All Forum Posts by: Bob Woelfel

@John Pettas why don't you call some traditional lenders in the markets you work and see what they have to offer.  

@Jeri Artal I applaud you for jumping on here and giving a little background about you and your company.  I think it helps provide some perspective.  I will say though that some of the comments in general are consistent with some of things people are seeing and that are going on in the market.  There are a lot of shady lending stories about bait and switch interest rates and getting upfront fees only to have nothing to show for it, etc.  Many of the folks that have been in this business a long time don't understand the infatuation with all the online lenders and "easy" money simply because it's not hard to find a lender in your own market with a little networking and effort.  I would tend to argue that it's a much safer play that way as well, especially for a newer investor.  May I also say that the "Christian-based" language is all well and good, but just doesn't hold a lot of weight to some people.   While I'm sure it's well intentioned and I'm not questioning you there are plenty of examples out there of people who said that but ultimately were not good people.

I do think you handled this thread the right way though.  May I suggest that you look at upgrading your account so you can provide a little more information about your company (name, logo, contact info, etc.) on your profile and signature lines.  This will help lend some credibility to your business.  I see this isn't the only thread about your business, but I have yet to read the others.  Getting more active on this site should also help your case.  Best of luck.

@Raul Quinones I think it depends on your market and the costs of housing. In Kansas City an under 50k house is not typically in a great neighborhood so because of this many lenders aren't going to want to play in this space. If a 50k house in your location is an average house then you might have more luck. I have personally received loans for less than 50k on one of our properties through a commercial lender at a local bank. We do most of our long term loans with this bank and have a relationship with them. It's not a loan they love doing, but were willing to do it for us as they also held the note on our property across the street. I would make some phone calls to banks, HML's and credit unions and just see what the terms/rates are. Good luck.

@Jose Gonzalez on a deal like this I would talk to a HML and see if you can get it. If, and I mean IF the deal is what you say it is then what are you waiting for? Deals like this in my market are not growing on trees. Even if it needs 70k you would do very well from an equity standpoint and would be able to pull all of your cash out. If I were you I'd be talking to a HML and a conventional lender tomorrow. What does it hurt to see where you stand financially? Or buy it and wholesale it. Like I said, if the numbers are right you have a lot of options.

@Michael Glaser you have to have the cash. If you have the cash and can show POF most sellers agents won't care how you ultimately end up buying the property as long as you perform on time. You have the time between contract and closing to get your financing in place, but the agent knows that if you don't you will still buy with cash.

As an agent, if I get an offer that says cash I'm asking for a POF. If they don't have it I know it's a financed offer and won't be viewed in the same way. Good luck.

@Angelo Acevedo the biggest question here is what type of investor do you want to be?  There are a ton of different ways to make money in real estate, but not all are going to pertain to your goals and your situation.  You need to reverse engineer this and really look at why you want to invest and what your goals are.  What are you hoping to achieve?  Once you know that your path becomes much more clear.  

@Chris Gawlik a lot of good feedback and perspectives here.  I'm not a "leverage to the max" kind of investor, but I probably would agree with some of those that question if the free and clear route is the way to go.  Especially in your situation when you and your wife both work and you won't have a mortgage anymore with your primary.  You shouldn't have any issue qualifying for loans on multiple properties.  I know you think the market will tank in a year or two, but that's not something we know is definitely going to happen.  Just seems like you might reach your goal faster by using appropriate leverage.

As far as how to raise your family...I guess you asked for advice but I really don't think anyone should tell another how to do that.  Your kids might hate it now, but it might be the best thing ever.  It also might be the worst.  You really won't know until you do it and find out.  If it doesn't work the way you hoped at least you did it and tried and hopefully made some memories along the way.  Best of luck.

@Jonathan Tavarez we would do a loan in my market, but you would have to refinance out before you moved in.  Short answer is it's regulatory and compliance issues.  If the property is used as a personal residence then it's considered a consumer loan and different rules and regulations apply.  You should be able to buy, rehab, refinance and then move in.  Good luck.

I'll second what @Ben Stoodley said about short term (under 12 months) for HML. We see this with a lot of our clients as well. Buy and renovate quickly, get a tenant in to cover your cost and then refi to a more traditional loan so you can cash flow it like you intended. If you have a good W2 job and can manage the projects well you can grow very quickly. With a goal like 1,000 units you are going to have to leverage both money and other peoples time to help you get there. Best of luck.

@Ali Akhter I would try to meet lenders at your local REI meetings. Get to know them and ask questions about the process and what they do or don't do throughout the process. Some will just do the deal and that's it. Others will try to offer some assistance, even if it's just another set of eyes. Good luck.

@Ali Akhter yes that can be true. Think of it this way. A hard money lenders sole purpose is to work with investors and help them do deals. Most, if not all legit HML's are investors themselves. We are a second set of eyes. We look at the project, look at the budget, look at the numbers and get appraisals. If something is not right or the rehab budget is too low or too high we can make suggestions or ask questions. We require signed lien releases from contractors as well so we can help protect ourselves and our investor clients. We won't be there swinging the hammer obviously, but I do feel like we provide a significant amount of value to investors over and above just the financing part.

A private money lender...say a friend or family member is many times relying on you to be the expert.  After all, you probably went to them and said you were flipping houses or involved in real estate...blah blah blah.  So they told you they have some money they might be able to invest.  They are typically going to want to be hands off, otherwise they would do it themselves or at the very least set up a partnership with you and hopefully get more than the interest rate for their return.

Hope that helps.