All Forum Posts by: Corey Rippeto

@Bill Kramer

I spoke to every person I saw. I’d wave and stop people who were driving to ask them questions, to both, make people more comfortable and gather info on a property.

There was one occasion where I saw a woman and her teenage son watching me from their door. I smiled, waved and walked over to let them know why I was there and ask them if they could tell me anything about the property I was looking at. Then, they were nice and helpful.

Another time, a woman initially started yelling at me from across the street. After I walked over to let her know why I was there and asked her some questions, she too calmed down and pointed me to the house of the gentleman who maintains the neighborhood, and said he could give me info on any of the vacant properties.

I understand the risk of doing this, as I did before starting. I was very cautious and considerate during the process.

But, I now have learned to have the same respect for privacy of a vacant property as I would for an occupied one, which is why I’m no longer going to walk them until invited to do so.

@Aaron K. wow. I actually never thought about it that way. 

I was just thinking in the more than likely scenario of it being vacant, that nobody would really mind me going to look at it. 

I would never think to walk someones property if I thought it was occupied, i'm not sure why I didn't think the same rules applied to vacant properties.. I never even considered that I should still ask permission to look around it, even if it is just the outside for a moment.. vacant or not, you're right.

Boy, do I feel like a fool.. Thanks for that eye opener, Aaron.

@Aaron K. I understand the majority of it is driving, but I would prefer to get a decent survey of the home before investing even more time and money to call/mail the owner about it (and possibly not even hear back). If a property has massive problems that can't be seen from the road, (blocked by trees, carports, etc.) that could be seen if I just got out of the vehicle and did a small look over, then I would rather find it right then and there and not after attempting to contact the owner.

In fact, here's a prime example: One of the properties today had an entire collapsed backside and deck that was out of view from the front. By going around to get a look, I was able to catch that before spending time/money calling & mailing the owner. So in this scenario, i'm actually saving time and money by doing it that way. Sure, the owner might not even be interested in selling, but it only takes a minute to do a short walk around to know if i'm interested in buying, which is more important at first glance.

Also, it's not like i'm going around peeking in all the windows. I only looked through a few windows, of a few properties, which were always from the front porch, and only because it was easy to do so. (didn't have to get too close to them)

Trust me, i'd be freaked out to see a stranger peeping through my windows like that, so I wouldn't do it myself. :) 

I would agree that it is definitely riskier to walk the properties from a safety standpoint though, which is why I tried to keep a bit of distance between myself and the properties, aside from directly approaching front doorsteps. Still, though. You're right. Might freak some people out just by walking on the property in general.

@Charles Carillo often times, I was able to do that. But again, some properties have issues that cannot be seen from the road, so occasionally, I would walk over to check them out. Also, only looked through a few windows, which were always on the front porch. Thanks for your comment. :)

After dropping my lady off at work this morning, I decided to go driving for dollars for the very first time. I found nearly a dozen properties that appeared to be vacant/in distress, so overall, I thought it went pretty well.

However, I ran into some sketchy situations during my search...

After speaking with a neighbor of a small 4 unit apartment and learning it had recently been for sale, I began walking around to check it out. The owner sees me from his home and drives over to see what i'm up to. When I tell him i'm interested in the property, he tells me he isn't interested in selling. I can clearly see the property has no vehicles and saw no furniture after looking into a couple windows, so I knew they weren't being rented.
Plus, the neighbor had told me it had recently been for sale. Once the owner tells me that it would just be a headache because I would probably just rent it to anyone who had a nickel, it became clear to me that he was assuming because of my age, I would have no knowledge or experience and end up somehow costing him money in the end. He wasn't not interested in selling, he just wasn't interested in selling to me. I pushed the subject a bit more anyway, asking for more info and he seemed to calm down, until I asked him what he rented it for. For some reason, he was so against telling me how much it rented for (which I imagine any buyer would like to know). Eventually, he just drove off in a bit of a rage. That was my first encounter with a person driving for dollars.

Soon after, I found a small neighborhood with multiple houses that looked abandoned/distressed. I walked around each of them, going up to the doors to locate address numbers and see if there were any types of papers/notices that might hint to whether they are in fact vacant or not. I soon learned that one such house, apparently was not. 

After being informed there was a gentleman who maintained the properties in this neighborhood who could tell me about which properties were vacant and being directed to his home, I headed there to speak with him. As i'm walking to his door, a woman pulls up in her SUV. She begins asking me if I have a peddler's license to be going around knocking on doors (which I never did) and says that the neighbor saw me try to open her door (all I did was check the door for papers). 

For a few minutes, i'm trying to calm this woman down, assuring her that I was not trying to break into any of the multiple homes I had been seen walking around in this neighborhood and that I was just a property investor looking for vacant properties. Finally, after blatantly telling me that I would be greeted with a 9mm the next time she sees me on her doorstep, she drives off.(also in a rage)

So, I take a look at my list of properties, tell myself that's enough driving for dollars for today and head back home. It couldn't have been but 10 minutes after I arrived home that I heard a knock at the door...

