All Forum Posts by: Jason E.

Thanks Ryan,

Sounds like you are saying there is no way to avoid hurting the seller in this case unless I am able to afford the rent on my own home AND a second note. Is that the case?

Also would an owner financing deal work out safer to keep from hurting the seller in the case I can not afford prolonged monthly payments? I can not remember but is it true that in owner financing the deed is never signed over until the full amount is finally paid to the original owner?

I have been looking into real estate investing a lot. Right now I am at a point in life where I am going to be moving into my wife's family's home with her. I have no job right now but am looking. Her family has an extra home that they plan to rent out to us when I get some income. But I do not believe I will be able to save much when that happens.

But I have been looking into ways to get into real estate. Since my credit is horrible (bankruptcy due to medical) and I will not be able to save much money I have looked into creative ways of doing it.

I know a little about the owner financing, and subject to type deals. So here is my question:

I can not afford a huge risk right now. In fact I would rather not risk much at all at this point. I think I can eventually get $5,000 saved up at the most to put into this (if that). I have heard of doing a subject to or owner financing to avoid credit issues with getting a loan. BUT...I do not and will not hurt someone else if something goes horribly wrong.

So if I did a subject to deal with just a couple thousand down to bring their payments current to the bank I could basically own the deed to the house. BUT what happens if I can not get tenants to cover the monthly payments? I can not afford my own rent plus another house note. How can I keep myself and others from getting hurt in such an event?

I am curious as to how the mechanics of a "subject to" contract works. I know that it is basically just taking over payments to the bank. But is there normally a down payment of some type needed?

Ok so I want to get into real estate investing. But I have heard so many horror stories. I don't have a lot of money and my current cash flow is very low. But I thought I could save up enough money to cover a few months worth of a house note. I thought about buying a house through owner financing since my credit isn't the best right now. Then I wanted to rent the house out to make a profit.

Like I said, I planned to have a few months worth of the house note saved up. But what happens if I can not get paying tenants in that time? What if the plumbing needs to be redone? What if the tenants destroy the house? What if I end up in the money pit? What if I buy the house thinking I can get the profit in rent and the amount people will pay in rent goes down over time?

These are my fears and I have heard many others who tell horror stories about this. So my thought becomes "If I had the money I would buy a house and make money with it." But then another thought says that one doesn't make sense "If I had the money already why would I need to make money with another house?"

So can you help me? Are my fears keeping me safe of keeping me from something that could be very good?

Thanks guys, I am really enjoying this place. I am reading a lot and learning. I do have ownership of my home (it was a gift from wealthy family). But I do not like the idea of living with someone else. I don't mind them in another house I could rent to them...I just would rather not share the space with them personally. I will take a look at the whole issue of zoning laws too by the way. I would rather rent to a single family though. I was just looking at the other as an option.

I love how quick I got answers to my last question here. I hope that when I really start getting into this and am able to offer help I will be able to provide help to others here as well. For right now though I am learning all I can.

I am wondering how long on average it takes to get new tenants?

Also let me tell you all about myself and why I am starting to think about this very seriously.

I have been diagnosed with social anxiety disorder. Strangely enough I seem to be able to handle most one on one dealings with people. I just have a hard time when dealing with "normal" jobs in the public sector. So I started working from home by building websites and making money online. It worked out a few years but then Google changed the way they rank sites and my business went downhill.

So I need to find another way to make money without going into the public sector. I always wanted to get into investing and real estate has always been something I wanted to get into. So I would love to do that.

Right now I have a very small income (just enough to meet my bills each month and maybe a little to save). But I do not have to pay rent on my house and am considering moving in with family and selling my house to have a little to start investing with.

But as of right now I am just trying to learn as much as I can before I act. So that is my story.

Thanks guys, that actually helps. So if I understand what you are saying: you would have tenant 1 have utilities in their name and have tenants 2 and 3 pay tenant 1 for their share of utility costs. Then tenant 1 simply pays the bill.

This seems like a good solution. I just wonder what would happen if tenant 1 moves out. Who would then take over utilities and how would you handle the contract to take care of this situation?

So I am thinking very seriously about getting into real estate investing. I do have a lot of questions though. I have been doing research and thought maybe I should ask them here too.

I was thinking of getting a house that I can make payments on and rent out either the whole house to a single family for a little more than the cost to me to keep the house...or rent out the rooms to several other people and make profit that way.

I understand that in order to make profit with the multiple tenants I would need to be sure to have all the rooms filled so I am leaning with trying to rent out to a single family.

But let's say I went the other way and rented it by rooms.

I would want the utilities in the tenants name...how would I do that if it were multiple tenants?

I am also concerned with how long it takes to get tenants...how long should I plan to be without?

Also, if anyone has any other advice I would be grateful to you.