All Forum Posts by: Rusty Pollard

Not to derail the purpose of your thread here, Pete, but I am curious how you found the owner of these properties (our how he found you)? Off-market deals are where a lot of the good deals are right now and I'm always curious how people are finding theirs!

Welcome, Rusty! I lived in the area for several years and can connect you with some contacts I worked with if you'd like. Aside from that, reach out to a REIA to get your network going. The forums, podcasts and BP books are all outstanding references for you to get started!

Great, thanks for the input Gautam! Your strategy aligns pretty close with what we are thinking we are looking do.

Hey guys! I've got an opportunity on my hands and I'm looking for some creative ideas from our BP community on how to best package this deal:

Two properties to purchase from an old landlord who is ready to get out of the business altogether. He only has signs up at one of the properties... I have just made it a habit to ask if there are more opportunities when working deals (if there's one deal there are often more!). He is willing to do a seller financed deal to some level, but he needs ~$50k and then he is good to finance the rest. The numbers on the two properties are:

$49,500 2Br/1Ba

$60,000 3Br/1Ba

I am trying to use the low/no money down principles as much as possible at this point, so my initial thoughts were to purchase the first property with conventional financing, which would get him the $50k he needs, and then propose a no down or low down, seller financed package for the second property.

My questions:

- Are there any good options as far as doing a package financing deal on something like this?

- Do you guys have any better ideas on how to wrap these both together?

- What rates and down payments are you guys commonly using? For reference, my last small SFR was purchased for $70k with $10k down and 5% interest.

Thanks in advance for your time and input!

Haha, thanks for the tips and info guys! We're looking forward to it.

Thanks for the info! Eric, I grew up in Colorado, and have lived all around the greater Seattle area for a few years. Now I'm just finishing up school, and I'm headed back up there! Love that area... hope my wife can do the winters. Haha

Zach, I will for sure get in touch with you soon, thanks. Also, I have an apartment lined up for the first 6 months up there, but I may be interested in managing some apartments if you have any contacts that might need that.

You both have definitely given me more to think about. Thanks!

Hey guys,

I will be moving up to the Mukilteo / Everett area for work in June, and frankly, the market up there is daunting. Prices are high and there seems to be slim pickings on the market for the duplex-fourplex category in good areas. I feel fairly competent when it comes to existing building financial analysis, but when it comes to new construction I have only done the basics in my Construction Management classes, which is not enough for what I need for this situation.

My question is this: in your experience, does it make more sense to find a distressed property than to build a new duplex, triplex, or fourplex on a vacant lot? I know I'm leaving out lots of details, like lot price, zoning restrictions, whether utilities are already run to the lot, location, etc., but I just wanted to get your opinion. I am probably leaving out more red tape that Snohomish county has placed on building new. I will live in whatever I end up buying, at least for a year or two.

I'm looking forward to hearing your guys' thoughts!

The education will cost you about $500 and another $200 or so to take the tests and register with the division of real estate. What you do at that point can vary greatly, cost-wise. Some brokerages don't charge for you to be a part of them until you do a transaction, so you may be able to get away with just paying the fees to be a Realtor and get MLS access (somewhere in the 1400 or 1500 range). I would recommend using RElinkinstitute.com for the education, as they were great to work with and a better deal than some other schools. They also did a full-day review as part of the course, which was very helpful.

Good luck!

Welcome to BP, Clark! This is the place if you are wanting to learn and ask questions. I'm just getting started myself and this place has taught me so much! Good luck, and thanks for your service.

Welcome to BP! You definitely came to the right place to learn, and you're in a great sport for investing as well. Good luck!