All Forum Posts by: Eric Black

Hi all,

I am getting ready to lend on my first deal. It is a small ($2,000), short-term (60-day) loan for a flat fee, not interest.

Wondering if anyone has input on this, good or bad, and if anyone has a contract they use that they would mind sharing.

Thanks!

Eric

Hi Dennis. Also be sure to go to the Las Vegas Craigslist page, click on apts/housing, type House For Rent in the search box. When I do it the first page says 1-100 of 2500.

Every one of those are your competition. My advice in addition to agreeing with everyone else about getting your financing in line, would be to explore other markets as well to decide what the best market is for you. Vegas is cheap, but so is Detroit. Doesn't mean it's a good investment.

Good luck!

Hi Jason,

I asked my wife who is in the mortgage industry. It's a little confusing but here's what she said.

Conventional on 3-4 units is 25% down, regardless if you're living in the property or not.

FHA may be less however the income from the other 3 units must cover the PITI payment (principal, interest, taxes and insurance).

Hope that helps. If you have more questions let me know and I'd be happy to ask.

Like Joel said, check your local and state laws. Some cities even have their own laws .Then, even if there are no local and/or state laws, check with your insurance company.

One piece of advice, if you do allow dogs (or pets of any kind) and you decide to make them pay more in a deposit do not have a separate security and pet deposit, if your state/city will allow that. Reason being, if you have them separate then the pet deposit can only be used for damage caused by the pet and the burden falls on you to document and prove that the damage was caused by the pet. If you just have one deposit then it's all bundled together and you can use the deposit money for any allowable expenses. I hope that makes sense.

We are dog lovers but we still have rules. We require to meet the dog and we take our dog. That way we can get a sense if the dog is aggressive toward strangers and/or other dogs. We also require the dogs to be licensed and spayed or neutered.

It's a matter of personal preference. Just remember that if you set a weight limit, or any kind of restrictions, you have to stick to them. If you allow dogs under 25 pounds, you have to decline someone who has a dog that's 25.5 pounds or the applicant you denied because they have a 100 pound Great Dane can sue for discrimination.

So far we have not had any issues with allowing dogs. (Crossing fingers)

Thanks again everyone for your input. I am definitely not going to offer to pay for access, other than maybe the flat fee mentioned by Patrick, but that could get costly. I already have auto alerts set up with a couple of realtors but anytime I want to add/remove/modify keywords or criteria I have to bother them.

I may look into getting my RE license but part of my hesitation is that there is the potential for us to move out of California within the next couple of years and I don't want to put in all of the time getting my license here if we end up moving.

On that note, how difficult is it to "transfer" your license to another state? I'm sure you have to take a test in your new state but do you have to do the entire RE program for that state?

Thank you all for your input.

I hear everyone in just about every podcast say that they have access to their local MLS. I have been investing for the past 4+ years in the buy-and-hold arena and have just recently begun learning more and getting into the wholesale and flipping side of things. I am also relatively new to the area I live in (1 year). I have also heard how many RE agents don't want to work with investors because they don't want to waste their time with tire-kickers.

I am looking for advice on how to gain access to my local MLS.

Thanks for your advice.

Eric

I see. The first contractor was a referral and did not charge a fee to give me the bid but nothing was implied that I would use him if I decided to purchase the house either.

Hi Joe,

I'm not sure I understand your question. I'm not going to make my decision on which contractor to use based on if they charge me a fee to give me a bid. I am trying to get multiple bids to be able to interview the GCs and choose which one I feel will do the job as close to on time and on budget as possible, not just whoever comes in the lowest.

If I didn't answer your question I'm sorry.

Hi all,

I am evaluating a deal in Taft and am looking to get bids for the job. The property is mine if I want it, I just need to determine the rehab costs to decide whether or not to move forward. The property is a 3/1 and has been completed gutted and re-framed inside. The outside has had partial siding completed. We are waiting on one bid but would like to get multiple bids if possible. If you're interested please reply or send me a colleague request so we can PM.

Thanks.

Eric