All Forum Posts by: Bill B.

Just paint and carpet is tough. You’ll have emotional buyers who will pass on anything that isn’t perfect. On the other hand you’ll have buyers who would want to paint and even more so replace carpeting anyway. So it’s a non-factor in what it’s worth to them. I moved in to a community of new builds and I’m literally watching neighbors tear out new carpet and flooring before they move in. 

$25/mo discount for the first 3 and $50/mo for the second 3? 

if you do this you might as well lower the prices in the ad. (Which you should do anyway if it’s a price you’re willing to take.) You have to assume roommates will eventually talk about the one paying more will be less than thrilled. 

If the title has a problem and it can’t be sold then you should have no worries about it being sold to someone else. The only way it could be sold to someone else is if the seller is right and there isn’t a problem and you’re the one delaying the sale. I’ve only purchased in title company states and I see from Mr. Google that South Carolina is an attorney state. Do you still have title companies you can contact about getting a clean title? Can your attorney contact the seller’s attorney and confirm they think it can be sold as is? Maybe one can convinced the other they are right?

I’d be working on getting closed over delaying the close. 

I have no idea of the value but... If you really want to sell thsi year I’d consider dropping it another $25k. This puts you on the screens of people with a $900k maximum price, and is probably a price you would accept anyway, (assuming you would sell at your current price and kick in 3% ($27k) towards closing costs.

It’s not going to help your odds or the traffic if August rolls around and people start thinking about school. Plus, what’s the worse that happens? Either a person or multiple people become interested and you sell for $900k or more. Or nobody makes an offer and you know you were really overpriced before. Good luck 

You're assuming a bunch of strategic defaults right? (Because of tiny down payments they are upside down.) Employment is still strong and their super low interest rate is locked in. So if they could afford the payment 3 years ago they can certainly afford it today. That part certainly reminds me of 2008. People screwing over the banks that trusted them with their money. 

I don’t see how anyone that isn’t gaming the system ever owns a home again. If they can’t afford the payments with interest rates 3% lower and the same or lower prices they are renters for life, or homeless.  Someone should be running free classes about how to house hack with roommates for anyone that is truly financially stressed. They are certainly better off renting rooms out in their home than renting from someone else. Emotionally and financially. 

I assume these wee large claims, well over $10k? I assume thsi because your deductible should be $2,500 or $5,00- and you should never make a claim under $10k. (Or insurance companies will stop offering you insurance when you make so many claims.) But when you make larger claims they lose 5-10 years or maybe 20 years of “profit” every few years. 

Are the claims property, weather, maintenance, or “bad luck” related?

In almost 30 years with a dozen properties. (Call it 350 “property years”.) I’ve covered a $3,500 and a $5,500 loss out of pocket. And made 2 X $30k claims. (Both toilet supply lines 15-20 years ago when they used that defective version of stainless supply lines.) So that’s once claim every 175 years and 1 self insure in the same period. The higher deductibles save me about $200 per year per property. So I save $2,400/yr. Every 366 days the higher deductible pays for itself. 

If it’s just been bad luck try asking about higher deductibles. I’ve been with Allstate for 20+ years. I’m sure they aren’t the cheapest but even after rates doubled it averages around $1,100/yr. And they were so good about handling the claims I’ll probably never switch. You could try that insurance company that advertises on the podcasts. NRIEG or something close to that. They may have a higher risk tolerance. 

Wow. You’re offering 3.5% return when the bank is only offering 4.5% guaranteed returns? With government insurance? Where do they sign up? What if you love it and don’t sell for 20-30 years? 

Honestly I don’t think you’ll get much interest even if you offered 6% interest, but maybe if there’s a 5 year balloon? (The shortest allowed by Dodd-Frank because you’re an owner occupant, another downside for the investor.). I got desperate for a buyer in January and did 7% with 25% down and a 5 year balloon. But that was in first position and I was desperate. Maybe you can find a seller just as desperate who will finance for 5 years at 7% with your $500k down making up a 30% downpayment?

You need a convincing story why you could go to a bank, to show your credit worth, but you’re willing to pay them an even higher return. Otherwise just use the bank. 

You can settle it anyway you both agree. Might be easier to open a joint checking account and just make equal deposits when required and keep a balance to reduce number of deposits required. Of course I’d also be using a credit card to collect the 2% cash back and provide easy accounting. And just make payments from the joint account. 

I like this better than most flipping “solutions”. You would have to be careful if you invest any money you can’t afford to lose. Imagine the seller convinces you the property is worth $500k. You want to add $100k and sell for $700k. But several problems could come up.  

The seller hey, sounds great but I need to sell within 4, 5, 6 months. So you finish in 3 and the market has softened a little and you can only get $650k. Pay $65k in selling costs, concessions, etc etc. You’ve got $585k net. Seller asks for his $500k if you forgot to conclude selling costs but maybe you get him to pay 1/2 selling costs so he only gets $468k? So you make $17k?

Do you get to do the work and charge whatever you want for labor rehab? Essential buying yourself a job and taking the profit before the sale. Or do you hire an unrelated third party?

What If the rehab isn’t done in 4, 5, 6 months and the house is worth the same $500k more or less in its unfinished condition. (Permits, storm, covid, whatever.) He seller guaranteed their $500k or do they lose $50k?

You’re saving 1/2 the selling commissions and the carrying costs for giving up 1/w the profit. That’s your judgement call. 

The “seller’ is living in a construction zone, giving up on a known closing date, trusting your numbers and work for a possible gain, that’s their judgment call. 

It could certainly workout and I certainly like it better than the wholesale plan of just trying to steal properties from uninformed,  ignorant, old, or trusting owners with equity. (Unlivable/unsellable run down dumps being fixed up are another good use of flippers.)

Check the older BP podcasts with STR one the title or the one where they interview BP book authors about their STR book. At least one of them had links to lists of STR needs per room.

You can also s=find the podcast sponsored by furnished finder, they’ve published at least one list. Good luck.