportunity to other investors? What could I / should I offer that would make it an attractive partnership to a flipper? Buy-and-hold guy? Money guy? Realtor, insurance broker, CPA, etc? (I realize a CPA might not have any need for a General Contractor, but I'm throwing stuff out there to see what sticks.)

Thanks in advance for your input.

Thanks for the tips, everybody. I've sent a couple of inquiries on a couple of different listings, but have yet to hear back from the listing agents. Not sure what that's about - they're either busy, lazy, or I sound too much like a tire-kicker to warrant a response.

My inquiry is something along the lines of, "Hi, saw your listing on ****.com and I'd like to get some additional information before scheduling a viewing. I'd like to get the rent rolls, P&L, and/or tax returns for the last few years if available. You can reach me at..."

I'm planning to attend a couple of networking get-togethers in the near future (there were two this week but I already had something scheduled both nights) to start to grow my network.

This is a multi-family property with 7 units. I'm really more interested in cash flow than comps, correct? *IF* the rental income the agent gave is accurate (or even close), it's cash flow-positive and worth checking out.

I guess what I'm asking is, how do I verify rental income? What about expenses? Anything else I should dig around for? (Already verified property taxes.)

Getting ready to inquire about my first potential property, and I don't want to sound like a dufus. The MLS listing provided just enough information to make the listing interesting, but not enough to actually make an informed decision.

What do I need to request from the listing agent in order to complete my due diligence? Keep in mind I'm on the "tire-kicker" end of the scale, as opposed to the "I have an approval letter from a lender" end of the scale and I don't want to make some horrible breach of etiquette.

Changing the subject just a bit here, does anybody have an opinion on the Houston REIA? They've got a slick website, but it kind of seems like the whole thing is an homage to the lady who runs it...and her husband is a real estate speaker whose "seminars" are given away for attending the meeting.

I'm all for networking events, but this one is making my spidey-sense tingle.