All Forum Posts by: Gregory Walter

Hi Josh, 

You probably already know this but I see a lot of agents that don't so I'll pass a tip - 

Make the terms of the lease really clear in the listing and communicate you can provide support for the current tenants rental history.  Most of my investor clients shy away from tenant occupied homes because of uncertainty involved with a tenant they didn't place.  You could mitigate that by factoring or even guaranteeing a number of rent payments after close in exchange for a small premium.  

Go straight to the NC State General Statues - you'll find you answer in section in 93A-1, 2, and 8.  There are a lot of people on this site that break the law and aren't knowledgable enough to know it, not smart enough to look into it, or not grounded enough to admit the risks.  It may or may not catch up with them later on.  If you don't trend carefully, what your talking about may lead to a Class A Misdemeanor and you could get jail time if your caught.  Is it enforced?  Yes, but not enough to deter native "wholesalers" who may mislead you.

Often times people say they are not practicing real estate because they are selling a contract but in reality they're advertising property in a way that constitutes listing it.  Or they may accidentally trigger the sale of security under SEC laws (interests or contracts for real property being offered for sale may be consider securities in some circumstances) and then they are selling a security with a General Securities (series 7) license which is worse. 

There are a couple things you can do but the easiest is just find an licensed real estate broker that is willing to advertise the property in exchange for a small flat fee for his time to post the advertisements for you, or email people on your list.  It is very hard to "wholesale" property without taking inventory and stay compliant with the many laws involved in the sale of property, or contracts for property.  You have a much better chance if you link up with a licensed real estate broker.

I'm all about the profit motive.  Its not a bad thing if both sides win.

Charlotte is a not a very walkable city but there is a strong consumer preference for areas that have establishments (bars, restaurants, tennis courts, parks, etc.) or public transportation nearby and within walking distance.  If you can find area that are becoming more walkable like areas near Noda, you can do well.  Or if you can buy in area, where an older apartment complex is being replaced by mixed use buildings (residential and commercial establishments) - Silver Oaks being replaced by the Meredian for example, you can do well.   Or where a new light rail station is being placed, you can do well.  Plenty of other ways to make money as well.

There are not a lot of 4plexes in Charlotte but its a great city for rental real estate.  More so then the others you mentioned, I think.  You will have a difficult time find fourplexes here though.  They are not that common in Charlotte.  

Denver has been hot but runs a regulatory risk - if it becomes easier for marijuana related business proceeds to be deposited at banks you could stop see a collapse in part of whats currently proping up the real estate market.  

There is a lot of opportunity in Detroit but watch out for contingent liabilities from code enforcement issues on deep discount property.

 You may be right about the first part under some interpretations of the North Carolina Tenant Security Deposit Act and based on how the lease is written, however in North Carolina the landlord does not have to remit the interest on trust account to the tenant, so they wouldn't necessarily owe the tenants money - it would depend on the lease.

I think you could do well buying in an area with good schools and near a city center of a in a fast growing mid sized city with a moderate climate like Charlotte, Raleigh.  As the city "grows up" you could realize some pretty good appreciation.  Moderate climates allow for lower insurance rates, maintenance costs, construction costs, and encourage people to move to the city.  I think thats a lot more stable than buying a vacation home.  There are plenty of vacation communities you never heard of that once were in style and then drop off - Lake Lure for example.  I was in your situation a few years ago.  4 years later I'm doing substantially better and considering retiring within the next year or few.  All due to establishing rental properties.  If your interested in looking into Charlotte, feel free to reach out to me.

Those rules 60-65% rule will work in the Utah or in rust belt states but if you went by them in Charlotte, you might never do a deal, or you'd only do really small deals because the percentages might work out (but the net amounts in dollars would be small), or you'd wind up with some surprises. Even still, that sounds like a not such a great deal.  Contract flips are tough in our market.  Lack of arbitrage situations is a sign of a healthy market.

Welcome.  If there is anything I can do for you in the city of Charlotte, please feel free to reach out.  I'm a Broker who specializes in working with both beginner and established investors to do great deals.  

I just saw the specs above.  For 18k in the city of Charlotte, I'd be interest to hear more about any deals like that.

I'm a cash buyer depending on the purchase price and the deal.  Add me to your list and send any prospects to me at [email protected] please.