All Forum Posts by: Thomas Bybee

Welcome! Hello from NE WY (Gillette), You are at the right place to learn, ask questions etc. BP is a great resource. 

Hello from Gillette, fellow Wyomingites. @Jerry W. I too am looking for a bigger market to find deals in (and one that isn't so dependent on energy at this point, although I did alright through the boom cycle). Hope we get some more Wyoming folk involved in conversation in here that'd be good.

I don't pay for cable for my tenants, I also don't include utilities (except sewer is included with the lot rent). If this it is an option to have the tenants pay their own utilities it can increase your profit. In my area it is common for utilities not to be included, but I suppose if all the surrounding units available for rent in your area include utilities it may be a harder sell.  Although another approach may to be have them pay their own utilities and lower the rent, I don't like to pay utilities because it makes it harder to budget since they can change according to use per month (if a tenant want to take 10 hot baths a day and they pay for utilities, then I don't care). I'm no expert as I'm new to investing as well but I've had a few rentals (all MHs) now and this is my two cents.

Also I see you're trying to tag a couple folks with @. I'll try and help you out see if it works for me.  You have to type the @ symbol then start to type their name then look for it to pop up on bottom of reply screen, click on it and it should tag them.

@Bill Neves

@Harold Anderson

Thanks all for the encouragement and welcomes.  @Bill S. you are exactly right about tenant selection, I've already made some improvements and developed some better systems that have helped with this, and it's made a huge difference.

@Mike Baker definitely agree "no shame in mobile homes" especially in my market...its a huge play here, that I'll be pursuing further (along with some other things too).

@Paul Timmins True about first step. Good to see another Wyoming investor on here, and appreciate the offer for help. I saw your email, are you an attorney? I've been looking for experienced REI attorney (local or at least within state) to have as an option to go to for consulting when/if time comes.

Thanks for all the advice, you guys are awesome!  They accepted my counter offer which includes the $20K as non refundable. Now I'm just working on structuring the next stage which is the 6 month "waiting for credit repair" contract (it will be separate from contract to purchase). Still deciding best route to go with that. I think I will let them build their garage with the right language in my contract. Although good point @Rocky V. about it affecting their credit, I'll have to see what their plans on that are, I don't think they've thought about that.

Hi everyone,

I'm excited to introduce myself, and I'm looking forward to discussing RE with all of you in the future. I am a beginner investor in Gillette, WY area. I have studied RE for some time by reading books, attending free seminars (sales pitches), reading and listening to material here on BP.

My investing journey began last year. I've been wanting to invest for many years but had the common analysis paralysis and just fear of failure or success (haven't figured out which one).  I finally made the leap and paid my "tuition to the school of hard knocks" last year when I purchased a singlewide mobile home to repair and rent. It was quite the adventure but I'm so glad I finally just did something...its changed my life.

Details on first deal:

Bought an older 1970's single wide mobile home for cash for $6K (asking price was $9K) I was proud of myself for negotiating $3K off price but looking back I should have negotiated more, even though I never lost money on this deal in the end.  The MH needed some repairs although some of it had already been renovated. I put about $2K into repairs and got it rented within a couple weeks. I rented for $950/mo and lot rent was $350. This was way more than I thought a MH would or should rent for, but through my research that was going rate for single-wides in the area. I learned a lot and made plenty of mistakes (mostly in tenant choice) early on and ended up having to evict my first tenant  after 3rd month.  Luckily she moved out without destroying the place or without fight. The property was still in bad shape after my minimal repairs and was about an hour from where I live so after my experience with bad tenant, I decided to cut my losses (even though technically I didn't have any) and sell it. I sold it shortly after for $9K. I knew it was only a short amount of time before this place was going to cost me an amount more than I was willing to spend on it.  I replaced it with another singlewide MH close to where I lived which was in much better shape and rent it for similar numbers.

Mobile homes might not have best reputation among investors but I have to give them credit where credit is due. I probably wouldn't have made the first step into REI without the cheap mobile home, it gave me a "baby step" that I felt comfortable with for my first deal. I don't know if I could have talked myself out of my fear if my first deal would have been much bigger. It worked out as a great way to get me started.

Since then I have bought a foreclosure (not MH), repaired it and moved into it with built in equity....bonus (upgraded from my first home) and rented my old house. I've felt lucky that all of my RE ventures thus far have gone somewhat well ( I went in expecting nightmares but was willing to give it a try anyways) and changed my financial outlook and attitude in life. I enjoy being creative in RE transactions and solving problems as they come up. I'm looking forward to many more deals in my future. I appreciate the info I've found on BP and look forward to associating with all of you.

I feel fairly comfortable in the mobile home strategy in my area at this point, but look to expand into different areas in RE as I diversify my portfolio in the near future.

I am in process of selling a house, I have received a contract to purchase but with some circumstances I'm trying to wrap my head around to decide if I want to accept the offer. This is my "old" primary residence (moved out of this residence 6 months ago and have been renting it since then.)  I would keep as rental but due to some regulations on the mortgage I am not allowed to do so, (refinancing would require a 25% down payment- which I don't have at this point- since it is a investment property now- as far as I understand). I've been given permission from the mortgage company to rent it for 6 months, but can not rent it for profit. So I'm looking to sell the property at this point as soon as I can since I can't rent for more than the mortgage payment which only costs me money (except for mortgage pay-down).

Details:

The offer is good and I will make money off of it, which is a plus of course.

Price isn't necessarily the issue.

The offer includes $20K  non refundable as down-payment. They are very motivated buyers.

The offer has an extended closing date for 6 months from now, since the couple making the offer didn't quite qualify for their loan. They (the couple and their relators and mortgage officer) are saying they need at max (will close sooner if possible) 6 months for credit repair. So they are asking that I rent the house to them for up to 6 months while this is going on (they just sold their primary residence and don't have a place to live now). 

My questions:

As a FSBO the 20k down payment can or should be written out to me as seller? Or as they have it written in contract... go as earnest money in escrow? I want to be in control of this non refundable money as much as possible in case they back out. Advice...

Also the property currently has no garage, but there is space for a garage and they are requesting to build a garage, at their expense, immediately upon moving in, during the time they are renting. I want to protect myself and protect them as well, so am wondering the legal aspects of this and what I need to include in the lease agreement if I decide this is ok, or if this is a good/bad idea.

I'm sure I'm missing details so feel free to ask if needed.  Looking for advice.