All Forum Posts by: Celine Crestin

I recommend my smart move - it does a thorough check to include, credit, employment, evictions, credit scores, income, criminal, etc. 

There are many others available as well. I believe rentspree, landlord station & apartments.com all offer screening options as well. 

 That tells me those agents are under pricing on purpose to get offers that high over list. I know plenty of CA agents and not *all* buyers are doing that. Keep the faith and be persistent - you will eventually be successful! 

I hope the market levels off soon, as do all agents I know. We enjoy helping our clients and we prefer a more level playing field to do so. :)

 I totally get it - I personally do not want to offer huge sums over appraisal as well when buying. Keep in mind though, if your offer is close to what the comps will be (say the listing agent priced it low on purpose and your 10% over asking is now actual market value) then a full appraisal waiver most likely is not super risky, but looks super appealing to a seller. My point is not every full waiver is scary.

Partial waivers in the amounts you mentioned are still very positive in most sellers eyes. 

I've won doing numerous things - but I'd say the biggest factor is my highly responsive and professional communication with the other agent involved. MANY agents submit an offer and don't even speak to the other agent, let alone respond quickly and knowledgably. It goes a LONG way to work with other solid agents to help the transaction go smoothly. 

Have you tried getting some of the negatives removed? How long til some drop off? 

If able, build out additional lines of credit and pay on time and consistently - car loan could help. 

There are also companies you can now pay a small fee to who will report your rent payments to the credit bureaus and some that will report utility payments as well! Highly recommend this to show additional consistent, on time payment history, as that makes up a large portion of your credit score.

Hope this helps!

Welcome to the community! 

Your goals are exciting and ambitious - love that! 

As others mentioned, there are so many ways to invest and build wealth - it will really depend on a multitude of factors to determine which method will be best suited for you. (income, cash on hand, market conditions, skill set). 

Perhaps BRRRR will work, or fix and flip, or LTR vs STR rentals. Many things to consider. Perhaps locate a mentor in your market or financial specialist to discuss your options and run some numbers?

It could be accurate...or at least the most common thing being seen in your market. That being said, there are Realtors who will (and could) say the same for the greater Austin area. To that I would say there is always a way to get other offers accepted.

This year alone, competing against multiple offers, I helped buyers win with FHA loans (no waiver), VA loans (no waiver) and conventional loans with no or partial appraisal waivers. Depending on area, we do need to 8-10% over asking or more for resale homes...and some new builds. But there are all kinds of homes, prices and scenarios that still work in this market - you just need someone who knows the data and is willing to do the research and take the time to educate you on your options in your market.

The 'easy' thing to do right now for Realtors is to take only the highly qualified buyers with lots of cash to put down. Don't get me wrong - those clients are amazing (!), but that's not the reality most buyers are in and I really enjoy helping people achieve their goals - so that means going the extra mile. I'd encourage you to find someone who can help you do the same in your market. 

Good luck!

I would not leave RE investing, but strategies change as the market does. I am primarily focused on fix and flips for now, since most LTRs in my area will not cash flow. When I am able to procure good numbers on a LTR I will purchase additional at that time. 

It is my belief that RE is one of the safest long term investments and as long as you can plan to hold, you should invest. 

Unpopular opinion alert...

I do not recommend solar panels. I love the concept and being green, but for most homes and owners I jsut can't see how the numbers make sense. 

For example - home averages $100 electric bill per month as you stated above. 

Panels cost $18k

Breakeven point = 15 years (AND that's really only if you increase rent the $100 bill cost, otherwise it's a tenant savings, not yours - and also if you pay the full amount up front without a loan or have 0% interest on the loan.)

That's also only if you don't need a roof in the interim. Roofers will often require you to get the panels removed before they can redo your roof, and then you'll have to pay again to have them reinstalled. That adds up.

Additionally, if you finance them and then sell before the panels are paid off, very few buyers are willing to assume the loan payments and thus you will end up paying the balance off at closing from the proceeds. 

Also check in your market to see how your electric company handles solar panels - in many areas any excess electricity your panels generate go to the grid and you get a credit on your bill - which isn't helpful if you owe nothing to begin with.

So when do you truly see 'gains' from the installation of the panels and how long do you plan to hold the property? I have yet to have anyone show me a scenario where I felt the panels would truly save the owner money...

I'm interested in the reason for the delay as well. Some things are outside of buyer and lender control (such as appraisals) and some things are not (are the buyers dragging their feet getting docs to the lender? are they not committed? seems less likely since they put up additional earnest money for the inconvenience). 

Based on the little info you provided, the buyers sound committed and are also at the mercy of the lender (and they may not have known any better and switching this far into the deal isn't really an option without considerable delays). 

If the roles were reversed, what would you hope the seller would do? I'd encourage you to stick with the deal unless it seems that they won't close at all. 

Great job!  Solid investment - congrats!