All Forum Posts by: Cara Kennedy

@Derek Herbst - hey Derek, contests to you and your wife for thinking big so early in life. Check out government-supported, FHA loans that require only about a 3.5% downpayment. Also, if you live near a metropolis, see if you can chunk out some time to go to local real estate investing meetings. There is a large off-market inventory of homes where can end up saving money on possibly some realtor fees, even if you want to work with your own realtor for help navigating this territory. Consider that it can be done without a realtor, but you'll want someone trustworthy to make sure you get the right inspections done, rehab estimates, and a good handle on the market value of versus purchase price of your home.

Also, Chris Hubbel (sp?) of Inked Realty here in Michigan has some great educational videos for first time home buyers. He may have some content to start you off in thinking about purchasing and working with a realtor.

Good luck!

@Danny Sok - I would add that it would be in your interested to open a business credit card. Keep those expenses separate for organizations sake, and also give the opportunity to build more credit by dutifully paying off both cards (make sure you can do that!).

Good luck! Also, before your business grows it could be worth seeing what you can learn for free on good bookkeeping practices.

@Seth Glass - Thanks for reaching out. I just had dinner with them this week and having just closed on a mobile home park they won't be looking at campgrounds until they've got this park running at its best capacity. Let's connect and keep in touch regardless! I'm expanding my network of GPs looking for large multi-family and you never know when I'll run into a fellow campground enthusiast! I sent you a PM to connect.

Hi @Jeff S. @Travis Hewlett @Chris Mason - thank you all for your thoughts.

Travis, I WAS talking lending in the US, but I'd previously asked about lending in Canada and came up empty after asking a few resources. That is very valuable information - thank you!

Jeff, Thank you for the referrals to other posts and the caution...I'll tread lightly on this.

Have a great afternoon!

Hey folks,

As the title indicates I'm a beginner as far as private lending goes. I had one deal that fell through when I didn't know enough and I'd like to avoid that trip up when the opportunity arises. I'm looking for general and conservative advice as I look for ways to have my money work while I seek my first physical deal. My apologies if these are repeat questions...I'm working from my phone and browsing the forum isn't working for me today.

My main questions are:

1) what is a typical private lending percentage? Amortization schedule? Points up front (or is that reserved for hard money)?

2) what serves as collateral? First lien on the home? Anything else?

3) what do you look for for proof of backing from the person and/or project? Do you prefer to have worked with the person already? Standard market research on the property and LTV ratio?

Thanks for your time!

@Brady Beshear - looks like you've got some great feedback here. I've only used Nest, personally, but I love it. Once it learns your home it lets you know what temperatures put you into energy savings compared to local averages. And the "learning" schedule is an option, not a mandatory use. So you can have a default "away" and energy friendly setting, then set a typical guest setting (high in the evening, low at night and during the day), and then even still the guests can modify the temperature using the physical device.

For one step up from the old school thermostats, the Nest is a great energy saver and remote control thermostat. Sounds like ecobee is more high tech with its room-specific feedback, but for your average usage Nest is fantastic. It also has privacy settings so you can maintain master control and your guests can just modify it while in person in the home.

I hope that helps. Good luck!

I'm totally using this title for my next meetup...well done, sir. Well done. @Jameson Sullivan

Hey @Paul Harris, connecting with brokers is huge. Brokers are the pro wholesalers in most commercial industries. Building relationships on commercial deals are much harder and more tenuous than in SFH or small Multis. I'd recommend getting a good broker network, be ready to take a mediocre first deal until they know you're serious, and then grow from there.

Unless you have a lot of time on your hands (think wholesaler amount of time) then working with brokers is probably your best plan of attack. Good luck!

Hey everyone,

I'm considering going to the title conference this January in Tampa. Has anyone ever been to one of Larry's events? Do you recommend going? It seems like the sales techniques and creative financing problem solving is transferable to many aspects of REI and is worth learning. Thoughts?

Is anyone going?

Thanks for sharing your insights!

Hey folks,

I have an interesting opportunity to purchase multiple mobile homes for ~$500 a piece, rehab them for ~$3000 to $4000 and then flip them for $6000 to $10 000. Has anyone flipped a mobile home? Do you analyze it the same way you would a regular SFH? What am I missing or what should I look out for?

Also, I plan to rehab several, then pay for staging in one home to help me get top dollar for the remainder. See any red flags in that plan?

Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts. Cheers!