All Forum Posts by: Brendan Lawrence

i'm certainly not an expert, but i ran thru something kinda similar and i'll tell you what my lender said. so i was living in a home, yet i was purchasing a new home. to afford the new home (which would be my primary after the fact) we had to refinance the current home. we planned on making it a rental. so anyway, our lender required us to live there for at least 30 days after close of the refinance to qualify as owner occupants. this wasn't too big a deal because they were doing the other mortgage as well, so on day 31 we closed for the other property. so i guess my point is, talk with you lender about it, don't lie to them, ask them what are the specifics to qualify. otherwise be careful because you've most likely signed paper or will be signing papers that would make you liable for fraud if you don't walk the line. good luck!

Hey Kwame, it's a hard place to be in. do you think you could find a short term renter? maybe thru the spring, so you can put the house back on the market come "buying season". for me if i was in your shoes, that's how i would go about it. however a few things that are variables, what are your current financing costs? if it's expensive hard or private money refinancing as soon as possible might be your best chance to wait it out. you could also do short term rental like an air bnb if your locality allows it, this will allow you some income while also being able to show it still and you'll have the extra benefit of it being "staged" which might help in selling it. Good luck my friend!

 PPC marketing via google bing and facebook. it can be expensive but you get to track down to the keyword what works and what doesn't. so when you find success you can ramp it up quickly. 

there are services like earthclassmail and regus that will let you buy an address and mail service in the states. i do not know if that will satisfy your needs but could be a start. 

Hey Lara, as a non citizen you can form a company here in the states, get a registered agent for the company and then purchase a mailbox via the company for the company's use, use the address to open a bank account and viola you are ready to invest here.

do you need this property? make your offer based off what would give you success not what would be "accepted" according to the agent. check off your investment criteria not the sellers criteria. it sounds like at 550K -450K price this isn't an asset but a liability. it's it's worth 300k then stick to your guns and offer that. they'll say no most likely (that's' why you have to offer on 100 of them) but hey its better than having another liability on your hands. 

i'm assuming this is a buy and hold? DO NOT BUY. your expected costs will be even higher, you've left of closing costs and repairs will certainly be more than 1000 dollars. unless there is another angle this property does not have enough meat on the bones to weather an extended vacancy or large capital requirement (like a roof). if this is the property you want, you'll need a much better price. 

Hey Carlos, i run a marketing business, a real estate leads businesses and a rental portfolio via xero.com and like it for the most part. i use a bookkeeper (from upwork) to reconcile weekly then just review monthly. zoho is very similar. maybe pick based off price?

Hello BP

i've been digging into the podcasts and reading as many books as i can get a hold of. However with so many strategies and niches to pick and choose from, how does one not get lost in all the possible opportunities?

Should i hook up with a mentor or group and see if that provides some clarity?

My skill sets are in advertising and management, plus i have decent funds and potential access to more. And most importantly i have time and motivation. Now i just need a focus...feels like freshman year of college all over again

Hi BP
i'm Brendan Lawrence, i own a marketing company in Germantown, Maryland. I'm happily married and have two young children. I've always been fascinated with real estate. i believe that as my marketing company matures and needs less full time attention, that i'd like to get involved in some form of real estate investing. To further my goals, i've built a good sized fund and am currently pursuing my real estate license.

I'm leaning towards a buy and sell portfolio, however i'm interested in everything as i'm still looking for my niche.

I've been addicted to the Pod casts for the last 2 weeks since a friend introduced me.