All Forum Posts by: Devin Borders

Thanks so much for the quick replies. I love the community here on BP!

My wife and I are wondering about the pre-foreclosure process and how it makes sense if you have equity in your home. For example, we bought our house two years ago for 240k and put 20% down. It has since gone up in value to about 270k. Let's say I lose my job and we blow through our savings and can't make any more payments. If I get a yellow letter or someone knocks on my door saying they can pay off the 186k we still owe, why would I ever say yes? Why wouldn't I put it on the market for a super low price, but still much higher than what I owe? I just don't see how that makes sense? 

We currently bought a subscription to foreclosure.com and are seeing properties that are in pre-foreclosure or even going through the short sale process, but I can't seem to figure out what to do with them. Can someone please explain to me why someone would choose to sell their home for such a low amount when they could potentially get more? Is it just a timing thing where they want to sell fast and are willing to forego thousands to do so? Thanks in advance for any advice!

Thanks Conrad. I'll keep them in mind moving forward. Unfortunately we found out this morning our offer wasn't accepted. Hard to believe since we came in 12.2k over ask. Was a big surprise, but hey, got to keep moving forward!

Hey guys, my name is Devin and my wife and I are pretty new to REI. We decided to jump in about three weeks ago and have been reading and analyzing deals ever since.

We find out tomorrow if we won our offer on a house in Charlotte, NC. Wasn’t planning on flipping this soon, but here we go! Does anyone have a good recommendation for a general contractor in the south Charlotte area? Would love any recommendations! Thanks in advance!

Hey @Michael Yim, we have accounted for them based on discussions with our realtor, who we've worked with for a while and trust. Our house is in really good shape, and the only thing it will need in the next 5 years is a new HVAC unit which we've already got quoted at around $5k. We think overall, $800-1000 is a good cash flow on a $1200 mortgage and gives us room for covering expenses. Thanks!

@Nick Danaluk thanks for the insight. I don't think we can buy the lots in this neighborhood because the builder is selling the lots and houses as a packaged deal. We are meeting with them today to find more info. Thanks!

@Thomas Weidner my wife and I tend to agree with you in that it would be miserable, even though I'm pretty good with repairs. With my full time job and the kids, that would be tough. Maybe one day though! Thanks!

@Colleen Goldstein wow, thanks for all the insight. Our current house was actually flipped by a larger company 2 years ago, so it's very "nice" with mostly new everything. We took it off their hands at a steal based on similar houses in the area. The only thing that is going to need replaced in the next 5 - 10 years is the HVAC which I said earlier is roughly 5k expense after talking to the guy that services it for us. I will definitely spend some time on the investment calc, and consider the capex, repairs and maintenance and vacancy. I think that because of the neighborhood, proximity to schools, and size of the home we're hoping that we have a good family tennant rent it out. We have the ability to stay with my wife's parents while we wait for a good renter, so we don't have to pay two mortgages. We are considering a lot, but with our current family situation, we feel it would be easiest convert this to a rental and then as we learn more and meet experienced people, get more into the flipping, wholesaling and distressed property purchases. Thanks again for all your insight!

Hey everyone! I'd love to hear thoughts on our current situation. Here are some details of what we are looking to do. My wife and I own a 2900 sq/ft 4BR, 3BA home in south Charlotte, NC area. We paid 240k for it two years ago with 20% down and our current mortgage is $1200/month (PITI). Current value is around 265/270k. We are considering turning it into a rental and buying a similar property as a permanent residence to start our investing career. Based on what our realtor says, our house should rent for 2000 - 2300/month giving us anywhere from 800 to 1100 in cashflow. The average time on the market for rentals is 43 days. We have two small children so I don't think we're quite ready for a live in flip or house hacking, as most of the multi-family properties are not in great areas where we live. We're looking at new construction in a small neighborhood that's going up near us. There will be 17 homes total in this small neighborhood, so we think it will go up quickly. We're planning on putting 5% down on a ~240k property, therefore giving us roughly a 1400/month payment. We are not looking at it as a strong investment opportunity, but more so a new "base of operations" that we think we can rent or sell in the next 2-3 years and continue our REI journey. While living there, we'd obviously be looking for new REI opportunities around our area (wholesaling, flipping, buy and hold) as we learn and grow.

My question to the BP community is really three-fold:

1. What do people think of this strategy for beginner investors?

2. Is new construction a bad idea?

3. I'm concerned we're being too cautious by not jumping in the deep end and buying a live-in flip. But I don't want to "burn-out" on our first go around. I have a full time job and my wife is busy staying home with two small children (2 and 4 months).

I would love some insight from the BP community. Thanks in advance!

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate the feedback! I'll definitely be reaching out soon with updates. A lot of cool ideas and things in the works right now! Going to do some deal analysis this weekend with my wife and hopefully have some more knowledge on what's currently out there. Thanks!

Tramaine, my wife and I are currently considering the exact same move down in South Charlotte. We're going through the motions and looking for another property to buy as our permanent residence while we rent the house we're in now. Based on some quick rental projections around our area, we believe we'll have good positive cash flow given our current mortgage and what similar properties are renting for. I'd love to keep in touch and see how things work out on your end. Good luck! Also, feel free to reach out with any questions. I'm new to REI, but trying to learn as much as possible.

Hi everyone! My wife and I live and work in South Charlotte and we're both looking to connect with other REI's. Other than buying and selling our own homes over the years, we're pretty new to REI. We're currently in the learning phase and trying to take in as much knowledge as possible, while setting goals to make our first investment move within the next 6 months. I have a full time job working as a CPA for a fixed income broker dealer here in Charlotte and my wife stays at home raising our two small children. The first move we're considering is renting out our current home and buying another house of similar or lesser value. I'm also very interested in wholesaling, buy and hold, and flipping (one day!).

I would love to get to know some other REI's in the area to see what your experiences have been like in the Charlotte (and surrounding areas) market. We know it takes a lot of work to get started but we're ready for it! If anyone has any thoughts or is willing to offer any guidance I would love to hear from you or even buy you coffee/drinks one day. Thanks in advance!