All Forum Posts by: Darin Tripoli

I would honestly say it depends on your timing and how much time you have to secure your property. You should also get creative. I needed a long term residence recently and lost everything i even bat an eye at due to waived inspections. I got really picky moving forward and extended my finances to cover costs of say a roof / hot water heater etc. I also decided to go with a house with a family currently living in it to help mitigate the risk of having to waive the inspection and give them 90 days to find something, close on and move. My mindset was if its nice enough for this upper middle class family of 4 to live in comfortably I should be able to take the risk with my own inspection. I also took with me a skilled family member anytime they were available and would buy them lunch. I was under a significant time budget and had to act accordingly if i wanted to find something in Rhode Island. I do feel as the market cools and interest rates drop this will no longer be a thing. I highly suggest raising down payment if possible and not waiving inspection. I did not waive appraisal either. It was my understanding that the property had 20 bids on it from one day of open houses and everyone who made consideration waived something.  

TLDR:  I would never recommend this but circumstances at time of purchase are everything 

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Chepachet RI.

Purchase price: $565,000
Cash invested: $18,000

4 beds 2.5 baths 2400 sqft on 3 acres
2 car garage
half finished basement
whole home generac generator
gunite pool & mahogany deck

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I needed a place to live. Currently selling last residence.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Spent several months looking and putting in leg work. What won us our bid was our purchase price combined with 90 days to close. The sellers were currently living in the home and needed to find and close on another property. We bid according to recent comps in the area and we waived inspection. The 90 days to close was what won the sale. We didnt want to waive inspection but lose several homes previously not waiving it. We did not waive appraisal.

How did you finance this deal?

30 year conventional 3% down @7.25% - 90 days to close

How did you add value to the deal?

90 days to close was the big one. Wish we were able to put more down for many reasons. We had the lowest amount down but the longest time-frame to close.

What was the outcome?

I have a place to call home.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Be aggressive. I would suggest putting more down than you really want to but stay within your boundaries. More down seems to be very attractive. If the house is occupied it will have less attention but be prepared to extend your time to close. I do not recommend waiving inspection but our market was a hotbed and we were losing homes left and right not waiving it. We took our time with our offer submitted it on the last day and crossed our fingers. Lastly, be prepared to lose a few first.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Robert Crudale with ReMax for all my RE needs!

 you are absolutely right and sorry if i came off offensive... i am a consumer and have had the same exact experiences. agents who put you on set it and forget it through their portals which will narrow down properties based on area and other general details and never contact you again unless you call them and there are agents who will go look at properties for you because you are stuck at work gather all information and give you advice to continue to examine or list 25 negatives to talk you off your emotional impulse buy. 

it took a few agents before i found one who doesnt mind to work for their commission and i will use him on every deal within his license jurisdiction.

you cant expect a consumer to be happy to work with someone who just goes through the motions because they've been in the RE space for 20 years.. much rather give a recent college grad with some motivation the business.

you sound successful and i am willing to bet its not because you set it and forget with you clients and you actually work. 

god bless

will probably get some down votes for this.

its come to my understanding that a real estate agent closes 3-4 deals a year (national average) and this is a prime example as to why.  

you can balk all you want about the agents perspective but success is never handed to you in any line of work. in any industry the hustlers and grinders are rewarded and the others skating by don't last long or learn how to live on raamen noodle and juggle car payments with other debt. 

I am no real estate agent and very green as a whole to RE but the fact is the license is cheap and relatively easy to get. someones friend gets one and they get jealous and get one too because they think they are smarter than said friend. both friends are probably lazy and close the national average or less every year until their parents force them to pay rent at the age of 40. 

not trying to be a negative nancy but the fact remains they get hammered by calls of people who " think" they want to buy a house and never pull the trigger.. i get it its frustrating but if you treat everyone the same then how will you ever succeed. 

i rather work my *** off for nothing and go to sleep proud that i tried my very best then go at everything with the least amount of effort possible until i hook a whale and brag to everyone about how successful i am. 

@Anthony Thompson thanks for the kind words! guess i didnt see your reply till just now.. this was my second property still in the process obtaining the extra land. I have a letter sent to the town manager after many attempts to visit them they need something in writing. Apparently towns dont like to maintain abandoned roads unless they absolutely have to.. considering it is the only way in or out of the property it is their duty to perform maintenance  like snow removal and fixing un passable ruts/pot holes etc. They haven't been doing that I am forced to and they haven't been collecting any tax on that section of land for years. With me maintaining the road and offering them more tax dollars for the unforeseeable future should be enough for them to relinquish it me. Will update this post when the time comes. 

i believe i bought the house for about 34k down. put just under 20k into the rehab which included the roof(used in negotiating the price down as it had 3 layers and was needing repair), two floors, a cheap shower door, paint and some other minor cosmetics with the yard and some other things i cant quite remember. A lot about the deal i do not remember but I did negotiate 2000$ cash at closing (did not include in post description because i forgot)  because the boiler was old and was going to need replacement eventually. So i left the closing with 2k in an envelope which was cool. all fees and closing costs were tied into the deal i honestly forget most details as i wasn't as into real estate as i am now. i plainly saw this as an opportunity and was tired of paying rent. I did plan to live there longer but as the market spiked so did my interest to sell. 

the boiler was not part of the rehab as it was never replaced. 

@Anthony Thompson without looking at bank statements I am certain I bought the property in November 2015 (right before my birthday) and sold it just before the 1 year mark.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $155,000
Sale price: $225,000

Was originally renting this house with some friends for over 3 years. Convinced the landlord to sell it to me and a year later I sold it for a profit after putting on a new roof and new kitchen and bathroom floor.

3 bedrooms
1 bath
attached garage
half finished basement
fenced in large yard
corner lot

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

was tired of paying rent. i knew the property well as i was living there 3 years.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

was renting it and the landlords were of old age and getting ready to retire. i kept mentioning it until they started to bring it up and i got them down on price and signed the paperwork rather quickly. i had no idea what i was doing but it felt right.

How did you finance this deal?

20% down traditional mortgage 30 years

How did you add value to the deal?

fixing roof and redoing a couple floors. didnt have to do much considering the comps in the neighborhood

What was the outcome?

decent profit. my only regret is that i didnt wait the full year to sell and paid a little more in taxes and fees accordingly

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Being my first property I was just excited to make a buck. If I waited a couple more months I probably would have sold for the same price and paid less tax on the gains. I had no idea but at the closing I ended up selling it to an old co-worker whose name I didnt care to recognize before hand. Made it a little awkward at the closing but it all worked out in the end.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Robert Crudale with Remax of Rhode Island is highly recommended

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Coventry.

Purchase price: $255,000

6 bedrooms
3 bathrooms
brand new hardware and appliances
spacious kitchen and yard
half finished basement

Currently living in it with a roommate/business partner

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

needed a place to live and call home that is big enough to grow into or rent rooms when/if needed.  

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

after several months of looking at places with a RE agent. Property sits on an abandoned road and property line is misleading to what the property looks like. I knew after purchasing it I could petition the town to relinquish the abandoned road (disguised as my driveway) to me as they do not maintain it and is the only access to the house. I am hoping this will pay off in property value and equity when I re-finance in the near future. 

How did you finance this deal?

20% down traditional mortgage

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Robert Crudale of Remax in Rhode Island i would highly recommend.

Thank you @Nancy DeSocio and @Anthony Thompson for the warm welcome and REIA information. I am definitely considering the Warwick group you both recommended.