All Forum Posts by: James Mc Ree

You reduce your prospective tenant pool size.

Jim.

You do have an opportunity to build a relationship with the realtor and get the realtor to work for you.

Let the realtor know that you are interested in the property up to your price and that you are moving on to other properties.  Ask the realtor to keep in touch and let you know if the situation with this property changes.  Also, let the realtor know what kind of properties you are looking for and ask if he/she knows of any others.  You can then get the realtor working for you on any property.  The realtor only gets paid when something sells.

Jim.

Look elsewhere and periodically check back with this realtor.  Sellers get more flexible as the year progresses.  Your offer might look more appealing in November than it does now.

The seller can instruct the agent to not even talk about a price lower than X.  That's not uncommon.  It saves you time from getting involved in a negotiation that has no hope of success.

Good luck!

Jim.

I have 1 investment with RealtyShares for about 2-3 months.  It seems to be going along fine.

RealtyShares is probably my least favorite of the platform among several I've invested on for two reasons: (1) they do not prefund their investments and (2) a long lag time from closing to first payment.

Many platforms prefund their investments, meaning investors begin accruing interest the day they make the purchase, the day the platform receives their funds or shortly thereafter that date (ie. close to the actual purchase date).  RealtyShares doesn't start accruing interest for investors until the deal with the borrower actually closes.  That depends on RealtyShares' effectiveness in raising funds.  Your investment is held hostage earning nothing in the meantime.  I waited about 3 weeks for my investment and am watching some now that are open over 3 weeks and still waiting for funding.

RealtyShares pays around the end of the first full month of investment.  This means that if your deal closed today (Aug 1), you would not get a payment until towards the end of September.  That's not awful, but if you committed your funds in the beginning of July, that's 1 month of no interest (July) and another 6-8 week wait for your first payment.  Many of the other platforms I am on outperform that.

Other than these reasons, RealtyShares tends to have more equity offerings at higher minimums than the other platforms I am on.  They don't have many debt offerings.  The debt offerings tend to be around 9%.

I would recommend RealtyShares; however, be sure to comparison shop as your IRR can suffer if you have to wait for the deal to close. I don't have any real insight into their underwriting effectiveness.

Jim.

I agree with @John Thedford.

@Atwan Kwan - The "deposit to hold" and security deposit can be the same thing.  A deposit to hold is often a small deposit made early in the deal to bind the tenant and landlord to one another in lieu of full payment coming later.  You wouldn't do a deposit to hold if you already have the complete security deposit.

Jim.

You can sign a lease separate from the inspection.  Execution of the lease would be contingent on a satisfactory inspection.  I do that with my properties in Pennsylvania which doesn't differ that much from New Jersey.

The deposit you are referring to is a "Deposit to Hold".  It is usually a nominal amount that commits you and your prospective tenant to each other, but also usually accompanies a lease signing.  It is hard for a tenant to commit to you without knowing the commitment.

As @Sue Kelly said, keep showing until you have a signed lease without contingencies.

Jim.

Try calling a few local mold remediation companies and discuss your interest.  My guess is they would be happy to give you a brief education iif you see each other as partners.  You could then ask them how to learn more if you want to learn more.

Jim.

The trim looks fine to me.  White is a pretty normal trim color.  Painting the trim a different color could make the house "unusual" - not good or bad, but just unlike the surrounding area.

You could add some additional color with different colors for the shutters or front door.

Jim.

You also have a written record of your intended mortgage fraud publicly available on the Internet.  Are there any whistleblowers out there looking to collect a reward?

Seriously; be honest, follow the rules and you will do well.  Cheat, lie, steal and you will be in jail.

Jim.