All Forum Posts by: William Bannister

Right now If I had cash I would in addition to buying real estate I would drop money into silver bullion. I am buying 300 a month and have been since 1999. My purchased used to be 50/50 split between gold and silver but lately its 100% silver because the technicals show it to be much better then gold moving forward. I always take physical delivery no etf's or contrasts. Too much manipulation of the markets to play with etf mining stocks or contracts. Just give me 1 ounce gold coins or 10 ounce and 100 ounce bars of silver.
Its also a good place to build up cash when you saving to buy real estate. It seems as though these bars are bullet proof to inflation.

Using 401k money helped me get part of the down pmt money for the apt building that allowed me to leave my job for ever:) To me money locked up in a 401k might at well be money in a hole in the back yard.
Besides the stock market has grown so fast the last few years how much longer can this thing go before it pops. One thing is for sure the bond market will implode soon! Right now being on the side lines in cash flowing real estate gold or silver will be a powerful place to be in the next several years until these global governments and banks quit printing money and engaging in currency wars.

Wow! beach front on the cheap sounds like the ultimate prize. After doing research I am thinking about mason bees since they pollinate 30% to 40% more flowers per bee and are even more docile then honey bees. Im doing smaller urban plots with my orchard so I have to be conscientious of neighbors so I am not disturbing them with a large population of bees. I have about the same acreage about 2/3 acre plots 2 of them to start with.
I suspect this October in the next auction I will bring on more land, so long as the bond market doesn't send the entire global economy over the edge. If it does it will be more a survival thing then add more assets.

No lol

I totally agree with Joel , I got burned by a few brokers back in the mid 2000's before the sub prime exploded. I think on one guy I had spent 275 on an appraisal and 40 on a credit report lucky I squashed the fees before they got any deeper but they wanted me to put up 1200. I flat out said no and I asked the appraiser to put 2 lenders names on the appraisal so I could use it with another lender if this broker fell through. Sure enough the broker tried to string me out. I always make them act fast or drop them like a bad habit. In this business if your shopping lenders you will get strung out a time or two before you learn how to stop that game from happening. Create dead lines for your broker to have a approval in writing.
Today lending is pretty straight forward. If they cant tell you if they can make a loan for you with a 40 dollar pull on your credit and you discuss in a 20 minute meeting the rest of your financials then probably they cant do the deal. I mean they still have to run the loans past underwriters but they should know what they can do or if they can make a loan. Lending criteria is stringent and they (brokers) know what the rules are.
I think if you are asked to put money up front to a broker besides the credit report often my bs flag goes up. I tell em put it in the hud 1 when we close or I move to next broker.
I paid 3000 for my appraisal on my 74 unit:) out of pocket before I closed.
That deal was a larger deal and I did it because it takes longer to get an appraisal like that one done so I had to have an appraisal done in time so multiple parties could shop the deal for my loan.

Lotta questions here il address a few of them and leave something on the table for others: Question #3 I would steer clear of trying to have a 2 member llc and attempting you and your sdria as 2 multiple entities. LOL The IRS would say your self dealing and negate your potential tax benefits on that property. If your going to use an sdria find a good cpa and let them set it up and have them explain to you how it works. The cpa can also explain to you commingling of funds and why you must not do that. Ask # 2 question to your cpa its pretty simple answer. most likely you will pay yourself from llc bank acct to your personal acct as cpa instructs you too. Means you have separate accts for each llc to avoid co mingle of funds
Question #4 The key here is this is your business and you have to decide what your going to do to make money or invest in real estate.
The answer to this is based on what you think your capable of in this business and everyone has a different back round in life.
This is why its critical to have at least a rudimentary education of the many types of ways to do this business. including assignment of contracts wholesaling,rehabbing,buy foreclosure,tax deeds,taking property sub-2,fix and flip, land lording holding for income property, RE management, brokerage. Then you can decide after you understand what is there what you want to do. There is a lot more but I just named a few. You also have to decide do I want to focus on a certain type of property homes, apt buildings, office, commercial, land. Your personality, experience and education will help determine that. A lot of people in this business wind up doing more then just one type of investing. Its easy to get by in real estate if you have more then one strategy for doing deals in real estate. Having a number strategies to do deals helps you the creative ideas and things you can pull out of a tool box you customize will determine what happens in your business.
I try to tell a person starting out to get to the library and read at least 15 to 20 books on the matter of real estate investing and try to read what is in print after the year 2000. Now days you can borrow from other libraries too. Here is a few authors to jump start you.
Ron Legrand, Robert Kiyosaki, Napoleon hill, Shemin, Conti Finkle, Larry Loftis, Donald trump , Sam Zell. I bet others in here could add a few more of there favorite authors too.
Ok thats enough on this one Im letting others get in on this since its a lot of Q@A.
I have been at this a while and I dont have one strategy that I do entirely but I will say this everything I do is for one reason and one reason only to own large apt buildings and increase my residual income.
If I can sum up why I do real estate in 2 words its residual income!

