All Forum Posts by: Ethan Blevins

Update for everyone, I talked more with the seller and asked some more specifics about the property. He moved out of the property this June to work here in Normal(4 months w/ no one there). It's a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom house with a garage for a single car to park. He mentioned half of the garage can be an apartment (probably not legally so this will have to be examined more) and he did not have pictures on his phone of the property so I am feeling like work needs to be done. I told him before we got too much deeper into everything I would need to get a property inspection done which he is fine with. Today after work I am going to call a local agent to ask about the area and get some ideas. If things still look good I will have someone get out there to run a report! I appreciate all the feedback!

Thank you for the input! I don't want to shake hands and my pants fall down because I didn't come to the meeting without a belt!

I'll have a discussion with the seller to get more information. If things sound promising I can reach out to a local property inspector and work towards getting that completed. I appreciate the response from you both! @Michael Dumler  

@Matthew Crivelli

Good morning, I personally have not used the software myself, but I constantly hear about a software CRM called Sales Force. I'd say check that out. I work at a bank and some segments utilize the service and I have talked with other companies who also use it. 

I did a quick google search for Sales Force and this is the page about leads. https://www.pipedrive.com/feat... 

Best of luck

Good morning all, I recently met someone who is looking to sell his home for $12k cash. I asked for the address and took a look on Zillow and Realtor.com to see what the estimated value is it comes in between $48 - 52k. I asked him why was he willing to sell it for so little and he mentioned needing cash to pay bills and how the property is 3.5 hours away from where he currently lives. I don't have the availability to drive down and check the property out myself. Does anyone have input on how I can find out if this place is a dump and this is too good to be true? 

My thoughts were to pay him the $12k and immediately place it on the open market and take whatever I can get for it. Any input is greatly appreciated as I have never done any real estate deals yet.

Thanks,

Ethan

@Ronald Allen Barney I appreciate how candid and straightforward you answer is, as a banker I am aware of LTV being important but I like the way you framed the percent being misleading, because it makes total rational sense. $10k does sound like a TON in closing costs, but I guess it is always better to play it safe and be happy if it is less. As far as condition of the home I also think it makes total sense to negotiate down based on what the expected repairs might be. I wouldn't want to be the sucker buying a lemon. Thanks again for all the great information!

Hi all, I am 22 years old, graduating college this December. I am planning on being in my area (Central Illinois) for about another year and a half.

I love the idea of house-hacking (I will definitely be doing one). If I could get any insight I would greatly appreciate it. I currently rent for $450 per month with two roommates also paying the same. So, I know rent by the room is allowed in my area as this is a college town. As far as cash reserves after the purchase of the home, I am not quite sure what a good target number should be. The first home I purchase I do not plan on selling after I were to leave this area as renting to college students would be my exit strategy from the home. My problem arises in that I do not have a lot of cash saved up. Only a few thousand dollars. 

I could most likely put some money down in a FHA loan and get a mortgage, however I worry that depleting my savings would put me at a high risk of not having cash for needed repairs should something serious need replaced. Does anyone know of a good target number to hit in reserves? Say you put $3500 down on a home for ~$120k how can I estimate the cash I need to keep in reserves for repairs? Does this soley depend on the state of the property or has someone developed a system to estimate what additional cash they would need per value of home?

There are many questions throughout my post here, so I appreciate any responses at all. I have been listening to the Bigger Pockets money podcast and Bigger Pockets real estate podcast for the past year and a half, and I am ITCHING to buy my first home and start my real estate journey. 

Thank you for taking the time to read my post! I have notifications on so I will do my best to respond to any and all responses!

Best,

Ethan