All Forum Posts by: Jack Bobeck

@Hal Cranmer I would contact the property management/placement firms in your local area and ask them about higher end rentals. They can really help weed through the garbage applicants and help with finding the right tenant. Good ones who do this service can also answer your questions. I know we have some here in Jax that offer this service for people who come for medical assistance for months of time.

Since the land is the most valuable item, I would ask the seller for 30 days with $10 or $100 of consideration to market the property and get as many builders to see the property and find out what they are willing to pay for the property. Once you have a deal, you can always find a buyer for a mobile home, or who knows, maybe the builder needs a MH for their jobs.

I'd look to wholesale this deal to a builder.

@Matthew B. Patience, you will get there. Consider partnering with someone as well on your deal, see if you can get someone to go in 50/50 on the deal, limit your risk and share the liability. Maybe someone has a great deal, but are in over their head.

At these times of seemingly no good answers, get creative to find your next deal. The one thing I always hear on BP Podcasts, is that there are SOOOOO many ways to make money in Real Estate. So if one way is not working, find another!

@Jackie Lange Great advice! Realtors do this all the time when they are presenting to a seller on listing their house, they run a Comparable Market Analysis, and you did this with your prospect on the fly, you KNEW your number. Good idea for a newbie in negotiations! Convey what your number is, what you can pay and then SHUT UP! If the people NEED to sell, you should be in great shape!

@Mitch Korte Welcome to BP, there are plenty of topics to keep you busy, not to mention some great podcasts to listen to in the car or at the jobsite. A great library of must read books and an annual get together of all the people you see on the site. It is the place I come when I hit a bump in the road in my fix and flip business. You can search for people from St. Louis in the search and try and connect with them, or you can answer Forum questions, and run into people from St. Louis, both are fun! Welcome aboard!

@Matthew B. Hold onto your gun powder, Florida has 9 of the top 10 foreclosure cities according to RealtyTrac and there is also word that the Hedge Funds are not buying as much as in the past. This coupled with rising rates has cooled home buying in Florida. Also, do not forget that July 1, the governor signed the fast tracking of foreclosures in Florida. What used to take 5 years, has been moved up to take only 1 year. I think there will be many more good deals on the market, and soon.

@Mark Forest You sent them the letter stating the claim on deposit and listed other damages. If they choose not to pay, you send the damages to all 3 credit bureaus and let a small claims company see if they can recover 50% of the damages. If you get something, great, otherwise, move on and find the next tenant.

Lawyers look for money, don't give them the satisfaction of knowing your property is worth a lot!

Do they need the money now? Are they comfortable paying a Capital Gains Tax Rate of X % compared to paying their tax rate on earned income? It is all based on what their need is, right now. If they have to sell to have the money, NOW, then Owner Financing is not going to work, but you can find people, mostly with online ads, direct mail, websites, who will find you who have the need to sell and who will allow you to carry back the note. I find many multi-family owners are willing to do this, as the market here in NE Florida for Multi-family has not caught on fire as of yet.

Big topic, sure to get lots of answers, here are my 2 cents worth:

Buy/Hold - Do you have the guts to kick someone out for not paying their rent? Or would you pay someone for this service and to manage the property for you?

Buy/Fix/Flip - Can you find enough deals in your prospecting areas to pull off this solution? Do you have a goal in mind? Do you have the contractors for this work?

1st properties - To me, on my first, I would want to be close to it, so I can observe and see what is going on and where my money is going. But some people have done amazing deals from thousands of miles away. What is your risk tolerance? Can you enjoy your meals and sleep not being able to see your investment and what the unseen contractors are doing when you are not there? Just a few questions, which will cause more questions, I am sure.

John - If you have not done so, go and listen to the Bigger Pockets Podcast Show 1. It was by a guy in Phoenix who have excellent advice on how to figure out your buy/hold, buy/fix/flip business. He says everyone has a part of the business, you need to figure out what you bring to the business, if your partner brings the money. If he has money, great, use some of it on some deals, people who have money generally know others who have money, build a track record of buying, fixing and flipping to get more money from others, so you can buy $100 a door, but this time, you are buying 50 to 100 doors. Start small, automate your processes, and build a plan, make sure this is something both you and your partner want to do. Of course listen to all of the BP podcasts too, they are so valuable in information. I learn every time I hear them, over and over and over again.