All Forum Posts by: Blaine Brown

Thanks Randy!

 I guess this is what I was really afraid of is me being unrealistic.  I am just looking for something that works.  Here's an example.  The house I put an offer on was originally listed at 145K.  The price dropped to 135K and I went to look at it.  It has no flooring, no appliances, kitchen needs to be done over due to miss-matching cabinets...the list goes on.  I was estimating about $25K to get it up to speed.  Houses with close to the same square footage in the same neighborhood sold for 130K-140K within the last year.  I offered 110K and bank came back with 133K.  I'm not willing to buy a house for 133K and soak 25K into it only to have it appraise for 135K when I cash out.  I'm not looking to flip, but I would like my rent to work out to 6-7% after I refi.  I'm finding this to be a very difficult task.

Thanks for the response.  The only thing I know is that I want to buy a house to rehab, and then have it produce 6%-7% return after I do a cash out refinance.  I'm looking at homes in the 100K-150K range for this.  He doesn't send me any listings to look at.  I send them to him and we go look.  We've only gone out to see homes a couple of times, but I feel as though everyone's time is important.

This is a three part question....Am I wasting my agent's time?  Should I ask to enter a buyers agreement?  Should I just approach the listing agent on my own?  I have zero investing experience.

Background...After speaking with a loan officer she suggested an agent that has worked with investors.  We went to look at a house I wanted to put an offer on.  I put in an offer and the bank accepted someone else's offer three days later.  Since then I've found other foreclosures and my agent has taken me to see them.  I put in other offers and the bank comes back with counter offers that I'm not even close to willing to pay.  I guess I don't feel like I'm lowballing since I'm offering the highest price where my numbers are working out.  

If I keep this up (since I have no intentions of stopping), will my agent eventually just get tired of me wasting his time?  He runs comps and tells me a price the house is probably worth, which in my opinion aren't fair comps because the houses I am looking at are in bad shape and cash only.  Comparing that to a nicely put together home doesn't seem right.  This is why I ask if I should enter a buyers agreement so I'm 100% sure he's looking out for my interests.  I feeling like approaching the listing agent on my own would be more beneficial only because he/she will get the full commission.  

Thanks for the thoughts,

Blaine

Jason,

Just curious as to which Dover you are speaking of.  I live in Dover, DE and had good luck with an individual; however, I did notice that there was a Dover in Utah.

Hello, my name is Blaine Brown.  I just finished reading Brandon's book "The Book on Rental Property Investing", which is what led me to this forum.  I currently reside in Dover, DE which is where I hope to kick off my real estate adventure.  I just recently separated after over 10 years of active duty service.  Now that I don't have to move anymore, I'm ready to get started.  I just submitted an offer two days ago on a house down the street that needs some work.  Still waiting to hear back.  One day I'd like to own 20 single family homes and be my own property manager.  I have 2 jobs, one with the airlines and one with the AF Reserves, so I don't want to overwhelm myself or cause my wife and three kids to suffer from my lack of home time.  Thanks for the opportunity to join this forum and I look forward to learning a lot from seasoned folks.