All Forum Posts by: Alexandre Medrano

This is a question for investors/wholesalers that use the website listsource to obtain their leads. Does list source update the list you purchased for you? If not then is there a way to check without having to repurchase a new list to see if any information has changed? How often do you check/renew your list? I am hoping that I don't need to repurchase the same list frequently to renew it. Thanks!

So from my first month (less than a month, maybe like 3 weeks now) of diving into real estate I have found out that finding DEALS is the most crucial aspect for real estate investing. I have learned that in todays market finding deals requires marketing techniques and having the right connections. Everything on the MLS is so over priced that it made me start thinking and learning how to find deals off market. From people I have met from my first meetings with other local investors that they recommend using wholesalers. These are people that do the marketing to find the deals and essentially sell these deals to investors to make a living. This lit a fire under me when I first heard this! But from further research on how wholesalers do business, I have realized that the house hacking method (FHA 203B, 203k...etc) is not ideal when dealing with a wholesaler. If I understand correctly, this is due to wholesalers not wanting/able to deal with a long loan process when holding on to a deal for the investor (correct me if my thought process is wrong). So now I am looking into the BRRRR strategy of using a hard money loan to obtain the deal.

So below are the questions I have to the community (even an answer to just one would be appreciated, thanks!):

1. Do I need a real estate agent anymore if I am working with a wholesaler? I still think I could use one to help analyze COMPS for the property in the neighborhood, but how will the real estate agent be compensated in that situation?

2. Is there still a time period before finalizing the deal to inspect the property (by an inspector) and get bids from contractors to determine the rehab cost? I cannot determine the rehab costs by just looking at pictures on my own and I know time is a key factor for wholesalers.

3. What type of professionals (i.e. inspector, contractors, lawyer, etc.) do ya'll recommend having ready before I make an offer on a wholesaler deal? This is a gap that I feel like a real estate agent usually fills....

@Nick S. totally forgot about HAR.com great point. Been using redfin and realtor.com  @Jeff Smith This is for a 2-4 multifamily and yes I am trying to not to depend on a real estate agent too much at this point even though the one I am talking with has been great to me! @Anton Ivanov great point, was on that path and have scheduled two face to face meetings with property managers this week.

Thank you all for the feedback!

Estimating rental income is something that I am struggling with when analyzing deals. Any tips on estimating rental income? 

So far i have been using rentometer and craigslist for listings of similar properties for rent in the area. The issues that I'm having is that there is not enough examples in certain areas on craigslist and rentometer doesn't take into account for square footage of the units when comparing rent prices. Rental income is a BIG factor in analyzing deals so I wanted to ask the community for any tips and advice before moving on.

Howdy!

I am currently out shopping for lenders to purchase my first rental property (looking to house hacking in a multifamily) in the Houston area. I have been researching on loan types that fit my financial state and found that the FHA 203B or the FHA 203k are my best fit. The FHA 203K sounds amazing in concept with being able to add the renovations cost to your actual mortgage. Through out my lender shopping experience I found that a lot of lenders have no experience doing FHA 203k loans or that they strongly discourage it due to the long hard process that takes place in processing one (mostly on qualifying contractors).

I really want to go after the 203k option, so I am asking the group for first hand experience stories with either loan option to see if its worth pursuing. Looking forward to the discussions! :)