All Forum Posts by: Greg Carroll

Good points, And dare I say the first few home to be finished would be surrounded by a lot of unlivable homes. So, it would have to be a coordinated effort to get many done at once. May even be able to take advantage of purchasing building materials, appliances, etc. in mass. 

Many communities have been devastated by natural disasters. Has anyone ever tried to bring a group of investors together to rebuild a town? One where most of the homes were damaged or destroyed as were businesses. The people never came back and the businesses never had a reason to reopen. I drove through one of these recently (one of the saddest things I've seen) and thought, a pool of investors all doing individual fix and flips or fix and holds could revitalize a town. Once the houses started coming back so would the businesses.

What are your thoughts?

Please let me know when your next event is. I'm in Washington County MD, near the Antietam Battlefield. 

Scott, It is much more affordable for us than places like Charlotte, the Research Triangle area and Wilmington, but I believe the prices will still increase (though in general I fear the housing bubble like the early 2000s, but that's another conversation).

Andrew and Steven, yes, this will be a conversation with a lender on the best approach for financing. We have about $150,000 in equity in our primary home so if I buy it as an investment/rental instead of vacation home, when we are ready to retire, I can refinance and knock down the mortgage with some of the equity money.

Did some house and property hunting in the New Bern NC area a couple of weeks ago. Working with a great real estate agent, Shawn Mayers. My thought is to buy something, rent it out, until I'm ready to retire out of MD to NC.

Anybody do anything like that? Any suggestions on how to do this right?

Originally posted by @Brittany Critchfield:

a trailer owner called me from a post card I sent out so I spent quite a bit of time looking into it and unfortunately most trailer parks require the trailer to be owner occupied. 

In a case where renting is frowned upon/not allowed, might I suggest a Lease/option to buy with you as the bank". Get an option deposit (not a down payment unless they follow through and buy), take monthly payments and make them responsible for all repairs and side costs (HOA, utilities, etc.). If they leave, you have the option deposit and you do it all over again. If they follow through and buy it, great!

My Dad used to say of someone who couldn't make up their mind (especially the driver of the car ahead of him) "Crap or get off the pot already". That has been me for the last two years. I've been looking at tax liens, flipping, buy and hold, etc., etc., etc. and have read a ton of articles, listened to dozens of podcasts, and even paid for classes and training. I started an LLC, opened a bank account, got business cards printed, got a website name locked down. I have all of my financial goals written out. And what have I done with all of that? Exactly nothing!

What has changed for me? As a government worker, last years shutdown (and lack of a paycheck for a month), a retirement seminar at the office that showed me I can't afford to retire, and Mom's health is declining as she hits 80 and she has no savings. Time for sitting on the sidelines is now over.

Although I intend on diversifying my real estate investments down the road, I'm going to start with getting some doors. I have a couple of multi-family units I'm looking at and will be getting my first within 30 days. I will use the wisdom of some of the great articles I've read, but I am open to all advise and suggestions.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when I reach out to lawyers, title companies, management companies through their web site or by email/phone and don't hear back annoys the snot out of me. Don't bother to have a site if you aren't going to do basic customer service. So, any suggestions on how to line up a good team is very welcome. Any suggestion on companies in the Central MD, WV panhandle areas?

I'm looking forward to sharing my adventures in real estate and hope to be able to give back to the BP community!

Happy New Year All, and cheers to finally getting off the pot. 

@Cameron Riley an option I’ve see is the applicant pays the company that does the background check directly. One less transaction to worry about.

I would prefer even less information.

“Thank you for submitting an application for XYZ property. Unfortunately, you were not selected.”

If you feel the need to soften it, you can wish them the best in their search.

Maybe it boils down to, it depends. If i'm doing an upscale single family tile looks nicer. If its an apt complex, especially with a higher turnover, insert it is. 

For us personally, I'm tired of regrouting my shower tiles, so I'll be putting an insert in soon.

A FSBO just popped up by me with a 1970s style ranch that would be a great fix and flip. If it was just the house the ARV would be around $225. The asking price however is $400k because it also comes with 14 acres of subdividable land zoned agricultural/residential. Its a long thin property and would set up great for additional house lots. How do you figure out offer price and is this even a wise investment?