All Forum Posts by: Buddy LaRue

Darn, My crystal ball is cracked.

Since you're working with an agent, ask him/her to check rental comps in the subdivision and look at the number of days on market for them. Estimate the time to get the property rented at slightly higher than the average, and try keeping the rent around average for the area. If there are no rentals in the subdivision, and the property really is in that good a condition, it may still make sense to wholesale with a double close.

That's a new one to me! I gotta hand it to the previous tenants for creativity!

I hope you haven't given them their security deposit back yet. I'd love to be a fly on the wall when you tell them what you discovered. The looks on their faces would be PRICELESS!

Hmm..vandalism like that....lawsuit?

I've written a number of sight-unseen offers over the past 15 years, they are something you should not be afraid of, just make sure you protect yourself.

When I do my initial evaluation on a property, I automatically enter $10,000 to $15,000 of initial rehab/make ready and it doesn't matter if I've seen the property or not because I run numbers before I waste the time driving around to look at property. If the property is local and the numbers look good with this default amount, I will go take a look at the property. If the property is a little further (or even out of state) I'll go ahead and write the offer sight-unseen.

If you write an offer on a property sight-unseen, make sure you build in a long enough inspection or option period (10-15 days), have the property thoroughly inspected EARLY in the inspection period, and I always recommend getting more than one repair bid for the property during the inspection/option period as well. Then rerun your numbers and if it's still a good deal, then go for it. If not, you're still in the inspection period and can terminate the contract and get your earnest money deposit back.

I never include any utilities in the rents. I've had too many tenants ask if water, sewer, cable, or electric were included.....my response has always been "The Extended Stay is off exit XX".

Asking for utilities to be included in the rent is a red flag for me.

Originally posted by Johann Jells:

My favorite app was a recently divorced cop with credit in the 500's. That's all I needed in my building where I also live, a broke depressed guy with a gun!

@Johann Jells Well, at least he wasn't a postal worker with a gun!

I'm a bit of a stickler on NOT working with tenants when they start to fall behind. The lines are drawn when the lease is signed. If they step over it and you draw a new one, you are asking for more problems in the future. Some may call me heartless, but this is business. My lenders don't give me a break so I can't hand them out either.

the length of the probate depends on the type of probate that is occurring. If they are going for a summary admin, it'll be a quick one. Otherwise, it may 6 to 9 months to close the probate. Either way, I've got my name in front of the personal representatives at least 7 times very quickly and that's hard to beat.

Probate leads get mailed to at least 7 times. First a letter, then 2 postcards, another letter, 2 more postcards, then a final letter. I try to get a mailing out each week.

You will find deals this way. This is Florida, and a lot of owners have family out of state...and all they're still thinking of is how bad the market is down here....when it's not!

@ I'm licensed in Texas (Inactive status, so I'm not trying to steal your agents business) and have worked with a large number of investors there. Here's my thoughts.

Your agent is nervous of spending a lot of time analyzing deals and sending them off to you only to have another agent write the offer MOST LIKELY BECAUSE SHE'S BEEN BURNED BEFORE. I cannot tell you how disloyal many buyers are. Remedy to the situation is quite simple, but it adds to her paperwork. Offer to sign a buyer/broker representation agreement that is specific to each lead she sends your way. After a while she'll know you are a loyal client and will probably back off on the agreement. Just request she send the agreements via docusign to save you time and paper.