All Forum Posts by: James Dickens

@Josh Miller this is a really great story but it sounds a bit like a sales pitch with a cliff hanger waiting to see what the deal is going to be. Giving back is great, and hope you accomplish great things beyond what you have so far. Looking forward to seeing what that is exactly and where it leads you. 

@Michael Krupp I'm glad that someone who is mentoring is not looking to charge an arm and a leg to help people understand Real Estate. It does sound like Josh may be headed in that direction as well. I myself have yet to get started with my Real Estate journey but once I do I hope to be able to help others along the way. 

@Jay Hinrichs is there anything in Real Estate you haven't done? You are like the Real Estate Monk, the one with all the wisdom :) Always enjoy it when you post to a thread. I feel I get just a bit smarter/better when I read something you have contributed to.  

@Matt Nettles Welcome to Bigger Pockets! Lots of good advice here but it also looks like you have started the education process pretty well on your own. I am in the same boat, of learning and researching! For some of us, it's a bit harder the Network than others so reaching out is a great start. 

Congrats @John Lenhart! It sounds like a really nice piece of business. I hear is harder and harder to find deals to add value to so you give some of us hope that there are some deals to be had. 

Best of luck with this property and hope the unexpected deferred maintenance issue provides great lessons at little cost. 

Thanks for posting. 

@Chris Levarek and @George Gammon Thanks for the reply. 

I can get a HELOC but I can only get about 30K, so unless I find something in that range I would have to finance some of the funds or find another money source to complete an all-cash sale. I have yet to buy a property but I spoke to an investor in my area that told me to watch out for that. He also told me about cash back at closing but I think the way he is doing it may not be above board however that's another story.

Anyway, he had run into the issue when trying to flip a property that the appraiser said they couldn't/wouldn't appraise to comps due to the time in between so what you say makes sense. This also emphasizes the value of being able to go all cash on the sale as there is no appraisal to deal with at that point, only when you refi or sell. 

Valuable info for sure, appreciate your time. 

@George Gammon if you do that and use the HELOC for a downpayment and not a full purchase of a property are you having to do 2 appraisals? One when you purchase and one when you switch to the fixed-rate mortgage? If so have you run into the issue where they will only appraise the second time in relation to what it was appraised for the first time around?

As an example, if you buy a house say for 50K (appraisal was also 50K)using the HELOC for a downpayment. You then fix the house up and say your estimated ARV is 100k. When you switch to the 30 year and they reappraise although comps may reflect 100k the appraisal comes in at 70k due in part to the earlier 50k appraisal?

I know you would be able to pay off the HELOC but could affect the perceived value of the property?

Welcome, Greg! I'm a bit South and East of you down in New Iberia. I wish you well with your Empire!

@Alex Griffith Good to see you thinking ahead! As for books a good one to get started with is the ABC's of Real Estate Investing by Ken Mcelroy. 

One thing you may consider doing with your cash now instead of stocks would be crowdfunding in real estate. There are several companies that do it and I know some advertize with Bigger Pockets. I think you will get a better average return than the stock market but I'm no expert. That would be a fairly hands-off way to get started but still, be involved in Real Estate. 

With just a bit more cash you may also be able to get into a Turn-Key Rental which in a way is somewhat hands-off as well. There are also a few companies on here that do that, but make sure you check them out as with anything you will find good and bad. 

I hope you find success early and often!

@Erin Auman Sure don't, I'm just learning about it myself. I would guess if you search for Skip Trace on here you will find some recommendations. 

@Erin Auman doesn't the tax assessor have contact information for the owner, if nothing else current address? If not you may have to skip trace to get additional info on them if not. 

As far as numbers there are a few places where you can get spreadsheets to crunch numbers. I think @Jonathan Twombly has one on his site that would work for you. I'm sure others do as well or you can even use the Bigger Pockets Tools if you're a Pro Member. 

Good to know @Jonathan Bombaci. Thanks for taking the time to explain it and I'm sure that someone in the future searching to know more about Cashback at closing and how to to it correctly will find value in this post.