All Forum Posts by: Jay C.

A above poster pointed out a fact. Hedge funds have bought like crazy here. They have over bought. I see dozens of rentals sitting idle on craigs list because of this. This is becoming a very crowded space. It is realy starting to look ripe again for implosion like a few years back. I see all the same "too much leverage' mistakes being made once again. Since history always repeats iself I would be cautious. With these hedge funds owning so much property it can be dangerous. You see they will treat these as stocks and the first hint oif trouble they will dump them at a loss if need be. I am a trader first and a property person second. With the market as frothy as it is and many thinking we are way over bought we have all the makings of a nice correction brewing both on the markety and in real estate.

I do comment you have it right idea imo on buy and hold. These flippers are going to dream of the day they they owned properties for what they used to have bought them for when they gave them up for a small profit. I wont sell my properties until they have paid for themselves two times over and they reap the reward of the homes being worth at min double my initial investment when I sell. At this time I dont need leverage. Every 3-4 years I spin off enough income to buy another.

Joe,

When I get replies to my CL add I respond with a few questions I call my pre-screen. Just a few simple questions that let me find the best fit for my property. I ask if they have pets and if so how many and size. I ask how many will occupy the home. I ask how long they intend to occupy the property. I ask a few more general question to help me sort out a good fit. I dont take large dogs so the pet questions helps. I have small 2 bedroom houses so a house of 5 does not work. I can ask a simple question are they employed and they usually tell me where and how long. You have to be careful what you ask to remain within the law. Some obvious things you just dont ask. The main thing is in most cases they offer more info than asked and you have a good idea of where to go. Some other important things. I only show the property to one person at a time. I make this clear to all who contact me. I only screen one person at a time and yes you collect the screen fee from them prior to screening them. You then get to look at them.their cars ect. You see a junky car thats filthy inside you are no doubt going to get the same tennant.

You can find tennat screening services all over the web. They are all pretty common. I elect not to view the tennant credit info rather I have a criteria set up with the screener and if they fit the criteria its a pass......or fail. That way I am partially out of the mix. It works very well that way for me.

I have had great luck using CL. When I reply to the email I have a very easy pre-screen to sort it out a bit better as far as pets and other things. I never put a sign in the yard for the simple reason I dont want anyone to know its vacant for fear of vandalism or theft.. As far as low income having internet ect my experience is they have as nice or nicer devices than higher income people and they all seem to have it in home or on a mobile device.

What concerns me about the deal as some pointed out is you need several key factors to work out to make it go. I would like it alot more if you had that down payment in hand. I just see to many things dependant on borrowing. This whole industry tanked from too much leverage a few years back. The people who were over leveraged we decimated. If you look thru the posts on this site you can see much of the same thing happening again. I would suggest to wait a bit and get more things in order. Your chance on these type of deals is not going away any time soon.

Good Luck

Hi, You have a good plan but can I be honest? Your a ways off. What sunk this whole industry a few years back was too much borrowing/leverage. You have to be in a good spot with your primary home and have a decent cash wad if you are going to safely stem in IMO. The objective is to make money not risk everything. Some lender will not lend to someone with no landlord experience as well. I wish you the best of luck.

Dont screw around here. Get a pest company on board and get it contained. The pests are also going bathroom in this building and your going to have a bigger problem soon enough.

This is kind of a tough one. I think I would sell it and find something else. You dont want to risk being the spotlight of a newspaper article about potential fraud even though its not. In the end those HFH homes should have some sort of restriction on title that sends them back to the pool for low income housing to be used again. I get your situation has changed and bravo for that. Its just some will not view it that way regardless.