All Forum Posts by: Christopher Gilbert

Try Legend Lighting off of I-35 in North Austin / Wells Branch area.  They have everything from cheap to very high end.  We have purchased many high end looking lights from them for the cost of the builders special from Home Depot but you have to give yourself a week or so to order and have them shipped.

We do owner finance on mobile homes with land and use a certified loan originator / mortgage broker to do the processing.  Using the originator allows you to comply with Dodd/Frank without running into any issues.  In Texas you also have to worry about the Texas SAFE Act which is very similar to the Dodd/Frank and requires the use of a loan originator.  The SAFE Act limits you to 5 every 12 months but the language of the act is vague and never really defines anything other than someone has to be certified.  We do mobiles tied to the land they are on so not sure how these acts apply to only the mobiles themselves.

Without a loan originator you are limited to the amount you can do in a 12 month period but I think but this way you have an independent third party to qualify the buyer.  We usually deny 2/3 of the people looking to buy based on things the loan originator finds so it works out well for us.  The buyer pays for the service (usually $700-$1000) so it doesn't affect us much and is no different than an origination fee on a regular loan.

Kaplan was the cheapest that I could find and it worked well for both my wife and myself.  We are investors and use it mainly for our own houses so we didn't need any of the classroom training, just wanted to read and go at our own pace.  Most of the other options were ridiculously priced and covered all the same material as the Kaplan books and online tests.

We use John Lione at Fowler Law Firm here in Austin. He is great at real estate legal issues (HOA's, easements, title, etc.) as well as contracts. We have used him to get a judgement against a contractor that went belly up on us as well as to help with evictions and foreclosures.

@Eddie Lehwald I use Norm Godwin from Godwin and Associates. He handles all of our real estate dealings, LLC's as well as our self employed personal taxes. We interviewed quite a few accountants when we made our selection and he was the only one that could answer all of our questions without having to go "find the answer".

@Maria Obazu  I use Central Metro Realty.  As an investor primarily I got my license to stop paying the ridiculous agent fees that go along with buying and selling a lot of properties.  My broker charges a flat fee per month ($55) and a fixed fee per transaction ($200 or $500 depending on the price of the property).  There are other pricing options available depending on how many deals you plan to make but this one made the most sense for me.  Most of the brokers around want 50% or more of your commission which is waste of your time.  The "mentoring" these other companies provide for what they charge is minimal.  Central Metro does not offer a lot of hand-holding but will gladly answer any questions that you have about how to handle transactions and there are lots of agents that will help out as well if you ask them.

We use Norm Godwin (Godwin and Associates) for our real estate CPA as well as our flip/owner finance LLC's. He has a lot more experience with real estate investments than any of the other CPA's that we interviewed.

I stay away from financial advisors as all of the ones that I have spoken with generally just sell you a plan of pre-selected options and take a fee for it.  They are useful for folks that have no knowledge of how to manage their money but anyone with more advanced goals gets beyond most planners quickly.  My thought is that if anyone is so good with their financial advice they would be retired and not spending their time trying to sell people on how good of a planner they are.

Liberty Mutual, they were one of the few name brand companies that will cover more than 4 rental properties.  Their pricing isn't all that great but the service is good and they will wrap an umbrella liability policy around all of your personal items as well as up to 10 properties.  Will also cover properties that are owned in a trust.

We do owner finance but only for mobiles that are attached to land so that you in effect are creating a first mortgage position tied to a title/deed.  Without the land, you are only putting a lien against the home itself and it is more like repossessing a car vs. foreclosing on a property.  It is much easier/safer to buy mobile homes with land and turn around and re-sell them owner finance.  Check your local foreclosure auctions, there is usually not much competition and you can pick them up for reasonable prices.

Look at refurbished manufactured homes.  Half the price of new ones and plenty of inventory all around the state.  Most mobile home sale sites have access to a statewide listing of used houses and many have someone locally that can refurb them turn-key.  When they are completed they look comparable to new ones and are easy to sell on land with owner finance or rent out.