All Forum Posts by: Austin Smith

Hey all! 

I'm not sure if I've come to a crossroads or a dead end in my real estate investing journey. 

My wife and I have been building our portfolio over the past few years via house hacking and we're at 17 units currently.

Last year we hit the $30k in net profit from out rentals (only had 13 units at the time). We were happy to see how we would continue to grow. 

But it's pretty much been downhill since then. 1 tenant stopped paying (hasn't paid in almost a year), then another(3 months), and now another (recently). 

In a state like NJ, I pretty much can't get a court date for eviction until next year most likely due to backlog. 

I'm not naïve to think evictions aren't part of the game, but when your standard business practice of "simply" evicting tenants who don't pay has been stripped away, your left a little helpless. 

I definitely don't want to sell, the properties have great equity that I can use to scale, but at the same time I don't think I can go through another tenant not paying without the opportunity for effective and efficient recourse.

Keep in mind I have NO PROBLEM with cash for keys but it hasn't been effective thus far. 

Would love your input and feedback!

Hey all! 

I've started looking into Cleveland for investing. My wife and I took a trip and we actually had really good vibes buying there. Strictly for cashflow. 

Are there any successful landlords on here?  May those with 10+ units? 

My wife and I own 12 units now and are looking to expand. Curious to hear your thoughts.

I know all about the east side vs west ordeal but I'm, more curious about the vacancy rates and what areas/sections you like the most! 

Hello BP'ers!

Any title companies that can help?!

So we're ready to close on a transaction and for whatever reason, the seller can't locate a payoff for a 2nd mortgage that showed up on title. He says he took out a 2nd mortgage a little over 10 years ago and forgot about it. The original mortgage lender went out of business and we can't for the life of us find who the 2nd mortgage belongs too. It doesn't even show up on the seller's credit report. The current title company has searched everywhere but I feel like there can be a little more done. What lender makes it difficult to not get their money back?

Any suggestions from BP'ers or title companies to get this closed?!

A big deal.

Hello BP'ers! 

Any title companies that can help?!  

So we're ready to close on a transaction and for whatever reason, the seller can't locate a payoff for a 2nd mortgage that showed up on title.  He says he took out a 2nd mortgage a little over 10 years ago and forgot about it. The original mortgage lender went out of business and we can't for the life of us find who the 2nd mortgage belongs too. It doesn't even show up on the seller's credit report. The current title company has searched everywhere but I feel like there can be a little more done. What lender makes it difficult to not get their money back? 

Any suggestions from BP'ers or title companies to get this closed?!  

A big deal. 

6 units. I live in one of them.  All tenants have paid, so I'm blessed. Will be interesting to see how May and June pay out but some of them have even paid early so there's some mutual respect which helps! 

I also have been looking for some other areas to invest in NJ for cheaper prices. I also believe that good deals can be found anywhere. I'm challenging myself this year to do more lead generation activities so that way if I don't see any deals in the pipeline, I can ask myself how many calls I made, how many appts did I go on, how many leads do I have. 

@Manny Cirino and I guess the only other thing is that I'm not necessarily looking to cold call if I don't have to.  With the text message/rvm blast, those that are interested respond favorably and then I make my contacts from there. 

@Manny Cirino Thanks for that input!  Question, can you upload a list and have that skip traced as well?  Seems like they're offering a specific group of leads; expireds, fsbo's, etc.

@Kevin Morris. Generic absentee from listsource, driving for dollars, and general farming in heavy multifamily areas (sold date a minimum of 20 years ago. 

Skip traced via REIskip and a VA from fiverr (to compare).

Buyer properties #1 goal. Anything that doesn't fit criteria gets wholesaled.  I'm an agent to so if they want to go on the retail market, they can do that as well.