All Forum Posts by: Christopher Moss

Thank you so much for the thoughtful responses! I'm not sure if I made the right decision, but I decided to force the sale considering the previous property he sold us shares a well with the property being discussed. This turned into a win for me and the end buyer, but unfortunately a seller who wasn't pleased with my decision. He decided to forgo court action and sold us the property earlier last week. 

@Wayne Brooks your suggestion led me down a rabbit whole of information that was very useful in this particular deal! Thank you very much. 

@Anthony Thompson your insight also led to much information I wouldn't have had otherwise! I wish I could have figured out a solution to this dilemma that would have led to all parties walking away pleased. That's a great value to keep in mind while making decisions in the future!

Thank you for your input!

Hi Biggerpockets!

Here's a unique wholesale obstacle that I'm struggling to find a solution to. I just wholesaled a piece of land in Tiverton, Rhode Island for an end price of $55,000. Both the seller and buyer were pleased with the closing process and the outcome. The seller is also selling me an identical lot, which I'm assigning to the same buyer for an end price of $52,000. We were set to close today until the seller contacted me with an ultimatum demanding we increase the purchase price from $52,000 to $60,000 or he'll refuse to sell the parcel of land. 

Does anyone have experience with a seller who has failed to perform? Any insights on how to best navigate this situation would be greatly appreciated! 

Thank you, 

CJ

I was a biology major and basketball player at a University in Boston. This led straight to a coaching opportunity in the Middle East that allowed me to save the necessary capital to begin investing aggressively. My $200k biology degree will never be directly applied to my career as an investor, but the value I gained as a student cannot be overlooked. Universities can lead to growth, networking connections, and opportunities that would otherwise be difficult to develop independently. 

Anyone can be successful investing. High school drop out or doctorate level educations alike. I second @Ellie Perlman...persistence, discipline, and good old hard work will lead to success!

Hi Vic, 

Sounds like you have a phenomenal idea! My partner and I have specialized in Providence student rentals for the past two years. Here are some thoughts that may be helpful. I'm assuming your son doesn't have the financial history to afford an owner occupied loan without a co-signer. Hopefully the following advice won't be completely irrelevant if your son has a credit score of 800 and a five year job history! 

Rhode Island Housing offers a conventional 5% down, owner-occupied loan that's slightly different to the standard 3.5% FHA loan. Why put down 5% instead of 3.5%? Well the FHA only allows you to have a co-signer on single family purchases. The FHA does not allow co-borrowers on multi-families. RI Housing allows first time home buyers to utilize a co-signer on a single family or a two family.

Why purchase a condo when you can buy a two-family with three bedrooms in each unit? A very conservative rental amount per bedroom for student rentals is $500/bdr. My partner and I charge $550 and we're currently have 18 units fully occupied. The biggest players next to PC get as much as $900/bedroom! Lets do some math:

Worst case scenario and you buy an above market value two-family in the Washington Park area (near JWU Harborside) for $250,000. PITI will be close to $1,700 with the owner-occupied tax rate. Your son lives in one bedroom and you collect $2,500/month in rent from five other students. Of course, some of the $800 difference will go to expenses, but your son will be living rent free, learning real estate first hand, and building equity for four years of school. That's worst case scenario. Think about the possibility if you work hard to find a two-family for well below market value!

I work very closely with a mortgage broker who specializes in the product. Feel free to contact me if you'd like to discuss further. 

CJ

Hi Brian, 

The Lima Law Offices, out of East Providence, have been a pleasure to work with on buy and hold closings, and also on tricky wholesale deals. I work with Hailey specifically, who gets deals closed in a timely and diligent fashion. 

One idea might be to work with a few of the suggested closing attorneys on different closings. Personally experiencing how each attorney approaches and executes a close could help you make a more informed and personalized decision. 

Feel free to connect with me on anything real estate related!

Sincerely,

CJ

@Account Closed 

I've been using cozy.com for my student rental business and I'm thrilled with the results! Cozy allows you to collect rent for free, screen applicants, manage maintenance requests, and provides many other free services. 

Seems like a lot of people are finding value from cozy. I'm sure there is rent collection software that offers more features but cozy is great and free option that tenants appear to really enjoy. 

Good luck with your rentals!

Happy almost new year! I'm sure everyone is setting goals and making big real estate plans for 2019. I was hoping to get a bit of help with a wholesale deal I have under contract. This is a 1.5 acre land deal located at 8 Old Stone Church Road in Tiverton, RI. There is a distressed 1,266sqft property on the land, but the value appears to be in the 1.5 buildable acres. 

Does anyone have suggestions on how to find buyers who would be interested in a deal like this? Builders, flippers, and small developers seem to be the target buyers for this. This is an MLS listing that I was able to get under contract for a reduced price. I'm unsure of whether or not I can market this in the same fashion considering it's a listing.

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! 

@Eric 

@Account Closed was right that this isn't achieve achievable without frustration, but thankfully effort produces results! I have the data on all properties in Providence as well as partial data from Pawtucket and East Providence in excel format. Let me know if you'd find this helpful and I'm happy to email you the file. 

Best, 

CJ