All Forum Posts by: David Cruice

P.S.  Forget to add:  Think about getting your CAM license.  Another good way to learn about, and get a job in, the real estate investment industry.

There's nothing wrong with that,  @Anthony R. !  Good for you.  Thanks for sharing.  Haven't had time to fully read your comprehensive post but it certainly looks like you took a lemon and made some badass lemonade!  Bravo!  Onward and upward!

@Brennan Doherty , Bravo, young man! Bravo! You sound like a very switched on individual with your head well and truly screwed on your shoulders. A very sensible and well thought out couple of strategies you have laid out. My advice to you would be to put the hard money lender to one side (he isn't going to go anywhere and will more than likely be even keener to help you once he sees who successful you're going to become) and take the next 18 months to (1) Find yourself a job in finance, and (2) Find yourself a nice 4-plex to purchase/house-hack via an FHA loan. With the job, I would recommend looking for something with a large property management company such as FirstKey, Invitation Homes, American Homes for Rent, etc. since there is no better way to learn the industry from the inside out. With the 4-plex: Once acquired, take the time to stabilize, maximize rents, minimize expenses and learn what is most probably the hardest thing about real estate industry: managing tenants and all their quirky little idiosyncracies! There's quite a bit more advice I could give you, but I'm a bit rushed for time. Feel free to DM me via BP should you have any questions. I'm always happy to help out when I can. All the best.

@Account Closed , when you say "refusing to move" what do you mean?  Do you have a lawn maintenance agreement in place?  Are you paying your property management company to arrange for this work to be performed?  It basically comes down to however you are paying to maintain the landscaping of our your property.  However, part of the blame lies on your shoulders because you didn't update the property with your new mailing address.  Nearly all cities give you a grace period to correct a violation before they hit you with a fine.  

@Account Closed , I have to deal with such issues all the time both on my own properties and for my employers.  Why was the property fined?  Is it a single-family home or multi-family?  Can you identify the individual tenant who created the problem for which you received the fine?  If you can then you should chargeback that tenant for the $500.  If you can't identify an individual perpetrator then you might have to eat the fine yourself.  The cities on send Violation Notices to the mailing address listed on the Property Appraiser's web site.  Please provide more details.  

@Yogesh Kumar, again, "Did your landlord provide you with an official "written notice of damages" within 30 days of you moving out?  If she did not, she is in violation of state landlord/tenant law and you have a strong case to a counterclaim.  If she did provide you with the claim on security deposit within the timeframe then you still have on option to fight her claim if she should take you to court.  

@Yogesh Kumarid your landlord provide you with an official "written notice of damages" within 30 days of you moving out?  This is key as to whether you can file a counterclaim against your landlord.

@Julie Walker, contact a title search company and ask them to do the title search for you.  It shouldn't cash that much.  Don't try to do it yourself.  It's too easy for the novice to miss something such as a defect in the title chain or a lien (mechanic's, municipal, etc.) on the property.  You need to make sure you have marketable title.  You really should consider getting title insurance as well but that's a risk you'll have to decide if you want to take.  Difficult to give you an opinion on that without knowing the backstory to the purchase.

@Maranda Nevils, something is not adding up. Is your $189k equity number correct? Adding that to the $203k in 1st and 2nd mortgage balance would give you a market value of $391, which is way above your $320k ARV. Also, what makes you think the current owners are going to walk away empty-handed, leaving all their equity on the total. Also, even for South Florida, $320k for a 2/2 seems somewhat high. Finally, I don't see any property tax expense line item. In Broward county it runs 1.19% of sale price. Did you forget to include it? What city is the property located?

Best place to check is your local building department.  They'll tell you all about the required permits and will be able to give you the names  of companies that pull a lot of demo permits.