All Forum Posts by: Brian Wall

This property is still available, any interest?

Hi BP Nation, I need your help.

I have a 4 plex in Lebanon, IN, each unit is 1 bd, market rent is about $475 each unit. 1 unit is currently rented. Address is 223 East St., Lebanon, IN

You can see street view here: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.045916,-86.466898,3a,61.7y,86.94h,96.62t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s1Gk4hztoLpFonmN0Z1lN3A!2e0!6m1!1e1

I bought this about 6 months ago as a complete fixer. I was working with local company to coordinate the rehab, and re-rental. I am located in Los Angeles, CA, and relied on my local person there.

Long story short, property needs more work than originally expected, and needs more lead time to get it up and running, than expected. As you can see from the street view, it needs new siding. One of the main things I did manage to get done, is split up the utilities so that each unit can pay their own, and each unit has their own heater. I also cleared out previous ("bad") tenants, and put in one good tenant, so far.

I borrowed 100% to purchase and do initial rehab, and now that more money is needed, I don't have it available.

I am ready to throw in the towel.

I would like to get $60,000 as a purchase price to cover paying off lender, as well as cover escrow fees.

If you have the cash, to get in now, and finish the rehab (I am guessing 10-15k, but don't hold me to it. you can probably cash out refi within 6 months or so, once you get all units rented, and get most or all of your cash back.

I am open to any advice, criticism, etc. Hit me with it!

If you have any interest in purchasing, please either post here, or PM me directly. I can then put you in touch with my local guy there that can show you the property.

here is a government website I found, maybe you can find something there:

www.cfda.gov

Brian

Hey Richard,

I have had good luck going to meetup.com and search for real estate investing in your area.

Looks for the "no sales pitch" groups.

I don't know if they have them there, but around here they have FIBI clubs (for investor by investors).

Brian

A good strategy would be to buy one or two more, with cash, then go to a bank and do a "blanket" loan. Assume you have 4 properties each worth $50k, so a total value of $200k. (hopefully, you paid 30k each for them)

Now you can go to a local regional bank, and get a blanket loan on all 4 for a combined amount of $150k. (75% LTV).

My dad is doing this very thing in Indiana right now. He had same issues you did, until he came across one lender that suggested a blanket loan. He was able to "refinance" with cash out.

Hope this helps,

Brian

@Amber Castro 2 suggestions:

1) you may also want to go back and knock on the neighbors doors. Many times the neighbors know what happened.

Just tell them you are looking to buy houses in the area so that you can clean them up, and get them occupied, and you saw this one looks vacant, and could use some TLC.

Most of the time, they will not give you the persons contact info, but if you give them your card, they may reach out to the owner.

2) Send a letter/postcard to the house, using a first class stamp and mark "Return Service Requested" under your return address. if the owners left a forwarding address with post office, they will send it to you. (I think they charge like $0.50 for the service).

Good luck!

Brian

Hey Alex, it depends how competitive your market is. If this is a hot deal, and you need to be competitive in making offers, then I would say make no, or a minimal inspection contingency.

I second what @Brie Schmidt said, I would get a buyers agent to represent you.

If you don't have one, go to your local REI club, and find an investor friendly agent. Get there opinion on rehab as well, but remember it is his/her opinion, and they are not usually contractors, but they can tell you what to do (and not do) to the house to get it to sell the quickest.

Brian

Hi @Jack Tucker

Can you define what you think is a "fair" price? I have also considered building something similar to this, but am a little hesistant, not sure if the demand is there to support the cost of development, in order to get a return on the capital.

As @Chris Clothier mentioned, they have their own custom built systems, which I have found to be the case for many large companies, like Chris's. So, the market is really just the "medium" size business.

What do you think?

Brian

You may also want to look at your local junior college. Many times they offer RE licensing classes, and these can better for what you are looking for, in that you have the opportunity to interact in person with an instructor, as opposed to just book reading, online.

I took an appraisal class from my local Junior College because I wanted to learn what the appraisers were being taught, so I could get into their frame of mind when evaluating my deals.

Brian

Hi Brian,

Congrats, you have got the phone to ring, which is not the easiest thing to do.

I am assuming you are not a realtor.

If you were, you could attempt to get a listing.

What you could do, is partner with a local agent that would be willing to do the listing. You have to be careful what you ask for, in terms of "referral fee" because of the rules regarding non-agents getting a commission or referral fee.

So, think outside of the box, what is it that the agent wants, that you also want. What I would probably do, is find a local realtor, offer to hand him over those leads. I would ask him/her to pay for your next mailing, if/when they get the listing.

Then, I would also ask the realtor if they come across any property that seems to meet your criteria that you get first crack at making an offer on it (with them representing both sides, of course).

This is a win/win. You get "free" marketing, the agent gets a tax write off, and a lead handed to them on a silver platter.

You have little to risk, since you are not doing anything with the lead anyway.

Let me know what you think!

Brian