All Forum Posts by: Alisha Mingus

Originally posted by @Daren H.:

I am not a no money down hater but a lot people promote it as easy and get rich quick. I don't doubt that some can do it well, get rich quick, and reasonably benefit the seller. In my opinion, most people who are "forced" to do REI with no money down don't have any money. There is a reason they don't have any money and it is usually due to personal life choices and personal financial choices. The majority of broke people are in no position to solve a financial situation for someone else but they sure do try. In my opinion, it usually requires connecting with someone who is less educated about finances to trust a broke person to solve their problem. Fortunately, there are tons of financially uneducated people in the world that put their valuable RE assets in the hands of people who can talk a good game. Not saying it is wrong, just saying it is what it is. This happens in all industries. Those who know, get rich off those who don't know. Insurance companies, banks, car dealers, credit cards, mutual funds, etc to name a few have all made more money off me than they should have made at some point because I didn't know. When you know better, you do better. Some will never know better. As a result, they hand over $50K in equity and their property, for zero down and $5K payable over XX months/years.

Is this not the way the world works? I'm not sure  that i've ever met a successful or wealthy person that had never capitalized off of others lack of knowledge or misfortune.(which is why my company name is WFO. Wealth follows opportunity)  

I do applaud you for the use of words like most and majority in the beginning of your post because you acknowledge that there are exceptions to the rule and not everybody can be put in the same box.  Current financial situation doesn't always determine future or represent past situations. A lifetime of good decisions can be taken away with 1 bad decision and vice versa. This forum could serve helpful the person who spent a lifetime making good decisions and had a lapse in judgement and allowed 1 bad decision to change that. 

Originally posted by @Joe J.:

This post is to help inspire others of the possibilities out there.  As I read through replies there seems to be a very negative critical tone.  Not sure why people want to be critical? Reminds me of the bully on the playground that doesn't like when the bully doesn't get all the attention form the other kids.  I have done many deals and depending on your local market others can too.  Are there portfolio lenders lending where you refinance you have nothing in the house? -  YES  Are there small local banks will to finance 100% REOs - Yes. What I share is not available in every market and in every state.  However, it is out there.  I have met thousands of real estate investors all over the country and many are doing creative deals.  Why not be more positive and share creative ideas?  Often people want to criticize or seem to enjoy creating an argument.  If this is the case, I am  not sure what the website is about.   

I personally find it hilarious how so many want to criticize others for trying. Instead of responding with "how does it work" or "how often do you find these deals?" and add helpful information to the subject they stick their chest out, unzip their pants and start shouting "i know more than you! And mines bigger! I've been doing this for x number of years and you cant do it unless you know what i know!" 

Without failure there is no success. Without others failing there is no room for you to succeed. Instead of praising and thanking others for their failures we sometimes stand over them like we are some how better and criticizing them. If the "guru" market has a 90% failure rate why do the 10% not thank the 90%? Is it because they feel you may tip the scales? Do they feel that your success is going to bump them across that failure success line? I dont know. 

Regardless. You have a right to post anything you wish on this site. If your post helps one person then it wasnt a waste. I see your post as an invitation, an invitation to ask you for more details if it becomes something i think i may need in my arsenal of knowledge. All the people that criticize do is close doors for themselves. Being negative about zero down deals or talking about how few and far between they may be doesn't exactly scream "i know i know ask me"(even though theyre standing there screaming they do with their pants unzipped ready to show you). Even in their own post they say that it does happen but then turn negative and act like only they can do it with their big deep pockets(said in my best bully voice). Im sorry that i have came off focus of your original post and apologize if my rant doesnt make sense( i get flustered when I see people trying to inflate their ego's by deflating others). Please continue to add content to this forum topic and ignore the noise created by others. 

I also was in no way calling you a guru or even accurate on my percentages. I was using it as an example to drive my point across.    

Here i go again! It seem that lease options are presenting themselves more than anything so far with the marketing I've been using. Heres my situation and what I'm looking for. I spoke with a home owner today. They are sick of renters and no longer wish to rent the property out. Their wishes were to get it sold yesterday. While I was researching the property and talking with the owners i discovered that their asking price of $100k was a little high compared to the comps in the area and that they owed right at about market value on the house (about 90k) so offering some low number wasnt going to work on this one. I also discovered that they had bought their current home on a owner finance so I asked about a potential owner finance/wrap/lease option deal in which they replied "well, that might work". I explained that walking away with money in their pocket just wasnt likely if they sold out right but rent to own could probably put a couple dollars in their pockets in 24-36 months and that excited them. PITA on the current mortgage is about $700 and I'd think rent for this nice 2-1.5 would be around maybe $800 so not much cash flow. With all that being said the only place i see  any money to be made would be the option fee or just wholesale to a buy and hold investor. With my current level of knowledge and comfort I'd feel better going at this with someone more experienced in the driver seat while i sat in on the deal to use it as an education instrument. Investors of bp please educate me with this property. Knoxville investors please contact me and walk with me thru this deal. Brian, I know you have some amazing words of wisdom to help me with here sir :-)

I dont even know where to jump in on this forum so I guess I will just say hello. @Payton Abernathy and @Christopher B.  I'm not sure why I was never notified about this topic. I'll have to make sure my alerts are set properly. Knox reia knox reia knox reia. Ive been wanting to attend the last few months but always have a schedule conflict and dont know that i'll ever be able to make one. If you guys wanted to do a private miniature version of the knox reia at a local dive bar or burger place on a saturday please sign me up!

Originally posted by @John Baker:

All very valuable suggestions.  Thank you all. I do have a plan now. First I have a question for @Kim Knox. I am a home owner. About 12 years.  Could you explain more about Tax free real estate profits for owner occupied homes? 

