All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Brent Hanson

First of all welcome to bp.  First a word of caution.  Be careful about announcing how much money you have.  Your a new investor coupled with money.  You may not have the experience to recognize the Sharks that will start circling you so tread lightly.  Prior to entering any partnership run it by a real estate attorney.  It will be money well spent.  

As for the Bay Area I don't invest there but I know there's plenty of opportunity so good for you for going after it.  There are plenty of heavy hitters so connect with them.

@J. Martin can perhaps point you in the right direction. 

Good luck and God speed.

@Robin Secord

No offense taken. Sounds like you're in a great market! Unbelievable to most I too am in great market as well.  Yes buy and hold is tricky in southern cal.  But my objective is to make money. For me the route is lending to rehabbers. There's plenty of money to be made in all markets you just need to adjust your strategy.

Anna Watkins I use pensco for my self directed IRA. They are knowledgeable about the rules. However you need a Cpa in order to set one up. This is money well spent. I set it up to be a checkbook LLC. That means my money sits in my bank account under a seperate account. When I have a deal I'm funding I wire it from my bank account to escrow. When the property is sold the profits get wired back from escrow. I never touch the money. I strictly pm lend so I can't speak on mixing assets under the same account. Good luck

I wouldn't send my money to them. I would only go through an escrow company. I bought a property outside escrow (wired funds to his personal bank account) and got burned. He's facing prison time. Jabari Piper Long story short I almost lost 300k. The guy was very sophisticated and I was a new investor. I funded 3 rehabs as a private money lendor. I wired the money to his bank account not knowing any better. In turn he gave me deeds to the properties all fake. Never recorded. I finally figured out something was wrong and went to a great attorney and he got my money back. However it cost me 100k attorney fees because the crook continued to fight me in court. He didn't want to give my money back (shocking). Meanwhile he had burned so many investors the FBI got involved. 2 weeks ago they stepped in and froze all his assets. Remember there are plenty of deals out there. It's easy to wire your money harder to get it back. Like the op said better to spend $500 protecting you ***(ets) than losing big time. Fraud is rampant. Good luck

I wouldn't send my money to them. I would only go through an escrow company. I bought a property outside escrow (wired funds to his personal bank account) and got burned. He's facing prison time.

Robert Tropp Ok so I'm going to be the voice of dissent. The people that are contacting you are for the most part marketers for turn key companies. If they steer you to a deal via thier contacts they get a commission. They are not giving you unbiased advice but instead are trying to make money off you. I invest in southern ca and have done well. If you don't have enough cash for a west coast deal, get creative. Try to find owner financing, partner with another investor, loan your money to a rehabber to build up reserves etc. out of town investing is an advanced strategy imo. If after exhausting all of those options you still don't find what you're looking for contact a turn key company that YOU have researched. Good luck!

@Jack Lewis

I can't compare or contrast as I only have 1 but I've been happy with pensco.  I set up an checkbook llc and they were easy to work with.  I also see demitry on the forums giving great information. So you have great options.

Good luck

@Benjamin Haberman

Ok so I'm going to be a bit of a Devils advocate.  I agree with all the previous posters that you shouldn't tailor your finishes to a specific end buyer.  However don't exclude random people from coming in and seeing your work in progress.  In fact if people are interested in seeing your work invite them in (assuming no safety hazards).  A few years ago my sons daycare was across the street from a rehabber. How did I know? He had big sign saying "jack black flps homes" not his real name.  When he caught me peeking in the windows he invited me in to show off his work, explaining what's he's doing and where.  He even provided me with numbers.  2 years later I invest anywhere from 100k-200k per project.

And yes he's still a nice guy.

My understanding (and I'm no expert) is no it doesn't get wiped out. I'm working on a project (with a partner who's experienced) in Los Angeles where the owner had a lien of 300k before he died. We have the house in escrow. However prior to us closing that lien must go away otherwise we just inherited 300k that we are now responsible for. The probate attorney is providing paperwork to the title company showing this lien was satisfied. However if the title company doesn't sign off on it we will either negotiate a 300k discount or walk. Good luck!

Sam Smith I don't know why this guy refers to himself as a private lender. Perhaps to draw more people into his scam as he knows investors are usually seeking money for thier projects. A private money lender lends money period. Unfortunately re seems to draw out unsavory characters. As the others said run fast.