All Forum Posts by: Ben Oestrike

It seam's like it'll be pretty difficult if not impossible to get financing from a professional HML for a sheriff's sale. I recently discovered may be able to receive funds elsewhere for the purchase. Hypothetically if I win a bid, then would I be able to utilize a HML for any possible repairs now that they'd have access to inside the property? Or would it just be wise to look elsewhere for funds for repairs? If so where?

Thanks!

0 Votes

Quote from @Steve Hiltabiddle:

Hey @Ben Oestrike, I've been asked this question and as a lender, I would not lend funds for a sheriff sales. Main reason is the buyer, nor I as the lender have an opportunity to view/vet the property prior to purchase. Sheriff sales require a lot of due diligence anyway and not being able to get inside a property is a huge risk. Also, many properties are still occupied which is another huge negative. Plus, it can take 30 days or more to get the deed. As a lender, I look to mange my risk and sheriff sales remove that ability. I would lend on a property after the deed has been issued and the borrower has had a chance to walk the property and assess value and potential and I've had a chance to assess the deal.

If you find a professional lender willing to do this, let me know. I've spoken to some and none have said this is a safe loan to make.

Best of luck,

Thanks for the response Steve. I'll keep trying but I'll focus more on finding a non-professional lender that'd be interested.

0 Votes

I'm looking to participate in the upcoming Sheriff's sale in York, PA and I would need financing. As I know I wouldn't be able to receive a bank loan for a sheriff's sale I'm looking to find a HML. My question is, will most HML lend for a sheriff's sale with the risks involved? If so how can I find a good HML in my area? (DM if you're a HML in the York PA area and may be interested) I'm not aware of any other viable forms of financing for this situation but I'm open to new ideas.

0 Votes

I'm looking to start my REI journey in the next few months or so and I'm struggling to find properties that make sense finically. I'm looking for properties close to where I live in southern PA so I can manage my own properties to maximize cash flow. I'd been looking for deals on the MLS and quickly found that it'd be extremely difficult or even impossible to find true deals. I've been advised by a local investor to look off market and utilize seller financing as I don't have much capital to work with nor the 2 years of employment records needed for a bank loan. I'm currently 18 and still getting my feet under me as a Realtor. Luckily for me, my cost of living is extremely low right now so I can save almost all of my commissions. That's another reason I'm looking to use seller financing as I may be able to have a much lower down payment or even none at all.

My question is, how do I reach owners who may be motivated sellers? Since I'm an agent I do have access to non-owner occupied properties so my challenge lies in determining cost-effective marketing strategies. I've been told that for every 1000 people I reach I can expect maybe 1 deal. Which I don't mind because I'm willing to put in the work. I just want to know the most efficient way to reach these owners. I know it'll take more than 1 postcard sent out or one call made and I know I need to make multiple "touches" over a month or two to truly get engagement. What type of marketing should I do and how should I go about it?

Any guidance or resources to deepen my understanding on this subject would be greatly appreciated, as I'm fully committed to investing the necessary effort. Thanks!

1 Vote

Quote from @Manny Vasquez:

Ben - Welcome to the BP community! This is the best place for all things real estate related. This is what I recommend for you:

1. Start saving as much as you can. Depending how much you earn you can step up those savings by getting a side-hustle in any part of real estate....working for a top Real Estate office on weeknights and weekends, working for an RE Investor, working for a General Contractor and learning a few skills, etc. This way you can ramp up your savings AND learn some RE skills.

2. Read as many RE books as you can get your hands on. Here are a few I recommend: "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Roberto Kiyosaki; "Set for Life" by Scott Trench; "The Unofficial Guide to Real Estate Investing" by Spencer; "The BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginners Guide" found here on BP; "The Book on Rental Property Investing" by Brandon Tuner. This will give you a good starting point.

3. Buy a property as soon as you can. The earlier you start in your RE journey, the better off you will be in the future. Almost everyone here on BP will tell you that they wish they had started earlier, myself included.

4. House-hack, house-hack, house-hack. This will give you several benefits. The most obvious is that you will be able to offset your mortgage with renting out a few rooms. You will then have a few options with that rent money....you can put it into principal or you can start saving it to purchase yet another property. House hacking will also give you some personal "property management" experience. This will come in handy as you begin to scale.

5. Decide which game you want to play. Do you want to be a house flipper? BRRRR? Real Estate Agent? General Contractor? Buy and Hold? Do you want to LTR, MTR, or STR? Or maybe you want to do a combination of the above?

6. Attend meetups and meet as many people in RE as you can. Since you are just graduating college you may already realize that it's not what you know, but who you know (as a personal note, I had college friends that were barely passing their classes however they ended up with really good paying jobs due to "who they knew"). As they say, your network will be your net-worth.

7. Timing the market does not work. However, time in the market makes all the difference in the world!

I hope this helps and good luck on your real estate journey!

Manny,

Thanks so much for the tip's. I'm really excited to start this journey but sometimes I feel like I don't know where to start. So thanks for giving me my first steps! I'll definitely be checking out those books as well.

2 Votes

Quote from @Logan Laperriere:

Welcome to the BP community!

18 is a great age to start real estate investing. Have you considered starting off with a primary and house hacking? or are you looking to flip a few properties to build up some capital before purchasing a primary residence?

Logan,

Thanks for the response! I have considered house hacking but I do want to build some capital before I purchase a primary residence. I'm lucky enough that my parents are allowing me to live at home for free for at least the foreseeable future so I want to take advantage of that. Is there a specific strategy that you'd recommend for someone young like me to get my feet wet or should I just go with what I'm most interested in and have the most knowledge in, which is buy and hold rentals?

1 Vote

Hi, my name is Ben Oestrike and I'm still pretty new to the world of REI so I just wanted to introduce myself here. I'm an 18 yr old from just south of York, PA and a little less than an hour north of Baltimore, MD. I'm a real estate agent and that is really what first got me interested in REI. Right now I'm trying to commit myself to learning as much as possible before I make that jump and purchase my first property. I'm interested in long term rentals and possibly the "Brrrr" method (just finished watching the Webinar on the "Brrrr" method a few minutes ago actually). My goal is to buy my first property within the next 6 months. From all the opportunities I've seen over the past few months and years, nothing has interested me or excited me quite like REI and I'm excited to learn more with the help of BP.

6 Votes

All Forum Posts by: Ben Oestrike

Ben Oestrike has started 3 posts and replied 7 times.

Post: HML for Sheriff's Sale

Post: HML for Sheriff's Sale

Post: HML for Sheriff's Sale

Post: Off Market Deals Marketing

Post: New Investor Introduction

Post: New Investor Introduction

Post: New Investor Introduction