All Forum Posts by: Dylan Barnard

I understand the main SEO keywords and phrases, like "we buy houses" and "sell my house", but what are some of the keywords outside of the cliché phrases that you guys have found work pretty well? We are specifically wanting to find small multifamily, so we are trying to brainstorm some keywords that resonate with that type of property owner, but not exclusively just multifamily. 

Yes, listen to @Kenneth McKeown. Condos have a drag on cash flow in the form of an HOA (most of the time), and inhibiting your cash flow is rarely a good thing when it comes to an investment. I do see condos in the right locations as being potentially good performing investments, but only if you are using it as a vacation rental. However, with vacation rentals there are very high turnover costs. And let's face it: no one is saying "let's travel to DFW for a nice vacation". I love living here, but I would tell someone to come here with their family for a week in the summer.

 You sure are precise for not being an attorney.. Lol but thank you for the info. I will be doing some more research for sure to avoid misconceptions in the future.

Also, one more question if you don't mind. My wife is a licensed agent in Texas, and she thinks it would be a good idea for us to get an SFR certification through the National Association of Realtors. Are you familiar with this certification and do you think it would be worth pursuing? It seems like at least a great starting point for working with sellers of distressed property.

Thanks for correcting me. I didn't realize I was off-base there. 

Are you a lender yourself? And if so, do you see a lot of subject-to activity in your market? Here in Texas it seems like a lot of people were looking into subject-to strategies when the Fed was expected to be raising rates mid-to-late last year, but I've read some articles about how Texas was starting to pass some legislation to make it more difficult to pursue that type of strategy. I'm interested if you see any of these situations a lot in California. 

Look up OpenDoor. They are probably the biggest company that does what you are talking about. From what I understand, virtual wholesaling is just wholesaling in a different market than your home market. 

From a financial standpoint, capital flows down the path of least resistance, so I've seen the trend heading towards people with capital moving from market to market until those markets they are moving to have been bid up and competition gets fierce. Then they will move to other markets without as much competition again, and rinse and repeat. Don't be one of those people. 

If you are going to be wholesaling at all, why wouldn't you want to do it in your own market? If it is because your market is just too pricey, what kinds of markets are you looking to enter presently? 

Is there a reason why you think you can play by different rules than everyone else? I would stay away from breaking laws to get a leg up on everyone else. That is not a sustainable strategy. 

Hey Nathaniel,

Have you tried to join some Facebook groups? My wife and I will get involved in groups on Facebook, and we've found a lot of potential buyers on other people's posts about properties. Here in DFW, there will be scores of comments with email addresses of investors in the area. 

BP is another fantastic resource. Just browsing forums and reading about what people in your local market are talking about can lead to some solid connections. My wife's most qualified leads for her agent business come from this site. Don't underestimate the power of it.

Other than that, REIAs can be helpful as well like Ehsan said. Just be careful not to attend meetups where they just try to sell you programs or other promotional crap. But then again, if there are investors, there is opportunity, so just put yourself out there and you will be just fine.

I believe you're talking about companies like OpenDoor? And what exactly would you like to know?

I agree with Andy. Do your due diligence beforehand on who owns the note. If it is a large institution, you are most likely going to be fine. 

I work in the financial markets full-time, and I see it as equivalent to a callable bond - a bond that the borrower has the right to retire at any time. Investors usually sell down the price of callable bonds because they are in the business of lending their money out, not holding cash that just inflates away over time. Plus, it takes time and money to reallocate those resources.

Bottom line is that lenders are obviously in the business of profiting off of interest over time. Why would they want to call the loan due when it is highly likely that they will now be turning a non-performing asset into a performing one? I would imagine if they even notice, they will run a credit check on you - so as long as your credit is decent, it's just business as usual. 

However, moving your family into that house would be a risk I wouldn't personally take. I would want to hold the subject-to property as an investment instead. 

Just think of the bank's perspective: they are in the business of generating loans and borrowing money short term (deposits) and lending out long term and collecting the spread. They are not in the business of selling real estate. Any money and time you can save them by bidding on a pre-foreclosure property will be worth it for you and them if the price is right. It is worth it to at least try.