All Forum Posts by: Bridgette Delva

Hi @Kerry Hartley no experience with refinancing in that area of Decatur but we have some investor friends who live and invest in Decatur.

Maybe I missed the details but what's the purchase price & rehab budget to make the ARV a deal? You'd want your COC return to be at least 10%. How much will it rent for? Does it have potential for separate units (i.e. basement w/ separate entrance). If the house is livable and occupied, what will you gain by doing the rehabs? Like, will it rent for more after rehab or will the rehab reduce anticipated maintenance?

Hi @Darnell Hunter, first of all, welcome to BP!  Getting into real estate is definitely a great way to start building your financial independence through passive income. Do you own a home already? 

Of course I don't know your full situation but will share my thoughts/advice:

Option 1: not sure what is actually causing your credit to be low however, have you worked on fixing your credit? I would be happy to DM with you on some specifics but you could consider using that cash to fix your credit.  This is a ticket to entry in most investment scenarios.

Option 2: try looking for partners who can invest with you; since you have some cash, you'd want to find other investors who have good credit and hopefully some cash as well.  You could find a property to flip where you simply provide the part of the funds in exchange for a portion of the profit.

Option 3: you could find a property to house hack but your ability to get a home loan would depend on truly how bad your credit is. If this would be your first time buying a home, you could look for a multi family that you could live in and rent out while still qualifying for first time owner programs and low down payments.  You'd want to consult with a mortgage broker on this to find out your options. I think the min credit score these days is around 650-680 or so.

Option 4: you could do a couple small hard money loans.  This would help put your money to work, give you time to fix your credit and you could learn about the deals from the borrowers to give you more experience with the types of deals that are out there.

I'm sure there are other options but if I were in your position, I'd do whatever I need to do to fix my credit while looking for local investor partners to put my $40K to work.

Ehh, California is the worst state for eviction so you should definitely NOT put these guys in your place.  To my knowledge there aren't any CA statues that say you must accept the applicants as long as there are no violations of the Fair Housing Act.  Just deny the app on Zillow and ignore them from this point.

@Rachel Williams the first question is in what state are you located? Also, I have a few other questions: are they paying an application fee with each application? Do the other applicants have acceptable credit scores? I would agree that they would definitely all move in and have their pets as I don't trust that situation. They're just trying to tell you whatever will work to get approved.  

If there are no state landlord laws that require that you rent to them then you may just tell them that you have another applicant that has stronger qualifications than they do. Or just not respond to them.  If you can't find your state landlord laws or are unclear, you may want to ask a Property Manager or an attorney for the legal requirements in your state.

@Scott McQuilkin assuming you’ve explained to him that you only received the one month deposit, you should explain to them that you want to help but ask them to provide proof of payment so you can attempt to track it down with the PM. Let them know that without the proof, you can’t do anything. Sounds like an unlikely case; if they can’t produce proof of payment to help you get them their money back then doubtful they can provide it in court.

@Brian Burnham in addition to the legal action and filing complaints with the regulatory authorities, I would contact every corporate leadership member I could find.  Since it seems like this company has many arms, I'd start with the CEO, CFO or whatever name/email you can get and send them a professional yet firm email about your next intended actions.  Unfortunately I've had to do this in the past and it got me a response within 1 day and a resolution within 1 week (not real estate related).  

Given the time frame that has passed, you've got to try all options and you may want to do this BEFORE you consult with and pay high attorney fees.  I also see that they have a couple open & unresolved complaints with the BBB however they are not members of the BBB.

Hope this helps and good luck!

@Alan Feldman congratulations on your smelly deal! First thing is to remove the primary source, all carpets! Second thing is to wash ALL window seals and walls, yes walls with either a store bought cleaning aid for smoke or a homemade vinegar solution. Once you’ve cleaned everything, use a high quality primer over everything then use a good paint. Your place will smell like paint for a while but the smoke smell will be gone.

Then you MUST have a professional duct cleaning company clean your ducts, then change your air filters. We actually make it a routine to do this anytime we buy or move into a new place. You’d be amazed at what comes out of those things. In fact, you should have your ducts cleaned once a year.

And yes you should have your chimney professionally swept/cleaned to ensure there is no blockage or other surprises in there.

Also remove and soak your bathroom vent covers, microwave vent cover, filter under the fridge or anything else that has a filter (if you plan to keep the appliances).

Good luck!

@Keegan Darby awesome question! One of the things I would take into consideration would be maintenance costs so a 1940s property makes me question the age of the plumbing and electrical, two of the most expensive problems to have. If the 1940s unit has been full renovated and updated and those upgrades have been made then take that off the table.

What’s the estimated re-sale value of each? I know cash flow is the goal so this wouldn’t be too strong of a deciding factor but it may tell me about the neighborhoods. Which one one has the best location? You can charge a premium for prime locations and tend to have more stable renters.

Window units are unattractive and typically define the type of neighborhood but, as your figures indicate, it’s not indicative of cash flow.

Are there any updates needed on either property? Who pays utilities on the properties?

Last thing that comes to mind is the tenant histories and terms of their leases.

I can’t say I have an answer for you but those are the things that come to mind for me to do a comparison.

@Joe Splitrock one more thing I forgot to add is that my early mentality really crippled me from starting investing much earlier in life. I truly thought I had to have a big stash to get started.

@Joe Splitrock I love this question! I had to think about this for a minute and I’d have to say “it takes money to make money” has always rang in my head with investing or starting a new business and I think it still holds true today, even with all the knowledge and experience and networking. However I will say that my view has evolved because I now know that it doesn’t have to be MY money to make me money.