All Forum Posts by: Howard Mayberry

I attended a foreclosure auction in Louisville that only had about 15 properties on the block instead of the usual 100. Very few people attended and houses sold for a fraction of what would be considered normal. One poor man lost 5 properties with one being a duplex in a neighborhood that was starting to boom. The properties sold for between $500 and $12,000. I was the first person to knock on their door to purchase the redemption rights. I talked to the son who explained that his father had health issues and wasn't able to manage the properties and would be open to selling the redemption rights for little money as they weren't worth anything to them. His son also stated that he had a contractors license and a realtor license. We agreed to meet the next day. That was the last I had contact with him. I assumed he was avoiding me because someone with more money contacted him. I was wrong. They were just scared and sold the redemption right almost 6 months later. If I could go back in time I would not only have been more persistent but I would have offered the son the listings when I finished renovating the houses to sweeten the pot. 

Be sure to look up KREIA. We generally have over 200 attendees at our meetings. I second David's recommendation of meeting at the Manhattan Project as well.

I used to live in Detroit (Indian Village - which is a nice neighborhood). But even there, people will break in to houses on the second floor because the windows on the first floor are barred. Lots and Lots of crime.

This happened to me in Louisville. The previous owner was mad at me for buying the property and refused to sell the redemption rights to me. He sold them to a 3rd party, forcing me to maintain  property for 5 months and 29 days before i lost it to the redemption.

My last contractor could walk through the house and say this needs to be done and it should cost this much. Call this person or that guy.  Then I could schedule appointments, make sure it got done and pay the vendor myself as opposed to the general contractor doing everything.  We half way did this on my last house but he is too sick to do this now. I don't have enough knowledge or experience to do this myself.

The reason I ask is my contractor retired and was going to give me advice and consulting while i work on my next house (he is a friend of the family and I've only done three houses). Unfortunately, as soon as he retired has was diagnosed with brain cancer is now is too sick to help. Are there people who are a step above a home inspector that can say this or that needs to be done and here are some vendors to contact and this is a reasonable amount to pay? Thanks

I spent over 30 years working as an actuary in the health insurance world.  I've been working myself into an early grave to put money in someone else's pocket.  I grew up poor and when I was young I valued safety and security only to discover that there is no such thing. I've worked for companies that have been bought and sold, one lost $900M in two weeks when my wife and I were in Romania adopting two little boys, another company was raided by 200 FBI agents. If I'm gonna put in 18 hour days, I might as well do it for myself.

Would I have to front all the renovation money or would the QI disperse funds as needed?

Awesome, thank you for your help.

I have a rental that is too big and nice to produce a reasonable ROI. I would like to do a 1031 exchange for apartment buildings that need renovations. Can I include renovations costs with the cost of the apartments? For example, If I sell the rental house for $300,000, can I purchase some apartment buildings for $200,000 and spend another $150,000 in renovation costs to satisfy the 1031 exchange requirements? Thanks.