All Forum Posts by: Brian G.

@Greg Odom welcome to the site. Not wholesaling but a buy and hold investor. We have one property in our portfolio that is located in Gainesville. Great place to start and take action on this field specially for the demand created by the University of Florida students. All the best!

Hi @Brandon Duff  I see you got a few hits here with your post. Lots of things to consider from the BP community. I would not provide advice as everyone here is on a different boat. Here is my own story: the wife was always very risk averse about investing in RE. Her Dad has been working for a Fortune 500 his entire life. She believed the safe route to greatness was only by working 35+ years for an institution. It was simply a "NO GO". It didn't matter what I said, the more I pushed my agenda the more resistance I received. The only way I was able to come to terms was by building a business case and explain it in simple terms. My objective was to avoid the so called "one way hubby conversation" and have a joint dialog. You know the talk... Goals, savings, debt, parenthood, etc. Once a common purpose was reached (then and only then), I showed evidence of the most active investors in my area. What they were buying, at what price and their exit strategies. Some were flipping; others were holding, other financing. The types of properties, the areas, their acquisition and disposal prices. The margins... The projected annualized returns... Also some before and after pics from the internet and estimating rehab costs with some known contractors helped bringing the case home - big time.

Fast forward to today, we own 5 properties - two closed in the past two months. Four we are holding and one is a flip. Four are in Florida and one in the Caribbean. We have used and repaid her 401k to purchase and renovate in the past. In parallel to these investments, I found and hired a CPA for our books and IRS questions; a RE attorney for our contracts, closings and representations; a Loan Officer to help us acquire/dispose properties, and a License Contractor to keep me out of trouble - I like spending time at the jobsite :-). Today, she is comfortable with the idea and looking forward to do more deals.

My personal thought on all this... "How in the world I was going to convince a partner, a banker or an investor to look at any of my deals if I (myself) was incapable of convincing my own wife of my abilities to understand rationally what I was doing?"... I had to do it and do it right.

All the best,

Ken Wilson I am currently investing with my wife. At the beginning she was very skeptical about all this. My way around it? Evidence. I pulled closed sales data from one of the most active investors in the area. I was able to produce a business case based on acquisition and disposal. How much the guy is making and his projected returns/rent spreads. Then did the same with before and after pictures (if any) with estimated repairs coming from a known contractor. The results of this intentional effort...? Today we have 5 properties in Florida and the Caribbean: 4 rentals and one flip. She now loves this field and wants to acquire more... Good luck.

@LORETTA E. we are currently holding and managing properties in South Florida. Two of them were aquired in the past two months with HOA. But we are not all in with condo properties. We had diversified our exposure with additional single homes. As others have eluded in the prior posts, keep an eye on HOA/Condo rules. The worst mistake you can make is not to review boards bylaws, rules and regulations. Be part of their meetings - dont disappear and get to know the Pres and Vice Pres. In the areas we are in, the ammenities and property management play a big role in the eyes of renters. This is something we study and understand before getting in. All the best!

Kelvin Schaeffer you will be allowed to have only one outstanding FHA loan. FHA is an owner occupant program. So you would have to refinance or sell the first one.

Elizabeth Blazina my 2 cents on this topic. We are currently doing renovations on a property. During the initial work we noticed small markings of mold in the walls. So we stop the project and remove the floor boards for reassurance. And there it was... mold again... After tearing down the wall the mold crawled 4ft high in the back wall. So we ended up demolishing and redoing several walls. We (I) cannot afford taking any chances with tenants and the city regarding mold. No way. All the best.

Adam Brown maybe your underwriter is already starting to look at things. Where you could be at risk is if you already sent your earnest deposit and the inspection period is about to expire. This should be explained in the contract you signed. You must get in there ASAP with an inspector (ask also for a 4 points inspection) as the property could possibly reach and pass the appraisal process but you might not find inspection results attractive to you. Depending on the contract, once inspection period pass you could be at risk of losing your deposit. Be careful out there... All the best.

Brian Kasper as a condo investor here in Miami I agree with the prior posts. Once you completely understand the HOA regulations please do yourself a favor trying to understand how mold (if any) could be present in the unit. I am currently working on a condo where moisture got in, walls looked ok and after closing we detected mold crawling and spreading in the back of the walls 4ft high! No biggie for us as we bought at a good price, but dont let this come up as a surprise. Good place to inspect for mold....? Slightly remove floor boards. All the best

Thanks @J Scott and @Steve Babiak for the insight. 

Steve Yoo thanks for the insight