All Forum Posts by: Bob McIntosh

Hey everyone, I have been super busy lately and just got back from my honeymoon so I have not posted in a while but to the heart of the question that started this tread....

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0735544360

is my answer...

I purchased this book (yes I know its $125, yes i know that's a lot of money, but if you have an LLC setup you can take it as a tax write off for educational material) and I feel it has been a great starting point.

It certinaly does not cover EVERYTHING you could ever want to know, and your local area is obviously going to have certain rules and regs that you need to be aware of, this booked has helped open my eyes to a multitude of aspects about RED that I never would have thought about.

I would check it out...

Hey guys, back again with another question… (been really busy lately). First off I want to say thanks to Corey for helping me out… I really appreciate your insight… so here it goes again :)

How would one approach getting funding for a development project? I would imagine it’s much different than tackling funding for a smaller pre existing home or commercial building. What types of things are project funding organizations (or individuals) looking to see? Are there particular conditions or line items in your business plan they are expecting? What types of places are likely to provide this type of funding?

Thanks in advance for your help!

I didn't want to Hijack this thread so I posted some specific questions here:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/43/topics/21268-specfic-development-questions

Corey,
Thanks for the reply. I didn't want to hijack that thread so I started a new one... Let me delve a little into what I had in mind. I live outside of NYC, so that complicates things a little more, but at the same time makes them more exciting. I am looking to develop a mid-rise residential community. What I have noticed in my time spent looking for rentals when I moved out here is that they all suck (especially the larger ones). They simply care about money, and don't care about who, what, how, or where it comes from. There are a lot of fundamental problems with the way these places are managed, and how they treat their tenants. I am looking to hopefully change that with my development.

With that said this would likely require the full process of finding a lot (or several), demolishing whats there, rebuilding something new (there is more, but the development part is where I want to focus for now).

So that leads me to ask... What can you tell me about finding lot's, possibly having them lumped into 1, and ensuring that the zoning is appropriate for the type of goal I am trying to achieve?

Thanks!!

Bart,
Since you seem to know more about this than most posting in this section, is there an area of development that you would recommend a beginner start in. One that may be easier to learn and would naturally lead you into other aspects if you became interested in those?

Thanks in advance!

My last inspection I walked through the place with the guy. This way he was able to explain why something was broken, or needed to be fixed, not just that it needed to be. He took several (12+/-) pictures and then uploaded them into a nice report that he printed out and gave me a copy of. In addition the report was made available online to me for the next 12 months.

All in all it took us about 1.5 hours to go through a duplex...

Thanks, I will have to check that out!

Jugo,
Its very difficult to say...

How banks are is dependent upon the community they reside in among many other factors.

I would say that generally community banks are a lot less likely to sell their mortgages once they have made them. In this market that means that they are a little bit less strict on who they lend to and the terms they want because they have not been hit nearly as hard by the sub prime mess as most other banks.

At the same time, until you have built a relationship up with them they aren't just going to hand you money and say i don't care do whatever :P

Community banks are the way to go if you want to build a longer term relationship with the banker. Most community banks that I have audited have extremely low turn over. Many are now run by a guy who started as a teller and worked his way up through the ranks the old fashioned way. Now imagine if you were the guy who was making him look good as a loan officer and he is now the president... you are probably guaranteed just about anything you want from the bank.

Hope that helps!

I would if I was around the area... but I am in Puerto Rico for another week :P

So I have noticed that this forum does not have a lot of developers in it. Some but not a ton.

Can anyone recommend a forum similar to biggerpockets but with more focus on development.

I realize that is a tall order seeing as biggerpockets is so awesome but I thought I would ask! :)