All Forum Posts by: Brian Barfoot

My business partner and I have gotten the ball rolling on our REI business and since I still have a W-2 job with good insurance I feel very happy with the long-term plan. His trouble is that he is a contractor by trade and is stuck in the "too rich to get government insurance, too poor to buy it independently" hole. So here's my questions:

Do any of you provide insurance as an REI company and if so do you buy in/pool with other companies to get a better rate?

What level of scale did you reach before it became a good idea to offer insurance?

Is there some program for small business owners that I might not be aware of that would make it easier for us to get him insurance?

We live in NY which makes things more expensive for nearly everything and I'd imagine the pattern holds for health ins.

Right. What kind of notices are you talking about? 

Yeah, I agree. Getting the place to cash flow should be priority. 11 years is a long time to go negative. You can always knock some years off with extra principal payments if you want to.

@Michael Seeker: There was no more formal agreement with the prospective tenant other than me saying "Hey, I'm supposed to be buying a house soon and I know you need one soon. Wanna come by and take a look after I close?" Normally I'd agree that the later closing date wasn't the seller's problem but this wasn't an "on or about" situation. This was all parts in place, everything ready to go, last minute pulling-of-the-plug thing. 

@Jason Hirko: The algebra of this is exactly what I was looking for. What are some X, Y, and Z specifics? I could try to get some of the closing costs covered or part of my lawyers fee maybe. The fact is I'm not interested in walking away from this deal and I've never been good at hardball.

@Russell Brazil: I am as used to closings moving as the next guy, just never this late. My realtor says this is a new experience for her and she's been in the business over twenty years. My lawyer tells me they didn't put a contingency in the agreement for this kind of thing and so I may be able to force them to close or to pay me rent until they actually finish moving out.

I appreciate all the responses. I've been told that I'm "too nice" when negotiating and while it is still  making me money to act this way I start to wonder if I'm being taken advantage of on some occasions. Either way I'll end up with a very nice cash-flowing property at a good price.

Hi all,

      I have a house that already had a delay in closing because the seller needed time to move out. Now this morning I get an e-mail saying that with 44 hours to go they don't have their paperwork together and can't close on the intended date. I had a contractor set up for that afternoon and a prospective tenant scheduled for the next day. Now I've had to put the contractor on hold and the tenant says that he can't wait and is going to take a different apartment. Does anyone have experience with this? What concessions should I try for since the lack of competence on the seller's end has cost me time and money?

Hi Brett, welcome aboard. I'm in the Syracuse area with a similar goal of 1-2 a year. It's a good way to build a portfolio without getting ahead of yourself. Be sure to be patient and find those good deals. I'm sure you have a lot to choose from in Ra-cha-cha.

Hi Austin,

         I live in Syracuse and work in have been investing here for a few years.  It can be tricky but I think we have a lot of opportunities for people who are patient and prepared. PM me if you'd like to talk/share ideas. 

Slow to respond here, it's been a busy week.

I'd definitely be up for getting together. Let me know specifics and we can work something out.

Hello all,

I'm an investor looking into getting my license in New York primarily so that I can have access to the MLS directly and so I can check properties out on my own schedule instead of coordinating with realtors. I hear people talking on the podcast about how it costs a thousand or two to get through everything but I am finding online courses that only cost $300. The state fees don't add up to more than a hundred. Am I missing something? It's hard to believe anything is cheaper in New York than other states.

@Landon Thomas I did look into a HELOC and actually had one on this property for a few years to cover some renovations. I made the choice because the rates are so low right now and any lines of credit I found were variable. Since I plan on holding this property at least until the kids are done with college (~20 years) it made sense to me to get the cash-out. As I said, I can adjust the rents on the tenants to cover my extra costs without disturbing the relationship very much. I've been taking care of the rehab costs myself and plan to continue doing this as long as I can so I don't have to worry about satisfying investors.

My market is very inexpensive and to address @Percy N.'s concern, this market doesn't change. I know it's foolish to think that it can't but we have had steady population (+/- 1% per year for decades) and are rarely affected by the market swings that seem to drive the rest of the country crazy. I feel good that we are being fairly conservative and will still be able to keep this ball rolling for a long time.