After speaking with my wife, we are looking to downsize. Sell our house and use profit to pay off bills. Without that debt, we should be able to afford a smaller to same size house. Next regarding karaoke, I make $25 an hour. BUT I don't use it to my advantage (more on that in a minute). And regrettably, the last three weeks I have spent my REI time here, looking for answers that should have been obvious if I only stepped back and thought about it. But I like your voices in my head better!

I have been holding off on business cards.  I will commit to handing out 5 a day. I am working NED's, but need to broaden my scope.  I have a web site from donedealwebsites and will start posting to Craigslist and directing them there. My wife and I will start driving in separate cars on Sundays, looking for abandoned properties.  And I am reading up on probate.  

With all this, I hope to at least get some leads, (good or bad) in the next three months.

 Just to add another 2 cents here. Im not sure this allowed on the forums and i hopefully will not get booted for passing along this link but it has helped me tremendously! I personally work a full time job, raise 2 kids and still work on real estate investing on the side. I have discovered that a virtual assistant can do amazing things! I pay about 3$ an hour to a gentleman (m2rijo@gmail. com) and he post ads for me and emails over a 100 people a day for me while i work. I have him work an hour or 2 each day every week and it cost me $30. I dont have time to do what he does. I focus on when the leads come in. I set up a free website thru yola and have him email people with my link. On my website there is a form that sellers fill out and submit. I get the emails and follow up with the sellers if i determine they are motivated. I just read that you make $25 per hour. Think about that. For 1 hour of your salary you can have someone sending emails, searching property owners and information creating a spreadsheet of your contacts (buyers and sellers) for 10 hours. 1 less hour of pay gets you 10 more hours of work. If you would like more information about this pm me and i will be more than willing to share my experiences with you. Again, goodluck

Napoleon Hills 3 feet short of gold comes to mind when i read this post. That and the struggle of the butterfly. Read the above story or the story attached to this link) http://instructor.mstc.edu/instructor/swallerm/struggle%20-%20butterfly.htm ) and rethink your position sir. Both stories may be stories but time and time again have provided me with the strength to continue. Your only failing if youre not learning. Living near the ocean I have also learned that you dont rely on the wind to change to get you where you are going, you learn to set a better sail and utilize the wind that you do have. I think 9 months and 1 deal are fair and should be proof enough that you can in fact do it. If your results are not what you'd like or expect then adjust your sail. Continue with what you know has worked this far but make small adjustments to see if you pick up any speed. If it starts to slow then adjust the other direction until your goal has been completed. Count your blessings. Think of how many other people are doing what you are doing except they stop 3 feet short of gold. If it were really that easy then everybody would be doing it which would make it a lot harder than it already is. (kind of a oxymoron or a catch 22) I'm nowhere near an experienced investor nor do i have a lot of money to use getting started so these are just inexperienced opinions. I do know that if you think you cant then you wont and vice versa. Good luck.

Originally posted by @Brian Gibbons:

If you buy on subject to or by on wraparound mortgage , the seller has to keep that loan in their name for a while, it doesn't free up their credit for generally two years or more

 So the real way to get their credit off the line and free them up would be to just buy it out right. And being that they are upside down they'd have to short sale the property or pay the difference at closing correct. This is starting to appear to not be a deal I'm not going to have a solution for that will work for both myself and seller. UNLESS( might be dumb but I am a blonde) the wrap would relieve their credit over a couple years and I could find them another house ( the one I originally posted about) that they liked and could rent it to them for a few years until their credit was freed up enough to find and buy another house. Maybe in that time period I could do some renovations to the original property and get my investment back out of it. I'm doing my best to think outside the box here but don't know if I'm being foolish in my ideas.  

will their credit still be on the line and tied up until I close the original note. Sorry , I'm in my phone and it didn't post my response correctly

Originally posted by @Brian Gibbons:

@Alisha Mingus

I spoke to a Raleigh NC attorney and the LOCAL opinion is that judges think that lease options are not a great deal for the tenant buyer.

Buying on terms is great as long as you have LOCAL legal representation.

Buying sub2, getting the deed, giving a note for any equity, getting on title, then LEASING with a ROFR or right of first refusal, is the way, I believe, the get the renter into home ownership, not a lease option, in NC.

 I've steered away from the lease options. I'm familular with rofr as I used them in my other companies contracts. I'm really leaning toward just becoming a landlord at this point. Finding a good pm and picking up the (now 2 properties) on owner financing. Getting a wrap on both and just renting them. On this second property I'm thinking I can get the seller to pay me when I take over payments. What I'm confused about now is how the wrap effects their credit. If they do a wrap with me will it free their credit up enough to buy another house or will the still be on the line? 

Originally posted by @Mel F.:

Originally posted by @Alisha Mingus:

Should I start taking bids? I've posted asking for advice and all I've received thus far is request to pass along this potential deal. I'm not sure(being a new member and new to real estate investing as a whole) passing along this deal would teach me anything at all. I will keep you all in mind and contact you once I get this property under contract. Then we can discuss opportunities I'm willing to pass on.  

 My apologies if I added to the confusion. If the property is in the Mountains, have you considered making it a vacation rental? Many of them go for $2-300 night, depending on the location. A one week visit by guests, and you've paid mortgage for the month... Just my $0.02...

 I hadn't thought of that until you mentioned it. Thank you for opening my eyes in that direction. I've just been approached by another home owner over there with a similar senerio. I'm starting to wonder if I need to be in NC . I hope once I get a few deals going here at home word travels as fast as it does in the mountains.thanks again for the advice.