All Forum Posts by: Howard Maidens

 We are considering purchasing a condo to stay in when we visit our grown kids and then rent out the rest of the time. We are considering two in the Gold Coast area. One is a in high rise that requires a minimum 30 day rental and the other is in a smaller low rise building that has no minimum requirements. I don’t want to make this to lengthy so I’ll stop there. I would love some input from those who have some experience in this area. I’m happy to give more details. Thanks 

I just sold a property and was planning on doing a 12 month land contract, at which time buyers will be able to acquire a traditional mortgage. In talking to a mortgage broker friend today, he suggested it might be a better idea to do a lease to own option. Otherwise we would not be able to do a 1031exchange. Any insight from the BP community would be helpful and appreciated.

Thanks

Thank you for responding @Rolanda Eldridge and @Brent Austin. I have reached out to realtor on the island who was recommended by a friend. Waiting for a response to my latest question. I will post updates. 

Rolanda, did you end up buying a place? If so, how was the process?

We just got back from our third trip to St Thomas. Considering looking into purchaseing a property  as an investment instead of renting when we go. Wondering if anybody else has went this route and can give some insight? 

Thanks. 

So, I had thought I had found the perfect house to flip. Decent neighborhood, solid structure, very dated, lots of potential. Made an offer with an escalation clause it because I really wanted this one. Even with going over the asking price, the numbers worked. I lost to an agent who was buying for herself to flip. The difference was basically the amount of the commission.

My agent suggested that if I might want to consider getting my own license. I have seen like comments on this forum as well. I will discuss with my agent this week, but wanted to get input from this community first. I can see how it would be beneficial to do so and have thought about it some. My hesitation is that I currently work 50 hours a week now along with obligations to my 4plex that I own. Looking for feedback from those who are currently, or have been in this situation as well.

Looking forward to hearing from BP.

As an avid Dave Ramsey fan, my advice would be to pay off the loans. There will always be deals out there, and you have time. I asked a similar question to my accountant. His response was "what you don't owe, can't hurt you". My goal has always been to be debt free. I currently own a 4plex which I have a mortgage on, but that is the only debt we have. My plan is to flip to pay off that debt as fast as possible. Then I will start the process over. I sleep better knowing I have no personal debt.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Welcome to BP Eric. The wealth of info on this site is incredible. The fact that you already know what direction you want to go and have a plan is awesome. You are already ahead of the curve!

@Account Closed, Thanks for the input. The upside to this is I have learned a lot in a short period of time, Thanks again.

@Account Closed Thanks for the clarification. It seems like what I am realizing is that you can put almost anything in a lease, but that doesn't make it legal. I just purchased this 4plex recently, and was getting a lot of my info from the previous owner. If I can ask one more question? The previous owner had in the lease, that if the lease was broken, they would forfeit the security deposit. Is this legit, or also not legal in Michigan?

@Jeff B.

Thanks for the helpful insight and advice.