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All Forum Posts by: Alex Washburn

Alex Washburn has started 7 posts and replied 52 times.

Post: When Comps Not Available - How to Sell?

Alex WashburnPosted
  • Investor
  • Chattanooga, TN
  • Posts 55
  • Votes 28

Hello Hive Mind,

I am just getting into the world of real estate and have just one deal under my belt as my Mother prepares to sell the family home.

The house my Mom is selling (95% Paid Off) is going to go on the market October 1st. 

However, something that she and her agent have discusses at length is what to list it at because no true comps exist in the zip code. My mom is the original owner and the house is just under 30 years old, it's a corner lot at the end of a cul-de-sac but since it is a corner lot the backyard is twice the size of most other backyards in the neighborhood. Because of all this space my parents built an extra fully permitted 2 car garage in the backyard bring the total garage space up to 5 cars. 

How do you go about pricing things with no true comps? Obviously a 30 year old house has some drawbacks and theres plenty of new construction in the area but nothing with a similar yard or garage space. 

I personally don't have enough experience to help but I am worried that it will either go on the market too high and get stale or... will sell a little too quickly. 

I wanted to ask this question of the BP community because I see it as another thing I can learn about!

Post: Costa Rica Investing

Alex WashburnPosted
  • Investor
  • Chattanooga, TN
  • Posts 55
  • Votes 28
I just bought a condo in CR as a toe in the water type of thing. I'm interested to know more about this project... location? Where you see it going in the next 3 years? Also funding - are you doing it all cash?

Post: Investing outside of United States (Costa Rica)

Alex WashburnPosted
  • Investor
  • Chattanooga, TN
  • Posts 55
  • Votes 28

John's anecdotes are important but I think the country you invest in is really they key. So I'd categorize it as a mix of fact based legitimate concern and accessibility.

I just purchased a condo in Costa Rica that we are going to have up on Airbnb fairly soon. However, even in CR I might be hesitant to buy a large property in the country without more systems in place.

As for Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador - I don't trust their legal systems enough but Belize would be great!

Part of why we made the leap to purchase in CR is because we live in the SF Bay Area ($$$$) and any reasonably priced markets would require a plane flight anyway. Since I speak Spanish and had been to CR several times there wasn't any real fear or concern with that.

Note: an issue that will keep many US investors in a post 08' world out of international deals will be the difficulty in securing financing. US banks will not loan on a property in CR and what we think of as traditional mortgages does not exist in the country. Cash is king!

Post: Costa Rica Vacation Rental

Alex WashburnPosted
  • Investor
  • Chattanooga, TN
  • Posts 55
  • Votes 28

I ended up finding a great general contractor and after the roof is complete we will be ready for the rental market! Note: The condo was livable when we bought it but not *airbnb ready* we gutted the bathroom and re-painted the kitchen cabinets. 

@Dylan Vargas I am a really well traveled individual and I speak spanish so as a newbie investor the most frustrating thing for me was not finding the deals or getting information from people - it was the lack of mortgage and funding options available to an american who wants to buy in Costa Rica.

Since I don't have an already existing real estate business or domestic properties I could sell or leverage to buy a property down there we had to use a combination of cash, private loan and a signature loan from Well's Fargo.

Mortgages are technically possible to get from Soctiabank in Costa Rica but they require 50% down and can take a really long time to approve. We didn't want to waste time on that process and risk loosing the property so we just made it work with what we had at hand. 

Hello BP!

My name is Alex Washburn and I live in the San Francisco Bay Area (born and raised) and I made the decision with my fiancé in November 2016 to get into real estate. I want to make a plan for my retirement and future financial freedom because I realize the path of working for one company for 20+ years and retiring like my parents did will not exist for me.

I quickly realized how soul crushing this market would be for a newbie so I thought long and hard about what my assets are and where I could leverage an advantage over other investors and I realized I could make moves in Latin America other people couldn’t or wouldn’t.

Our goal is start domestically with fix and flips we can trade up to large apartment buildings while developing a portfolio of vacation rentals in Latin America.

I joined Bigger Pockets after I took a buying trip to Costa Rica and made an offer on a condo there and I have since been really excited about all the information this company generates.

I’d really love to connect with people who invested in foreign countries (especially Latin America) or perhaps get book recommendations or start a meet up in the Bay Area for people who are interested in similar.

See you around the forums!

Post: Simon Conn - Has anyone does business with them?

Alex WashburnPosted
  • Investor
  • Chattanooga, TN
  • Posts 55
  • Votes 28

I am not looking for a loan in the US. I am looking for a loan out of the country (foreign) which is why I am interested in knowing if anyone has done business with them....

Post: Simon Conn - Has anyone does business with them?

Alex WashburnPosted
  • Investor
  • Chattanooga, TN
  • Posts 55
  • Votes 28

I am wondering if anyone has done business with Simon Conn out of the UK?

http://www.simonconn.com/about/

I am just trying to make sure if the company is legitamate. 

Hashtags: overseas , financing , united kingdom, london, UK, mortgage, foreign

Post: Costa Rica Vacation Rental

Alex WashburnPosted
  • Investor
  • Chattanooga, TN
  • Posts 55
  • Votes 28

How I found My Condo in Costa Rica: 

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/9664/60867-ide...

I will do a second post on funding the deal if we close (10 more days left!)