All Forum Posts by: Eric Gardiner

@Jeff Lundeen I am excited for your journey. 

@Kristie Giles Hi Kristie, I sold a rental I had 2 years ago and the buyer tested it. It came back positive. I used the company called AEI Decon. It cost me $3,198 for the meth clean up. It  was a 2 bed 1 bth unit with 650 square feet. 

The issue that I found is that after they clean up the meth then you will need to clean up their mess. They removed the carpet so I had to replace that. I had to hire a cleaner to clean everything and then I also painted it before I tried to sell it again. 

You can figure out your costs based on what I had to do. 

I hope that helps. 

@Cody Qurollo Hi Cody, If you want to be in the Layton area there is a great pocket of 4 plexes near Davis Hospital. I walked through one a few years ago. I would look there. They come up every now and then and usually they need some rehab and then rents can be pushed up.

 I would definitely go for a 4plex if you can afford it since you have use the same loan but get more units. 

You do need to talk to a lender first to see what the max amount loaned is on an FHA.

I hope this helps Cody. 

@Jeff Lundeen I think it is good to have an entity available at anytime. I would set it up just to have ready. If you are buying the house with an FHA or conventional loan then it will need to be in your name as they wont likely give that type of loan to a business. Then once it closes you can transfer it to an entity.

If you are going to use an investment loan then you could use the entity. You will likely still be signer of the loan but the liability will be on the entity. 

I would recommend talking to a professional. I am a realtor and not a lawyer! lol

A great investment loan in Utah is the MACU loan which is 10% down and I think 2 points. 

I hope this helps. 

@Dax Gurr  I have a friend that invests in Arkansas but he mostly does it at the tax sale that happens in the spring. I know another guy (realtor) in Midland Texas that find really good opportunities there. 

I personally don't have anything in any of those locations but both of them have had good results. 

@Blake Baker  Hi Blake. I own a brokerage but am not the broker. A friend (the broker) and I started it to do RE sales and also start a PM company. We have been open one year now and haven't focused much on the PM side of things. I would be interested to talk to you about this.

Shoot me a message and we should chat.  I tired to post my number but it wouldnt let me. 

@Russell Zuck Welcome Russ! Im in Salt Lake City. Reach out anytime. 

@Connor Cushman

Hi Connor, I will address each of these below. 

1. I’ll understand more thoroughly the entire process of making offers, signing contracts, inspections, financing etc.

  Answer: You wont learn most of this until you work in a brokerage or under another agent for at least 6 months. It will be a year before you are really good at this. Writing an offer is complicated but you can pick it up by the 3rd time but you still might make a mistake. Inspections are easy because you just schedule them with an inspector. Financing is not what you learn in RE school. You will learn that my studying finance or talking to a lender a lot. 

2. I’ll have easy access to new listings, market reports, email alerts that I can customize. I can also go look at any house I want any time. 

Answer: you will have access to new listings, marker reports and alerts. It will take time to learn the market and the backside of the MLS so you can find good deals as they hit the market. An experienced agent can do this for you and only send you solid flips or investments.

3. Save 3% on any deal I purchase as I take the commission instead of giving it to an agent. 

  Answer: yep you will save 3% but you will miss out on deals because you wont have a great agents sending you the best deals on the first day they hit the market. After about a year you will likely be able to spot some good stuff easily. 

Being a real estate agent is a fun and hard job. I love it but it is hard hard work. Finding deals is not as easy as having access to the MLS. Also, if you get in full time then you wont have a W2 and qualifying for a loan is a huge PITA. You need 2 years of W9 income before they let you use it on a loan app.

Like others have said I would choose one and go for it and once you master it then go for the other. If you have access to another W2 then I would go the agent route and you wont need to worry about loan approval on the W9 income. It will take you months to get up in running in RE. 

I hope you find this helpful. If you want more information message me or post here. I am open to helping. 

@Ray Loveless  wow. That is tough!! Keep looking. 

@Aaron Farr If you dont need the cash and dont want to have the residual cash flow now then go for the big take down of a multi unit something down the road. It really comes down to preference. I think you are fine with the strategy you are employing.