All Forum Posts by: Dmitri K.

Thank you @RobertV3 ! At this point i just think that this guy is just harassing me. He posted another note saying that the trim paint is peeling and has to be repainted :) The house is actually in a better condition then my own home. I've heard that Cleveland is known for "blacklisting" remote investors as slumlords, regardless of their practice. It would be easier if i was local, to just go and appeal these bogus violations, but being remote makes things a lot harder.

I am a fairly recent investor in the Cleveland area. A few months ago i bought a nice house in the Kams corner area, and as usual, we did some cosmetic repairs to it and pulled a plumbing permit to address a plumbing issue. 

This past saturday i received a notice from the city saying that my garage is a public nuance and has to be repaired or will be demolished. (The front siding of the garage does look crooked, but the overall structure is in a very good shape. has new roof and new trusses ) I only had a week from the date of receipt of the notice to comply. (not sure why it took them 3 weeks to mail it).

Today i receive another letter that summons me to a criminal court for code violation - stating that i've not pulled plumbing, and electrical permits. However i did pull a plumbing permit and had an inspector approve it. No electrical work has been done, so i am not sure why they are requiring that.

Anyway, looks like i can get away from a court visit by paying a $95 fine. But in addition to that they want me to pull all the permits in order for an inspector to inspect the house. Plus they want to have a new slab for the garage (apparently some garages in Cleveland were not built on slabs - i had not idea.) And, they also want me to cement my private driveway, because it has gravel. At this point i don't know what to do. As i have not budgeted for anything near this extensive.

I guess my questions to anyone experienced in this area are:

- can they require permits on stuff that worked had not been performed on?

- can they make me forcefully pave my driveway?

- anyone has a non-slabbed garage? Is that illegal?  

- what should i do?

I am just looking at this from a san francisco point of view. Here , they are very serious about the code, but they won't make you update your 100 year old building to the modern code requirements unless you are specifically touching that area.

Thank you

@Dev Horn - this sums it up for me really nicely!!!

@J Scott - as to marketing myself - my only mediums are MLS and agents. Unfortunately, with the full-time job and family shebang i don't have time (at least at present) to be my own wholesaler. And i can't afford to give up my job to do this full-time.

But this is all really good information. Thank you all!

Awesome answers! Thank you all. this gives me a nice insight to the wholesalers perspective. Also makes me kinda depressed - because it almost completely eliminates my chances of finding a wholesale deal in the bay area... it seems. As i don't have a $1,000,000 of cash stashed aside(not even a fraction of that), and as a result would be of no interest to any wholesaler. Finding hard money to buy something in the bay area (in hopes to later refinance with a bank) is also going to be close to impossible and very risky. I guess i have to convince myself to try and shop outside of my state. start small to eliminate risks and establish that close relationship with a knowledgeable wholesaler in the area.

I really wish i could do it in my backyard, sigh.....

Thank you @John Chapman . Sorry for pounding this question over and over. But wouldn't a wholesaler request some kinda non-refundable earnest money deposit to protect him(her)self from a non-performing buyer. Say i have a deal and i have a few days to reassign the contract, i know that it's a good deal and list it, then the highest interested buyer (and it's probably going to be a local buyer... maybe not) is required to put the deposit if he is serious. Wouldn't that be protection enough. You can even accept backups - which you could if you had a line of interested buyers.

Thank you John and Ann - that kind of confirms my suspicion that there is no single goto place (forum, web-site) that people use. I've searched google and came across one site (i am guessing i can't name it here) which seemed like what i was looking for - wholesalers listing their deals - but it did not seem to be all that functional. And had nothing listed for Bay Area.

Here is my confusion about this whole thing. If you are a wholesaler - wouldn't you want to have the ability to post your deal online and get the best offer from other members and not just "YOUR" list of cash buyers? Or is that going to increase the competition and as a result make the deal less favorable to the buyers?

I guess for me as an investor (and i am only an aspiring investor at this point) this system would help. I know that i am interested in (say) flips, i know my target area. All i want is to spend the least amount of time and energy looking for a deal. Because my business is not going to court houses or scavenging the neighborhood for signs, but to either place tenants or fix and sell.

Maybe this is all nonsense coming from a newbie :)

I see a lot of posts where people are looking for a wholesaler in a certain area, but are there better ways of connecting the buyers and wholesalers? I was just wondering how investors look for legit wholesalers.

Hi Dan Looks like there are not that many takers on this one:) I've talked to lenders and one thing that they would need to even give me the loan - is to have a joint account with the partner with enough money for the downpayment. The money would have to be there for at least 3 months. In anycase - this is turning out to be tricky. So i am considering just buynig a lower-end property in my name with my money and let him handle the repairs. And then split the proceeds.

Hello all and thanks in advance for all your feedback. So i am just starting out and have not yet figured out what I want to do, but there is one thing that I am seriously considering.
I was recently introduced (through a friend) to this guy who does flipping. He's been doing it full time for a few years now and knows his game. He has some cash, but does not have good enough credit to qualify for a high loan. I, on the other hand, have good credit and ability to get a loan, but barely have any cash. So this is his offer for me: he comes up with 30% downpayment + cash to fix up the property. I am responsible for getting the rest of the 70% through a bank loan. The loan would be in my name only, but we would hold the title 50/50. We agree to split the proceeds 50/50 after all expenses (repairs, fees, commission etc.) when the house is sold. It all sounds good and dandy, but how would you go about protecting yourself? Is this even a viable proposition? I am inclined to make this work and have a positive outlook. The guy seems legit. But I want to protect both of our money in case something goes wrong. Has anyone been in a similar situation, and if so, how did you gain confidence in this type of deal for all parties involved? How do we protect ourselves?
Thank you all for your advice and help.
Dmitri.

Thank you all!!!