All Forum Posts by: Andy Collins

Get the standard form realtors in your state use, you can find it online, use that for the offer, all title/attorney work can be handled by your title company,,obviously you still want to do your inspections

First start out with finding out what the true market rent should be,,it might be higher or lower than $500, but with no lease or background check, just act like your going to have to kick everyone out.

Figure out what your rehab will cost,,,the true rent and rehab are the first two things to find to start putting the numbers together

Set a firm policy and follow it, no matter what it is,  I won't rent to anyone with any felonies in the last 5 years, and never a violent felony.  If someone had a joint 20 years ago and was busted for a felony at that point, I don't care,,,,but I can tell you, if someone got a felony for PITS, there is a good chance the original charge was even more serious and was was plead down to that.

If he does something illegal in your house, and they find out you knew he was arrested 3 month before with attempting to sell drugs" it could cause you a lot  of problems, and to say the least if your neighbors find out you won't be liked, which means they could start filing every complaint they can think of against you

I don't evict a "pregnant woman' or "single mom with kids",,,,I will evict a tenant that brakes promises to pay, not the individual.

Because someone is running past due, I would come up with a plan for them to catch up on a timetable they can do it,,,if they don't follow that plan, then I would evict them.

One of my best tenants I served a 3 day letter to, only after they had broken promises to pay,,guess what, they don't break promises to pay now (but do run late, always paying late fees)

If I can afford to let them stay without paying or not is not a question I think about, this is a business and I will give some slack, but will not allow someone to stay without paying rent, and as @K. Marie Poe  stated, that is my choice

The farther you get into REI, the more your credit score can help, or hurt you. If your trying to get a conforming mortgage #5 or above, you have to have a 720 mid score,,have a 775 or so mid score, and you can access cash pretty easily anytime.

You could do REI without good credit, but you could also run a marathon with a 50 lb pack on,,,I choose to do things the easier way, and credit can defanately make your life easier

yes, you still have a closing and the title is put in your name, however they will be the mortgage holder

I have a rental that suffered some hail damage, I had my roofer (who told me it was hail damaged) and the  insurance adjuster out.  

My roofer says it has lots of hail damage, the adjuster said there is no hail damage,,,

I'm looking at my next step, and was considering getting a Public Insurance Adjuster out to see who is right,,,I discussed with my agent, and of course she said not to use a public adjuster, they are just trying to get claims approved for more money.

Has anyone used a Public Adjuster,,if so how was the experience.  I'm not looking for a referral (but if you know one in Dallas let me know) , just your overall experience using one?

as stated previously, if your bidding as an investor, you won't get your EM money back.  I did manage to get half of my EM back when the property was badly vandalized before closing (all wiring cut, water lines cut etc).

I had to fight to get that back, even though the house was not in the same condition compared to when I made the offer

You have to look at your situation, and the house.

Some houses are great flips, but wouldn't be a good rental, some may be a good rental but not much profit in a flip.

To start out flipping makes a lot of sense, especially if your DTI is a problem (ask a mortgage broker), at the same time, getting your first rental going helps start the 'clock' toward counting your rental income toward DTI

banks today need lots of paper for CYA,  they want to have a thick file they can document how thorough they were when looking at your loan.

Someone I know literally spends one day a year signing documents for all of the tax returns he is involved in, obviously he is worth a LOT of money,,but he said the cost for preparing all of the documents for tax returns is staggering