All Forum Posts by: Astrid Cuas

Be happy they left. I would consider that a WIN. I believe your efforts are better spent fixing up the property and finding your next tenant.

Apartment with fleas. I once lived in an apartment that had fleas. I left after a week. It usually takes more than one treatment. I did not want to take a chance at taking those fleas with me so I tossed everything.  I did not bother going after the property management office, but if your infestation is not treated properly your new tenants may go after you.

A good way to check if they are still in the property is by placing small aluminum 8x9 baking pans with water and dish soap on the floor, spread them through out the rooms. Put a few small plugin lights in your outlets. Wait 24 hours. They'll jump inside the pan and die.

That's how I was able to prove that I needed to get out of my lease. Even after the exterminator treated the apartment. The property manager came by and I had pans full of fleas. The next day she returned my deposit and my rent.

 Good Luck

Hello

To @Don Colagrossi point, the first property I was interested in was pending short sale approval. A 4 unit property is a C class neighborhood. Had great potential, poorly managed. Owner passed away, and the wife had no idea her husband owned this property. The asking price was 100k. I read somewhere that banks will typically accept anything within 82% of the asking price.

They still had not done a BPO ("Brokers Price Opinion"), and I was concerned about paying too much.

At the beginning of 2016 I offered $72k to get the ball rolling on the BPO. When they finally got around to doing a BPO it came back at 97k. I increased my offer to 80k hoping they would come down a little more. The bank came back with 97k.

My realtor suggested that I stand by my offer of 80k and let it sit. She said sometimes banks are a little more willing to work with a buyer when it's drawing closer to a foreclosure date. It's now May and the property is still on the market at 97k. 

Good Luck, let us know how your experience goes

@Victor Jernigan I am investing in North Carolina

Everyone

@Account Closed;

I am sad to report that I will not be moving forward with this property. But I learned a ton. My credit union came back with the appraisal report and stated the following terms:

1. The repairs will have to be completed before closing and a final inspection will be required to verify the repairs have been done

2. As for the repairs needed, underwriting is asking for a copy of the home inspection because they feel there may be other underlying issues that need to be addressed.

And the loan to value will be limited to 90 percent since a portion of the home will be used as a rental.

And worst of all the appraisal was completed based on the repairs being done. (This means the repairs are needed to support the value) which came back at $62,000. Death by 1,000 paper cuts. I believe it is incorrect. The property is in the middle of downtown and comps were based on properties 3 miles away. Properties rarely go on the market in this area which I am sure made it difficult to appraise. Also, the appraisal was done on the Sales Comparison Approach and Cost Approach but not Income Approach. (but what do I know).

In conclusion, the appraisal of $62,000 (repaired) will make it impossible for me to go to another lender and convince them that this property is a good investment ($60k) so I will be walking away. I’m sure there are investors waiting for my financing to fall apart so they can scoop it up all cash. Lucky them.  I will be better prepared when I find my next property. Thank you all for your advice.

Thank you @Account Closed

You know what @ ?  I have those cards as my backup. The one I'm missing in the Chase Slate, but I have been reading up on it.

I was actually thinking about getting one from Home Depot. I hear they do good work. Have you had any experience with their credit cards and installations? I will send you a PM.

@

23k is just my rough estimate, I have 30k total for renovations.  I have a friend who is a contractor; him (his crew) and I will be doing the majority of the work. A typical gut job in my market (North Carolina) with modest finishes is around 25k for a 1500 sq.ft home. I do not expect to gut the home which is why I'm estimating 23k (includes landscaping), but you never know with a home built in 1910 ;-) It will be a rental so most of the finishes will be pre-love/salvage/Habitat for Humanity store.

We plan to get bids for the work outside his scope after I get the house under contract.

Thanks @Ronnie Losier

Welcome to BiggerPocket,

The struggle is real. I started 8 months ago and it took me 6 months just to find a Realtor that was actually “investor friendly”. My previous post will show my frustration with one of them. I asked all the typical questions; Do you own rental properties? Do you work with investors? How many contracts are you currently working? But I found out, you won’t really know if they work until you start working with them. I had to go through a few realtors, a few offers, and a lot of headaches.

The best thing I can say I did: I only signed a buyer’s agreement after seeing a few properties with them. I did not sign a buyer’s agreement longer than 4 months. (Started calling it their probation period). Don’t lose hope you will find one.

I found my Realtor through google searches and online reviews etc. By that time, I had so many phone conversations and meetings that the first time I spoke to current realtor I knew she was the one.

I think the REIA meeting is a great place to start, but do not limit yourself to that.

One more thing I noticed, acquiring a good property takes time. In my market, I've been in multi offers situation three times and lost. I finally got one that was accepted and I am currently in the due diligence period. Fingers crossed. Keep meeting people, learn, analyze, and take the leap.

Good Luck

This is great. Congratulations!!!! I wish you many more fabulous tenants. 

Thanks to everyone that responded. All very good options. Now I need to get busy with my plan B & C.  All of you make it sound like finding private money and a hard money lender is so simple. Lets see how good I am at creative financing

I'll be so happy when financing deals becomes second nature.

I'm no expert, but that would depend on your competition. Do other rentals have dishwashers? Check out other rental properties in your area and see what they have to offer.

Also, if it is a gut rehab it may take some creativity, but you should be able to fit one in. I've seen some 18" dishwashers.

Good luck