All Forum Posts by: Eric F.

I have a couple of questions about finding homes to buy cash cheap, fix up, and sell on owner financing.

I have posted three ads on craigslist in the last month stating I am looking to buy mobile homes cash. I have not gotten a single response. I only saw two homes for sale on craigslist which seemed like they would work but neither replied to my e-mail.

I went to three parks Saturday and today and did not see a single for sale by owner sign. I went on google and aimed for parks with ~40 lots. This leads me to my next question. How do you find the park manager? No park had an office on site. Does the park manager just live in one of the homes?

What should my next step be?

I have read a ton of threads here and gotten some ideas, but the two steps above seem like the majority of suggestions and I just want to make sure I am not missing anything obvious.

thanks
Eric

Mike Matthews

I have a question. You say
"I can buy 7 mobile homes for less than 1 sticks and bricks home and it pays for itself in only 3 years. So for 100K I am making $3,500 cash flow monthly and that is after the homes are paid for 100%. You House can not offer you that."

Does this mean you are buying mobile homes and renting them instead of selling them? Are you doing this in parks or private land? That is a very impressive amount of cash flow.

Why does "the number" matter? What matters is income and expenses. If your rental properties generate regular income why would you sell them and put them in a bank to get a low return? You mention your assets but what are your expenses? What will they be in retirement? It doesn't matter how much you have saved if you spend more than your savings allow.

I guess the only way the value of the properties would matter is if you could sell them and get a higher return elsewhere, but I doubt you can do that reliably.

I was hoping you guys would start a podcast. Most real estate podcasts (that I have found at least) seem to focus on wholeselling or other "quick buck" strategies. I hope this draws from the diverse knowledge at Biggerpockets to provide investing information beyond what most podcasts provide.

(edit) I enjoyed the first episode and cannot wait for more. I left a review in iTunes as well. Good work guys!

Chris Martin I sent you an email. Thank you for the help. The fenced backyard is the only part that truly matters, a dog door is easy to build.

Lynn M. thank you for the continued advice. I will take it all into consideration.

Bill Worsley I am 90% sure I will be there tomorrow. There is one thing I may not be able to reschedule. If I can make it I will look for you.

William and Will, thanks for the welcome!

Brandon Turner I followed your blog and now your postings here at Biggerpockets. You had mentioned the goal of 4,000 in passive income and I have the exact same goal. Your posts have been very helpful to me. I already had the idea of buying the duplex but your post on it helped with the convincing it was indeed a good idea. I'm not sure if there are any celebrity owned duplexes in Raleigh but I will keep an eye out! I do hope to buy smart so I can keep cash flowing off it. I am sure Biggerpockets can help.

Julie Greene I looked it up the other day and I believe I can still withdraw $10,000 from my retirement account, which is my plan.

I am starting to read around here to get ideas the best way to find my duplex. If anyone has any suggestions for a first time buyer with no experience that would be awesome.

Appreciate the welcome everyone.

Thanks for the reply Lynn. How many houses do you have in Raleigh now? What types? Any small multifamily? I am lucky to live in a good city as far as the economy and overall quality of life goes.

Hi Everyone,

First post here. I just turned 30 and have been passively interested in real estate for about a year now. I have yet to do a deal and would say I only became seriously interested a couple months ago. I have not done anything yet except read some Gary Keller books and go to a few REI club meetings as well as some websites. I live in Raleigh, North Carolina and plan on staying here.

My long term goal is to own rental properties with enough income I can choose to work rather than have to work. I love to travel and being able to do so for extended periods would be my dream. I like my current job but even so I just know I cannot be in an office for the next 30 years.

Anyway, I do not even own my personal residence now. I am thinking about buying a duplex for my first house and renting out half, except I have a dog and want to keep a fenced in backyard for her since she is accustomed to a dog door, and it is hard to find a duplex like that.

Basically, I am open to any advice on how I can achieve my goals as quickly as possible. I do not have much money I can invest now, 10k cash (and 30k in an IRA). I spent a few months overseas when between jobs traveling which depleted the savings somewhat, but some experiences money cannot buy. One important thing: If my first couple deals result in good cash flow I can probably get money for a few down payments fairly easily.

I am open and would greatly appreciate any advice on what I should do.

Things I have considered.
I have read a lot of John Fredo's stuff on here and his website and there are a lot of mobile home parks around me so that may be a good opportunity to get some short term cash flow going.
The duplex I mentioned above.
Figuring out how to get a few rental properties without using much cash out of pocket.
I am open to learning alternative ways to buy Single and Multi (2-4) family rentals outside of traditional mortgages.

I'd like to thank everyone for the great content I have read here already.