Yep. You guessed it. It was a cop.

He'd been notified about a young white male driving a black truck, creeping around knocking on/opening doors (again, not what I did). So now, I had to explain to the officer what I was actually doing. At first, he was very suspecting and asked for my identification. (but that's his job.) Overall, he was kind and understanding about everything, just told me to be careful and advised me to alternatively go to the local Town Hall and ask for a list of vacancies, and also gave me a local website/tool that could help me identify vacant properties. I shook his hand, said thanks and he left to go bag a bad guy at the grocery store.

It was an interesting experience, to say the least. Has anyone else been threatened and yelled at like that? or had the police called on you?

I'd love to hear about everyone else's experiences while Driving for Dollars. :)

Thanks James! @James Wise

I haven't actually done any wholesale deals myself, yet. However, I would like to chime in on this, and if i'm wrong then hopefully someone will let us both know.

I believe that you would want to include a contingency clause in your contract, granting a specific inspection period. During this contingency period only, you would be able to back out of the deal without losing your earnest money. Of course, not all agents/sellers require earnest money, but this is in the more than likely scenario that they do.

For example: 

If your contract states you have an inspection period of 21 days, a 30 day close and $500 earnest money was required to lock it down, ideally, you would back out before that 21 day contingency period (not the 30 day closing period). If your buyer hasn't closed yet and the 22nd day comes around, you now forfeit that $500 deposit, because you have passed that contingency period. Of course, if you're fine with losing the deposit, nobody is stopping you from staying in after the contingency period.

However, not all agents/sellers will agree to giving you that long of a contingency period either, because quite frankly, the longer a deal sits locked up on contract without being closed, the less money they're making.

Again, this is coming from someone who has not learned through actual experience yet. I hope i'm correct, but if not then I would welcome someone to point us both in the right direction. :)

@Jaron Walling that's interesting. I never was sure of what people meant when they used a reference such as "X-year floodplain" At first, when I found out the property was in a floodplain, I was ready to discard it. Now i'm not so sure. I think I might reach out to an insurance company to check on those rates after all, just to get an idea of what it might cost. Thanks for the advice. :)

@Patricia Steiner wow! I never would have expected it to be that costly. Nor would I have expected it to be affected Nationally. Makes investing in a floodplain area a bit more intimidating.. Still, i'd like to check on what the rates might be like, just because. Thanks for sharing and for the info. :)

@Chris M. Oof. That's quite a chunk to lose out on just to pay insurance for something that may or may not ever happen.. missing out on a good piece of land like that would be a painful blow too. I knew there were downfalls to floodplains (aside from the obvious risk of flooding), but I didn't expect it to be so pricey. I'm sure in many situations, they can work, but I don't think i'm quite ready to invest in one myself. I'll just have to learn more about them (after i've become more familiar with investing in properties that aren't in floodplains first)! Thanks for sharing that, I appreciate it. :)

Hey @Aaron Belt thank you!

You bet I am. Even during my short time on here thus far, I've already gained tons of knowledge from people in this community. I can tell i'm definitely in the right place, and happy to be here. 

Best wishes to you as well and feel free to reach out anytime! :)

Hey everyone! I've made a couple posts already, but I never introduced myself, so I wanted to put myself out there anyway by letting everyone know that I am new to the BP community and looking forward to meeting/connecting with more of you!

I currently live in the Cleveland, NC (near Charlotte) and am a Drone Photographer. I started really learning about Real Estate about a month and a half ago, after attending a ************* seminar, then paying about $2,000 for my girlfriend and I to attend a 3-day Workshop, and then buying additional online courses which I have completed as well. I've been learning about Real Estate like a madman and i'd really like to get started with wholesaling.

I've gotten pretty good at running comps/determining ARV and also doing repair estimates, now I'm thinking I should just start sending out offers on properties in the MLS to try and get some properties under contract. Obviously, I would prefer to find deals that are not listed on the MLS, so i'm also going to search on places like Craigslist/Facebook for properties that might not be on the MLS.

I do have a handful of cash buyer contacts, as well as agents who have MLS listings being sent to me automatically, and i'm working on having a lead generating website built.

I'm here to learn, to grow and to help other do the same. So if anyone else (in or out of my area) would like to connect with this extremely motivated, confident new investor, i'd love to hear from ya!

- Corey

I am looking at a property that I was hoping to BRRR. The asking price is under $50k, it doesn't need much done to it (just a few cosmetics) and I believe it could rent for at least $800+/month. It looked like an awesome deal.
However, the agent informed me that it's in a flood plain. I'm currently unsure of whether or not the property, or other properties in the area have ever suffered flood damage. (it doesn't look like this one has, from what I can see)

So, I have a few questions for those who have purchased in a flood plain:

What has your experience with investing in properties inside of flood plains been like?

Have any of your properties actually been flooded? 

• If so, what happened as a result? Were the expenses large? Did you lose the tenants? How long did it take to recover and get the property bringing in cash flow again?

Would you recommend avoiding investing in properties that are in flood plains altogether?