All Forum Posts by: Ilya Z.

What are more effective ways of fidning realtors who have experience working with investors? Not sure if this are unreasonable expectations on my part, but to me what this means is that this person has experience findings off-market properties with motivated sellers before these properties end up on MLS, auction.com and other sites that visible to the whole world.

Other than just the word of mouth, the only other thing I've done is I contacted many listing agents that I found browsing Redfin listings in my area asking this: "I am in investor, I have $X of cash that I can bring to a deal. Do you have experience working with investors and finding distressed off-market properties?". I got just a few responses, which is what I expected, and none of these people brought me any good deals. I can certainly wait for them to find those deals, but I also want to expand my network to work with more realtors to increase chances of one. 

I also realize that those realtors might be working with more experiences investors who keep them busy and bring them more money than I can, at least initially. So how can I find these folks and then get my foot in their door, so to speak?

So things turned out to be more complicated than I thought:

1. I am not eligible for Navy Fed membership because I have no ties to the Armed Forces etc

2. PenFed gives out LOCs against rental properties but... if you have more than 3 properties -- which I do -- they consider it too much risk and they would only give you a LOC against your primary residence. Even if the properties are paid off and have tenants. The only way around it is to put properties in excess of 3 under an LLC.

Still need to talk to NASA FCU...

Thanks. Have to call them tomorrow to find out how loose the "ties" can be ("To become a member, you or one of your family or household members must have ties to the armed forces, DoD or National Guard."), since I don't have any direct connections. 

Good Day!

Is it possible to get a line of credit (not a loan) against rental properties in Maryland? I have a couple of condos that are paid off and have tenants. I have a HELOC with my credit union ($0 balance right now, line to 80% LTV) and got also preapproved by them for a loan. "Platinum" credit rating (at least it was before I applied for the HELOC and the loan, hope that didn't affect it). Now I want to see if I can get another cash line. My CU only gives out loans, same with a couple of other places I pinged. Can someone recommend a lender? What sort of rate and term can I expect? My HELOC is currently at 5%, if this reference helps.

Thank you!

Thank you all, this is very helpful! Wrote a short letter, sending out tomorrow, crossing fingers...

On a separate note, it's been awhile since I handwrote letters. I think some of my hand muscles atrophied... :-)

Good Day Everyone,

So I was driving through a neighborhood lately and noticed an old house that appeared to be empty but in an OK shape (that is, not abandoned). Googled it and turns out it belonged to an elderly pair. The husband passed a couple of years ago, the wife passed about 2 months ago (found an obit). The house is owned/managed by their daughter whose contact address is about an hour away from the property.

The neighborhood is very nice but the house will probably require a lot of work (it was built around 1940, many houses in the area are that old too but have been significantly renovated). I am a newbie so it's hard for me to determine if this would even be a good flip. Still, want to send a letter to the daughter to explore this option.

So I bought a neutral but kinda pretty postcard and am ready to write it and send it. Not I just need to figure out what to write :-)

Are there things that I (i) should not and (ii) should say in the letter? Don't think it's a good idea to mention passing of the parents. Should I phrase it in a special way because I am not 100% sure I want to buy this house in the end? Any other specific points?

Thank you!

Hello Fellow BP'ers,

Can you recommend a contractor for a rehab of a flip in Baltimore County that might include adding another floor?

Thank you!

Apparently two different doctors at the hospital where he was brought (DOA) gave very different and outright bizarre responses when asked by the wife about cause of death. Not sure if this has anything to do with the delay.

We're trying to make it Plan B, at least for now, since cost is a big factor. 

Thanks. But would the fn get the cert from the same place she's trying to get it from? In which case is the advantage that they have lot of experience dealing with such cases?