All Forum Posts by: Cristian Aviles-Morales

 Local to my city and my city is expensive. 32824. No section 8 around me that's for sure. Mostly Class B, Class B-, Class C+. 

And being new to this, I COULD go after section 8 but it is a scary thought that's for sure. 

Did you start off with renting to Section 8 tenants? What made you decide to take that plunge? 

@Patrick Britton Didn't know Old Republic was so far north. I have them, but they serve as a Home Warranty solution. 500~ a year. $70 service call. Handles what my policy covers (appliances and stuff..) at no additional cost to me. If it goes over a certain amount it then costs me money (like a failed HVAC unit that has to be replaced and will cost $x,xxx amount. 

Still I've been happy with them. 

So you found it on the MLS, and the property "fit your numbers"?

I'm having issues finding properties like that unless if I sink more than 20% cash into them to drop down the mortgage price or negotiate a deep discount off the listed price. Both are not optimal solutions of course. Any tips regarding that issue that I may not have thought of? 

 Learn something new everyday. I will do some research and see if that applies here in Florida.

Home owner, who is represented by an attorney, has filed for foreclosure 9/20. Paid 155k back in 2006 for the property. Actual value now 190-210k. 

I contacted the attorney and left a voicemail with his assistant, but wanted to jump on BP and see if anyone has ever known about a property that goes into foreclosure and if it is possible to acquire the property from the bank/asset manager prior to it going up to auction. 

Any tips? 

I fear that by the time it has been foreclosed on maybe they are unable to sell anywhere else BUT the auctions/MLS.

Cristian

@Ray anthony Nunez Can you PM me your listings if you have them collected on a website? Or we can talk about what I'm looking for if you have anything. 

@Franklin Parker How are your properties in Lakeland doing? Been considering looking out there to invest as well as Plant City but I don't know, I've lived in Orlando and Kissimmee, and the Panhandle my whole life.

So I was where you are a few weeks ago @Jonathan Hodge 

If it's on the MLS you won't be able to secure a property at that price PROBABLY in todays market. Not saying it can't happen.

But I ran into a quote from a user here if I remember, I think it was @Russell Brazil and it made me think differently. I'll probably butcher the quote but it went something like...

"If you try to force your numbers onto a property to make it work, you'll never move forward with owning that property. The property should fit your numbers."

And he was absolutely correct. I kept looking through the MLS for all these deals and I quickly learned that either I have to low-ball EVERYONE (Which will carry a negative reputation on me..) or I have to have 30-40% capital to put down in order for the property to cash flow. Both options are a big NO.

So I advise you to skip the MLS. Maybe have a realtor set up a FILTER for you to send you listings of properties that are UNDER a dollar amount so that you atleast get some value from it, but ultimately, you'll be hardpressed to find deals there. 

What you need to do is target "motivated" sellers. 

To do this, you can..

Drive for Dollars. Pick your farm area (target neighborhood) and drive around. Find the ugly duckling in the area. Get the address, do some research (public county records, all online) and if you think you can rent the property or up its value, send the home owners a letter to see if they'd be interested in selling their property / or knock on their door. 
The only thing about this strategy that I am still trying to figure out is financing.. but I think the best movement to be fast would be a Hard Money Lender, 80/90% of LTV financed and you bring 5-15% of the rest to finance the deal. Get the keys, go to work, refinance to pay off the HML or flip the property if that is your strategy.

Or, the Direct Mail Marketing which is the whole sending letters out to target areas and hope one bites. Etc etc. You'll need money for this too. And then financing the deals.. probably the same.. HML. Because you're looking for motivated sellers or distressed properties. I just have no experience in going through conventional means (bank/credit union) to secure a loan for these properties. Personally I just don't think they'd go for it but who knows.

Finally, there are sites/applications that you can subscribe to ($300+ / yr) that will generate reports for you based on criteria for distressed owners. Recent divorces, deaths, tax liens, etc etc. Those are the people that you try to go after. 

I hope this helps you and if you want to talk a little bit more, from a newbie to a newbie, I'm always open to discussion.

Yeah. Makes deals harder to find and really shows what really is a deal and isn't. 

I'd advise you to keep an eye out on Condos. I think that's a good middle ground to get a decent cash flowing property. Just keep your eyes on the HOA fees. I've found some but the HOA fees (which is your responsibility) kills the deal and makes it not worth it. There are some areas where it's 600+ a month. Ridiculous.

 How long did that take you to clean up? Any interesting finds?? 

Does it include demo work like walls in there or is it all just material items from previous owner. 

@James Fitzgibbon Did you by chance post via mobile? Might be my browser/network but your formatting is crazy and I know mobile has that bug. 

Thank you for your response! I do appreciate the knowledge there. I will check this out on my home network again when I get back to see if maybe it is just my 4G connection messing this up.