All Forum Posts by: Brandon White

 Chris, Thanks so much for the help. I didn't know what I was looking for, so giving me the term "non-warrantable condo" was very helpful. I found links to three more lenders that I can reach out to. Thank you sir! 

@Nicholas L. Thank you for your reply. Yes sir, it’s basically a really good primary residence option for us personally. That’s the primary draw. We’ve looked at other condo communities but just don’t like them as much for more personal/subjective reasons.

Since posting this I’ve been able to find a lender that will mortgage it for us on a portfolio 15 year fixed mortgage so I think we’ll go that route, then refinance it on 30 years once the smoke clears from this lawsuit and it’s open to conventional again. That way we’ll build some equity in the property while living in it, but lower our monthly payment through the refinance before converting it to a rental. It wouldn’t cash flow with a 15 year fixed and 5% down, but it would with a 30 year term and some equity. It’s also a steady appreciation market in terms of value and rent increases. Class A neighborhood.

With this option we can still pay as little as 5% down but the closing costs are just over half of what FHA would be.

@Nicholas Brady my degree got me a network. That was by far the most valuable part of my time in college.

Does anyone know of mortgage options other than a conventional mortgage or FHA that I could use to finance a small condo?

I wondered if a small bank or credit union may be willing to finance it as a portfolio loan but before spending the time reaching out I wanted to get a feel for whether or not it was possible.

This would be purchased as my primary residence and eventually be converted to a rental property (after at least one to two years).

The condo community I'm looking at has a pending lawsuit against the HOA due to a fire in one of the buildings, so it doesn't qualify for conventional financing.

We were preapproved for over $400-k and these condos are only $100-$130-k.

Any feedback, help, suggestions would be appreciated!

I do more work on commercial properties than residential, but I'll tell you I've never had a hotel owner or multifamily property management company tell me they used LVT and went back to carpet. The maintenance is essentially zero. It looks great. It holds up. It's very cost effective. It just makes sense. 

If you choose a glue down product don't skimp on the glue. It's like buying a Porsche then putting bald tires on it. Even though it isn't sexy, the glue is just as important (if not more so) than the LVT planks.  

We had a customer that was ordering tons of glue down LVT for single family rentals. They started having an issue with some of the houses about 1-2 years in. The planks were buckling and weren't adhered to the subfloor any more. You could literally just pull them up by hand. Turns out the problem houses had LVT that was installed using a multi-purpose glue. The houses that had a high quality commercial grade glue have held up great, even though it was a less expensive 2 mm thick / 6 mil wear layer LVT. 

I've researched a ton of different real estate investment/income strategies and think that land flipping may be the best route for me to build capital that I can then reinvest in buy and hold real estate. I'd really like to meet with someone in person that has done this before. 

My primary goal is to create an additional income stream to offset my wife's current income. We have a 3 month old little girl, and we would both like it if my wife could be a full time stay at home mom at some point. 

I have some capital now, but it's limited. Because of this the thought of turning $5,000 into $10,000, and so on is very appealing. I also think it would be a ton of fun to help people find recreational land that they can use to spend more time with their families, or pursue other outdoor interests. 

I live in Birmingham, but work in Atlanta very regularly. I would really appreciate the opportunity to connect with anyone in either Birmingham or Atlanta that's flipping land now. 

Let's do lunch - who likes BBQ?

@Jazmine Bryant never made cold calls for real estate deals, but I’ve done a lot of it in my day job so I’ll weigh in for what it’s worth.

I would recommend measuring your response rate on the first 100 or so voicemails. I’ve found that people almost never call me back and that I can get better results by making more calls vs taking time to leave a 1 minute voicemail. I’d definitely test it first on your list though in case your results are different. Just don’t be afraid to stop leaving VM’s if you don’t get a response. You can make twice as many calls if you don’t leave voicemails.

Also, I’d keep your opening script really short and sweet. You want to sound relaxed like you’re talking to a friend so they don’t hang up on you.

@Dave Williamson thank you!

@Dave Williamson Dave, just wanted to ask if you purchased a property in the Woodlawn area. If so, how’s it going?