All Forum Posts by: Ben Kevan

You know, after reading your comment. I think I'm mis diagnosing myself with anxiety. I think my problem is an adrenaline dump. I think I'm antsy, and not anxious.

It's def money I can lose, but rather not (just like any investment).

I'm not sure if anyone else reading this is an sports person, but it's the same feeling when I did my first Jiu-Jitsu tournament, or had my first Amateur MMA fight.

It's fun.

I got my inspection report, getting a few things taken care of by the seller, then will get another review from an inspector, then we'll wait for the appraisal, and close out from there.

Holy cow, I couldn't imagine that.. *crosses fingers*.. That's like buying a solid stock (ie BBY) and watching it drop 15% after earnings (yeah.. it just happened, good thing I didn't own).

Great comments. I talked to 5 property management companies in the area before I even looked at properties. Because unless I found a property management company I trusted, I wasn't going to invest in the area.

I had a list of preliminary questions, which weeded out 1/2 of them. The rest were then inquired more deeply, with practices of approving personnel for rental, and if they'd be willing to allow me the "final say". As for management of monies, I made sure that ALL receipts are to be delivered to the owner.

The property I'm purchasing is tenant occupied, so I used that to find out which property management companies would "charge" for a placement fee. The one I did choose, said they'd sign a new 1 year contract with the tenants (or allow them to stay on their contract). But either way, they would not charge a placement fee, as they are already in place.

The property management I ended up choosing utilizes email greatly (which surprising the number of others that were very slow with it). This particular one was also recommended to me by a landlord. So I'm hoping it all works out.

I'll be much happier after it all executes.

How'd it go? Are you in contract? Is the property in Ohio?

I'm new to REI, and have gotten into contract on my first property.

I have ran numbers, and numbers and numbers again, and feel that the deal is solid. I've networked with many processionals (bankers, realtors, investors, wholesalers, landlords) and believe in my abilities to make good investment decisions, but HOLY COW.

This first deal is nearly giving me anxiety. It's part excitement, anxiousness and partly worry.

The property isn't very costly as it's in Cleveland Ohio (good ol' rust belt). It's tenant occupied, and will be managed by property management (as I'm out of state).

Am I the only one that has these crazy anxieties during a new investment venture? I had these same anxieties when I first started purchasing stock when I was 18, when I bought my first investment car note (I've only bought a few, but was crazy). Don't get me started on forex (which I ditched because it wasn't good for my health). Or monitoring my funds that I have in Peer to Peer lending.

Am I going crazy? Please tell me I'm nto the only one.. PLEASE

I'm hoping to get my first property, and learning from it. I did tons of research and put my time into the game, and feel that my first deal won't be a flop (I'm in contract, but am awaiting appraisal and inspections).

I'm hoping 2011 will bring me the reserve funds I have planned, and to start the savings process of a new property with another purchase in 2012. (if I get a purchase in 2011, then I'll be ecstatic).

Thanks for all the great info in this thread. Although I feel for Scott, I to am just starting out in the rental arena, and seeing things like this coupled with possible solutions is what this site is about.

Scott, I'd echo what many have said. Keep communications between you and the tenant at a minimum, utilize an attorney to handle that, so nothing is lost in interpretation.

Good luck, keep us informed.

My first property purchase was a short sale, and my primary residence.

Here's a breakdown that I had posted on redfin.com:

"I recently closed on a short sale property, and with so many horrible stories going on about short sales (including mine) I thought I'd shed some light on how my process went, and what you can possibly expect.

Initial Offer - March 25th (Listed 300k, offer 265k (3% from seller))

To talk a little about our initial offer. The house was listed as Contingent (Show) and I found the house on rtrustee.com as a listed trustee sale. We were out looking at a house near the same street and I asked my Realtor if he'd be willing to let us see it so we knew what the model looked like. After looking it up and seeing that it was Contingent (Show).. he said that was fine. We loved the house, so asked if we could put in an offer (he explained to us that it was already contingent but would call the selling agent to see how serious the deal was). The seller agent said it was a solid deal, but that he'd accept a backup offer in-case of any issues.

On April 9th our Realtor received a call from the selling agent notifying him that the buyer backed out because the process was taking too long. He explained to us that Short Sales were hit or miss and that he wants us to have the house we want, but to not give our hopes up too quickly.

April 10th we were notified that the seller accepted the offer and was going to pass the offer onto the bank (then come the delays).



Mid / Late April - The selling agent is telling us that the short sale negotiator is talking to the investors and trying to get everyone to agree and get the deal going (Man.. this sounds like a quick process .. i might be in my short sale home sooner then I thought).

Mid May - Much like above.. we're told that the Short Sale negotiator is working with the banks and that they are confident the deal will be approved.

The house comes on and off the market as Contingent a few times during this process (guessing the listing expired). Selling agent verifies with us, that we're still interested in the house and that he's sorry the banks are taking so long.. (he's had the house for nearly 10 months at this point).

Early June comes - Sellers agent says he has some backup offers, but is still going through with our deal and thanks us for being so patient, and that he just wants us to hold off a bit longer as he's being told that a deal will be made.

Mid June - Much of the same.. although my patience is wearing thin..

June 26th - Receive APPROVAL from the bank.. (via a sent addendum).. Closing is scheduled for the end of July, and it feels like we're really on our way.. Realtor asks us to wait on scheduling inspections etc until we get written approval on a bank letter head. My lender is also waiting for the written approval before going ahead with appraisal.. (We opened up Escrow the following Monday).

July 15th comes along - We hear nothing from the bank, seller agent isn't getting responses and just being told to "hold tight".

July 28th - bank comes back and says their appraisal doesn't meet their guidelines as we're under 85% of the banks net (bank is net'ing less then 85% of the appraisal value). Asks if we can increase offer by 5k. We comply, and also add that our appraisal must meet this also, which after all it turned out it did).

August 3rd - We get written approval on Bank Letterhead along with modified addendum.

Early August - All inspections look great

Mid August - Final Walk-through shows that someone stole the PG&E Digital meter.. We get this take care of, and move on..

August 21st - I get the keys.. (really only took 21 days to close after the bank gave us the letter head approval).

I'm now moved in (need to unpack) and couldn't be happier (as this was the 1 house we really loved, and we weren't in a purchase to buy, so waiting was an option).

We bought the house for 400k cheaper then it's 2005 sale price (when it was new), and we actually paid a bit lower then the appraised value (so I have some built in losses I can endure from the next market downturn which I think is on the cups of happening).

So very happy as a first time home buyer to have the patience it took to get a house at a great value, and in great condition (hell, it even had blinds).

Just thought I'd tell my story.. "

Man, I can't wait until I'm at this level.. I really really can't wait.. Looking at my first property (duplex) in the rust belt for the time being.

Hope my first isn't a flop. I'm envious of you veterans. I have the drive, the know how, and the want. Just have to have the time, funding and the balls.

Derrick,

Thanks for the link. I've reviewed it, and added another contingency for appraisals.

All,

Here's what I've come up with, with meshing a few documents together (it's a bit long and I hope it doesn't scare away the investor I'm working with).

https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=19S-oRaGIjyMTvhEj7UGg8lz36nJJHzBTdJ43YQAbhQw

I've reached out to a Title Company to see how they typically handle FSBO transactions.