All Forum Posts by: Ian Funnell

Caroline, thank you for your insight. Ranching is not foreign to me, but as an investment property I wouldn't be operating it.

The seller is only willing to go as high as a three year balloon.

It is on a well and has a septic system, both of which I would pay to have inspected prior to purchasing. I didn't realize you could test the gallons and quality, but will add that to the list!

There's a 17.5 acre off market property for sale. It has a 2,100sf home on the property, horse barn, pasture, rodeo ring, and backs up to a small body of water. The area is growing significantly, and thus has what I believe is long term appreciating potential. The owner owns the property outright, and wants $800k, which is reasonable for the county in which it's located. They're willing to seller finance with a three year balloon as long as I put down $250k. I'm willing to oblige as long as I get favorable terms.

The goal of purchasing the property is for investment purposes. I'd like to rent the property out for a few years, see where interest rates are at the end of the balloon, and decide whether to refinance in order to keep it or sell it. So in the short term, my objective is to end up with a cash flowing property. With $250k down (or 31.25% down given the purchase price), I feel like I have some leverage. 

So how would you structure the deal? I'd appreciate any feedback, thoughts, etc.

I'd really appreciate feedback with regard to whether I should move forward with investing in real estate, or to let the desire go for the time being: I'm 34-years old, married, have 2-children under the age of two, own a home, and have a stable and good paying job. I am the sole provider for our home. We have roughly $100k in equity in our home and about $25k in cash or liquid investments. My background is in building, with a degree from TAMU in Construction Science, and I'm currently a project manager overseeing new construction and remodeling of high end custom homes in Houston. Real estate investing has been an interest for over a decade, in which time I've consumer innumerable podcasts, books, and have attended boot camps and master minds.

Here's my hold-ups:

1) I do not want to put my family in financial risk. The resources mentioned previously are what we have, so if deployed on a real estate investment and things were to go sideways, that's all we have. Alternatively, if something were to arise in our life (emergency or otherwise) while this money was tied up in an investment, we're left with few good options. 

2) Time is not something I have much of. Of the 18-hours I'm awake each weekday, all but 1-to-1.5 of them are spoken for. Weekends are more flexible, with about 8-hours of available time.

3) House hacking is not an option because my folks moved across the country (in to our same neighborhood) so they could be closer to their grandchildren. It would devastate them (and us) if we moved. Furthermore, we have a less than 3% interest rate on our home, and we love were we live.

My family and I are finally getting to a position in life where we are financially secure. But working a 9-to-5 has it limits, and that's where real estate comes in. I've watched my parents reach great levels of success through real estate, and I've heard countless stories and witnessed first hand in other peoples lives the power of real estate. I believe with my background in residential construction, I'm positioned well to enter in to the space. Furthermore, I seem to have a relentless internal compass that points me in its direction.

As mentioned before, I'd appreciate your insight, even if that means holding steady the course I'm on for the time being. Many times, I'm my biggest limiting factor. My hope in bringing this to the forum is to see if I'm looking at the situation through a limited lens or if I'm seeing things clearly and just not wanting to let go. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

Hey Everyone, on a conversation with a seller he asked that I provide a LOI and a POS in order to continue. As someone new to the real estate game, I'm not quite sure what he means. I figured out that LOI is a letter of intent. Does this need to be drafted by a real estate attorney or can I use a free version found on the internet? As to what a POS means, I'm not sure. Can anyone help clarify what he is referring to?