All Forum Posts by: William Donaldson

Welcome! I'm from the Anderson area. You shouldn't have to look to far to find cashflowing properties, but flipping is still pretty stagnant around here.

To me it seems counterintuitive for an investor to agree to this arrangement.

The affidavit you sign mentions a nice $10k penalty if you don't abide by the rules. I could see FNMA checking in after the second or third one in a span of a few years...

I did a lot of property preservation over the past year. I can direct you to a forum with property preservation professionals.

I'll go ahead and let you know the reality of the business though.. There is no money left if you're going to work with nationals that have the big contracts (FNMA, BoA, etc.). The pricing just isn't there and the nationals have underbid so badly that they're constantly screwing over contractors to make up the difference.

You can make good money working with brokers and realtors that are responsible for handling foreclosures for smaller banks or Wells Fargo, but they are few and far between and most likely they already have someone to call or they do them themselves because the pay for the amount of work needed can be great. The volume just isn't there with local brokers because most of the volume is handled by middleman companies (Safeguard, FAS, Cyprexx, etc.).

If you have any questions feel free to message me.

Welcome! I am from the Anderson and Clemson area; originally I'm from Charleston. SC has some pretty cheap real estate!

We put our offer in the day it came on the market, so well within the fifteen days. Based on what my agent has told me the investor is definitely not going to be living in the property.

Welcome to BP Shaneel. There's been a lot of great advice posted so I'll just post a small nugget I've gleaned from the experts on here:

Don't jump at the first "deal" you see. Make sure your excitement and ambition to own rentals does not cloud your judgement. The better the deals, the faster you can reach your goals!

Not to hijack the thread, but Brian Burke can you post a link to an in-depth explanation of your last paragraph pertaining to the SEC regulations? This may help out the OP as well.

I was born in Charleston and still have ties there. The downtown real estate market is ridiculously high. I know two girls that rent out a tiny converted attic space that I probably can't stand up in for $700/month EACH. This potential property will most likely appreciate above the national average, but does that outweigh the limited cash flow you'll be earning from this property?

Downtown you'll be paying high city/county taxes and high insurance cost (remember we're overdue for another Hugo). That's cash straight out of your pocket every year. Is this in the safe part of downtown or is it getting towards the areas you should never, ever be in after 7pm?

I believe what Joel was getting at is that you have the means to buy either residential or commercial. You can find a CAP rate as small as this with NNN properties no problem! I'd recommend looking outside of the hot downtown Charleston RE market and focus on growing areas like James Island, Mount Pleasant, Hilton Head, etc. In the Upstate you can find multifamily properties grossing $3k/month for a fraction of the cost of the property, not to mention the lower taxes/insurance. I'm sure you can find these kinds of deals a little inland.

TL;DR - You will not find attractive cash-flowing properties in downtown Charleston. Anyone with money (and there's a lot of them in Charleston) want property downtown.

Greetings BP!

About a month ago I put in a bid for a condo that I will live in while I rent out the other three rooms to friends for the remainder of college. We knew it was coming on the market and put in the first offer, but FNMA came back saying there were two offers and asked for highest and best. Our final offer was higher than the other party, but they are paying with all cash.

Fast forward a few weeks and the agent I'm working with finds out that the buyer is NOT going to be living in the condo... Because the buyer is an investor that my agent, who also owns a property management company, handles a rental for in the same complex! Without going into details he is positive that the investor will not be living in the condo. My agent believes the FNMA broker isn't trying to break any rules and that this is probably on the FNMA negotiator's side as there were several other units that have been bought for all cash by investors AFTER the 15 day owner-occupied period.

How do I approach this situation? The condo is third story, has a great view, and I along with my friends loved it! I know I should call the broker first, but how do I broach the subject with her? What if she knowingly is allowing this guy to essentially commit fraud and stonewalls me? Who do I contact at FNMA?

Thanks for the help!
HD