All Forum Posts by: David Cruice

How are you financing the deal? What's your down payment as a percentage? You can also go to hard-money lenders. FHA would be your best bet though with as little as 3.75% down for up to a four-plex acqusition.

NP, Samantha.  Happy to help.  By the way, if I was you I'd bin the letter idea.  By far the best way for you to get in contact with a landlord is talking to the tenants.  If you're not comfortable going by yourself, take a male friend with you and drive around your target properties on a Saturday morning.  Simply walk up to any tenant you see and ask them if they like living there.  Tenants love talking about their landlord (for good or bad) like investors like talking about real estate.  This way you'll get an idea of how involved the owner is.  If he self-manages and the place looks like a dump you could be on to a good deal.  Again, simply ask the tenants who do you call when you need something fixed.  If you get the landlord's number (it could well be a cell phone) send him/her a text.  Don't call because they're unlikely to answer the call if they don't know who's calling.  Just say who you are and you're interested in buying his property if he's interested in selling.  You only need one deal to be bitten by the bug!  Good luck and much future success to you.

The answer is simple: Whichever offers you the best terms and lowest cost of capital. A 5 or 7-year ARM is usually a good option. In addition, once you've freed up your equity in your current home and invested it in income-producing real estate assets, consider applying for a couple of FHA multi-family property loans (4 units or lease) which have competitive rates and low down-payments (3.75% at the time of writing this). Speak to a good mortgage broker who is also well versed in FHA loans (not all of them are). Now watch this great podcast. Lovely couple hitting it out of the park. 75 Rental Units in Their Early 30s with Jason and Carrie Harris | BP Podcast 288: https://youtu.be/W9TZLVTfk6E

Offer your services as a financial analyst on a consulting basis. From what you've said, it sounds like a REIT or RE investment fund would love to your services available to them on an as-and-when-needed basis.

Jared, I feel your pain, brother.  My wife and daughter are exactly the same as you so I understand the challenges you face.  It can't simply be overcome by people saying to you, "Go on, get out there.  The more people you meet, the more you'll come out of your shell".  It just doesn't work like that.  My suggestion to you would be to try to partner up with someone you know and trust like a family member, good friend, or maybe a co-worker and who is interested in real estate investment.  If you have the drive and passion to success, they can come along for the ride with you.  They can be the "face and voice" of the operation, while you can be the brains and driving force behind it.  Divide and conquer, my friend!  Divide and conquer!  Go for it!

If it's a small house in a low rent neighborhood put lipstick on a pig.  Have the tiles, tub, and sinks reglazed instead of replacing them.  By nice, but cheap, faucets from Home Depot or Lowes.  If you're paying for the water, install low-flow toilets, shower-heads, and aerators.  And my all-time favorite for the kitchen, if the cabinet boxes are good, have them painted (make sure to seal the paint with a good dewaxed shellac or polyurethane) and fit new door and drawer hardware for buck or two apiece.  DO NOT install a garbage disposal or dishwasher because you'll become your tenants' new BFF!  Here's a fine exactly of pained kitchen cabinets:  https://www.domesticimperfection.com/my-painted-ki...

You're absolutely correct that " The dogs are his, therefore the liability is his."  What your landlord is doing is mitigating his liability.  If he wants to mitigate his liability and you won't sign an addendum then he has only 2 options - (1) Get rid of the dogs or (2) Get rid of you.  Put yourself in his shoes:  You have a nice house with a room you want to rent out.  You also have an equally nice dog, but there's always the possibility that the lovable pooch could bite your tenant - either provoked or unprovoked.  So, to ensure you can keep on renting our your spare room without the possibility of being sued by your tenant should your dog bite him or her, the only way to mitigate your risk is to have the tenant indemnify you by signing the addendum.  You can't have a dog and a tenant without the risk of being sued if you don't have an addendum.  Hope this helps.

Andrew, at the end of the day you have to ask yourself one simple question: Do I want to buy a home or do I want to buy an investment? The former is a liability (expense), the latter is an asset (income producing). If you want to buy a home, then you've got yourself a slam dunk. DC is a fantastic market with great fundamentals. Plus you're getting the home at 3 to 5% below FMV. You know the house inside and out aren't going to get hit by any surprises. On the flip side, you're going to have to ask yourself if you have any attractive alternates in which to invest your money and, preferably, are you willing to live in the in the new investment (i.e. house hack a multi-family property) or significant downgrade your standard of living accommodation. The property you describe sounds beautiful and certain is a trophy home. Most new investors don't live in such glamorous surroundings because they can't afford to do so and invest in real estate at the same time. Hope this helps.

@Drew Y. it can be something as simple as a promissory note written on the back of a napkin (not that you'd ever want to do that but it is legally binding).  Do a search on Google for something like "real estate promissory note template" and you should get a few examples you can use.  Keep in mind that if your buyer is also going to be taking out another loan to cover all or some of his portion of the payment of the balance to you, the lending institution is going to want you to take a subordinate position to their first-lien note.  However, this does not preclude you from coming in later and assuming or paying off their note to protect your interest.

Can you hear me now?  Sorry, couldn't resist!