Welcome Tyler to BP. Your in a great area to do multi family. Birmingham Al is an amazingly cheap market. I once looked at a 20 unit for 200k down there but didnt get the chance it was gone too fast;) I like the deep south for investing its still cheaper then the east and west coast but is still growing and has great roi.

I understand, Start with immaculate credit and work your way down. Some things I dont hold a tenant accountable form others I am highly suspect of.
My 1st 2 things I automatically deny tenants applications is drug convictions and evictions less then 7 years old. That is the kiss of death for me.
Credit non pmts I might let medical or collections if I deem the collection to be non related to housing and utilities. I will go thru an application and pick it apart like an underwriter does. I am looking at character and pmt history and income and all the things that I can knowingly see about a person I really dont know.
Of course most with immaculate credit wont be renters long;) I do get tenants with perfect credit but I will agree its the bottom side of 50% that have a better then 700 triscore.

It sounds like previous owner gave rent concessions in exchange for furnace. If you can verify this with a call to previous ownership then...Call police file report and send a nasty gram to wreck her credit stating she owes your company 4k to purchase furnace she toke.
You might not collect but to send mail to Trans union Equifax and Experian is cheap even 1st class or certified mail is less then 10 dollars.
This is too big a loss to just ignore. I always pay 100 to file and get money action judgment on people like this. To let them go, is a way for them to screw the next guy and they can laugh at you knowing you did nothing. I know it sounds like your getting back what your doing is forcing them to pay dearly if they dont pay you back. Having crappy credit is a good way to send a message to a tenant that steals.
If you cannot verify previous owner gave rent concession then a court battle might be tough to win and just a letter to credit bureau would be what I would do.
Then you could report non pmt of rent too;)
My line for filing in small claims court is between 800 and 1000 in losses. Its just not worth it chasing people for money it seems like throwing good dollars away. How ever I know that if I let enough people think Im weak that may make me a target. To protect myself I attempt to collect. If I do an eviction there is an automatic money action I can do that doesn't cost extra.
The wealth of the wicked is laid up for the righteous. My 2 cents
BTW: for the record I had a new water heater taken from me by a tenant 2 years ago. I didnt try to sue because she was an inherited tenant I got when I bought apt building. It was a loss of 600. I also never got her info from previous landlord because they were out of state seller. I chalked it up to risk/reward of taking over property from an absentee previous owner.
Over the years when people tell me its great property buy since its occupied I have been known to tell the seller agent or ect how do I know its a good deal maybe i wind up evicting all the tenants because none will qualify as decent tenants in a building I would own. So I have this thing in me that always makes me believe in any multi unit I buy that the previous landlord might not be as picky as I am getting good paying tenants. This is the key to less damage and theft on property the other key is location.
Its hard to always be there when they move out so its best just to bring in quality tenants to start with that will be honorable. Having immaculate credit is a start with applicants

At a scale of buying a set of appliances for a house say 5 units= stove frig,washer,dryer,dishwasher save at least 1k buying used scratch and dent. I have a few places I go in this town to get them cheaper.
Doing a rehab on a 12 unit building or a larger project imagine the savings.
Chris Boggs you have a good idea getting the semi load and maybe you network with a few investors several miles away or you just hustle em out of one of your garages or shop areas. You make a few bucks off a craigslist add and just explain appliances cheap will be there Saturday morning 9 to noon or ect. If I bought a truck load I would just sit on them and use them up on rehabs as I bought houses.
As it is I never touch appliances let others move this stuff saves your back.