All Forum Posts by: Bryan Reid

I wish I could +1 @Robert Whitelaw's comment more than once!

I've gone the FSBO route before. It is astounding to me how many agents call me claiming to have a buyer, when really they just want me to list with them. I tell them all the same thing: "great - have them write up an offer and I will be happy to pay you a buyer's agent commission." Of course, that is where the conversation ends.

Folks need to show some integrity.  I'm not disagreeing that playing the 'numbers game' works, but operating this way shows a real lack of character.

What's more, contacting a FSBO for a listing unsolicited - even if you're being perfectly honest in your intentions - is a violation of DNC laws in many states (mine included), and is grounds for a suspension of your license (at least here). All it would take is one person to be annoyed enough to file a complaint...

Fees?  If someone is charging you a fee of any sort to get started in investing - RUN.

Interesting too see how different the process is in different places.

In my neck of the woods, it would be unheard-of to NOT have an expiration on any offers.  24 hours is common.  But then again, any offers are legally binding sales contracts once signed by the seller which it sounds may not be the case everywhere.

Wish you luck, but would urge restraint against a strategy of making many offers.  If you're just throwing out low-ball offers in the hopes that something will 'stick', you will likely annoy many agents (who are required to submit all offers, even if they know they will not be accepted) and offend many buyers.

Nothing wrong with offering below asking price as long as it's justified by comps/property condition/circumstances/etc.  Short of those scenarios, though, you're not likely to get any takers.

I am currently in the process of getting my RE license for pretty much the same reason as you - "why not."  Nearly there... I should have it within the next couple weeks.

If you're not planning on using it to actually take on listings/clients/buyers, though, I wouldn't recommend getting it.  The "why not" is because it is a significant investment of time and money to get the license (at least here - NY may be different.)

I don't plan to totally re-frame my RE ventures and spend 100% of my effort listing houses and taking clients, but I do plan to at least do it part-time to make the effort worth the hassle.

It will be very nice, though, to have the flexibility of seeing a house as I'm driving by, calling the listing agent, and then being permitted to immediately show it to myself assuming it is vacant.  It can be a pain to need to schedule a showing through the agent any time I think I might be interested in a property...

Just wanted to "+1" @Tara Sienkiewicz's excitement about seeing this happen.  Downtown LEX has a lot of potential, and Tara is right that we seem to be in the leading edge of some revitalization of these areas.

I'm also especially interested in hearing if there are any others in Lexington doing the short-term rental route right now.  Lexington still feels more 'small-town' than 'big-city' - is anyone having success with Airbnb/etc in the local market?

As @Alexander Felice mentioned, I don't think you should be passing up on good, safe, proitable deals in the hopes of finding some unicorn deal out there.

However, as a beginner, I DO suggest that you stay a bit on the conservative side as you're doing your analysis to determine if an investment is a good one or not.

Since you're new, you may find your anticipated return is less than you had predicted. Make sure you're not chasing margins so slim that you end up losing money if NOI is less than you anticipate.

So... no, don't 'just buy a decent house'.  Make sure it makes sense, and that you have a comfortable margin to cushion any unexpected expenses.  But no need to try to strike gold on one house flip.  Frankly, trying to turn property investing into a get-rich-quick scheme is likely to backfire on anyone, regardless of their experience.

I've been there before.  The last duplex I purchased, I already had a tenant lined up for 1 side of it before we had even closed (other side still needed rehabbing).  We did, however, wait until we closed before signing lease & taking deposit... just in case financing or something fell through and we couldn't close.

If it is vacant, most sellers probably aren't going to mind a bit if you ask permission to advertise and show it.  Just talk to them.

Two important caveats:

1 - Do make sure you disclose to potential tenants the situation (ie: you're under contract, still waiting to close, have seller's permission to show).  Also probably want to check with local laws & regs just to make sure you're OK there... it shouldn't matter as long as you disclose the situation, but who knows... there are some crazy regulations out there in regards to landlord/tenant law.

2 - I would only try this if the property is actually ready to lease (without further rehab/work).  No way would I want to fix a unit up before I had closed on it... too much chance that the contract could fall through and then I'm out my time & money.

Hi David,

I'm a native born-and-raised Lexington resident and also have a few rental properties around the area.  All my rentals are to long-term tenants; I've never tried the airbnb route, but I can at least certainly give you a second opinion about the various parts of town.  Feel free to shoot me a message anytime you like about various areas - I'd be happy to answer any questions!

As far as the area between 3rd and Loudon that you mentioned:

You would need to be very careful if you start looking in that area, because parts of it are indeed very rough neighborhoods but parts of it would be just fine.

In general, the parts nearer to Transy (an upscale local private college) are better.  Avoid the part approaching Winchester (near Shropshire): that is part of a Housing Project.  The homes there all look nice and new, but the streets are not at all safe.

I would however agree with @Tim Stolt that really all of Lexington is pretty good.  There aren't any terrible locations anywhere here.

@Simon Ghandil

@Linda S.

I think it is also worth mentioning here that a typical 30yr mortgage with $3K down would only be payments of about $153/mo - and that is already assuming an extra point or so to account for credit blemishes.

Heck - even a mob loan shark at 20% would still only yield a payment of $451/mo...