All Forum Posts by: Jesse Stahl

Kinda depends on what kind of loan you're going after. 
If it's hard money, I'd find the deal first, as they are much more likely to lend on a deal that makes sense for them.
Conventional? I'd get pre-approved because it allows you to create better criteria for what you are searching for.

1. Keep educating yourself!!

2. Talk to a loan officer in your state. If you need help finding one, call up a local real estate agent, they always are networking and probably has a few lenders they can recommend. Tell the loan officer what you plan to do, what type of down payment you have, and what kind of loan you want (conventional, FHA/203k (house hack) etc.). They will ask you to do a credit check, and employment history, to see what kind of loan payment you will qualify for

3. Keep educating yourself!!

4. After your loan officer gives you a good estimate for how much house you can afford, go on the hunt! Search zillow, redfin, craigslist, go look for signs out in the neighborhood you want to live in, network with some wholesalers, ask that realtor from before if they have any deals that fit your criteria. (and keep educating yourself)

5. Every potential deal you find, run some rough numbers on them. After Principle, Interest, Tax, Insurance, money set aside for Maintenance/improvements, Property Management, Utilities etc, is it cashflowing? Watch one of Brandon Turner's webinars to find out more about analyzing a deal, he does a GREAT job explaining it, newbie or not. He also gives some good numbers to try and reach in terms of monthly cash flow, and Cash on cash returns. Cannot recommend his webinars for a newbie enough.

6. Don't get discouraged!! It will take a lot of time and work and potential deals to find one that works for you!!

This is a good place to start. Main point: Keep educating yourself. Read books, listen to podcasts, read forum posts, read blogs, find a mentor, ANYTHING you can do to learn the ins-and-outs of real estate investing. Money is in the MIND not in the physical world, if you can visualize it you can create it!!!!!

GOOD LUCK

So I met with the owner today,

He is SPECIFICALLY looking for a long-term loan, he wants to give his (much younger) wife a steady source of income after he is gone. He mentioned a 30 yr loan, but I could see him taking a 40 yr loan. He needs to move to back to Cali soon, as his mother-in-law owns a house back there, and they want to take residence in it, over selling it. We didn't do any formal negotiations, just talked about our situations, and what we both needed, and what we could do for eachother. 

He seems like a very down-to-earth guy, he used to own rental properties himself. He said he started in his early twenties, and did quite well, at once had 8 buildings, when the recession hit, in 2011 he lost all but 2. Interesting guy, we had a good, long chat.

I ran some comps last night, ARV is some where around 130k, I made-up and gave him a small packet of the comps so that he could see what I was looking at. I didn't get a first-hand look on the inside of the property this time, however he showed me some pictures and it looks very well maintained and renovated. He's been working on it inside-out since he moved in. The outside has definitely seen better days, Wood sidings need at least a new coat of paint, perhaps need to be replaced completely, but it can wait some years. The roof looks alright, but will need repair in 5-10 years.

I think 110-115k is a reasonable valuation of the property as is. I'm not too great at rehab numbers and where that should leave the rest of the property's valuation.

I'm pretty sure the numbers work on a 110k (-15k DP) @4% for 35 year mortgage, I think this sort of offer is reasonable for both of us.

We will meet in the future to hammer out the details, but he seems very adamant about doing this deal with me and making it work for both of us. I believe, on first impression, he will agree to the terms or similar above.

@William Collins

Hey thanks for giving your input. I cannot get traditional funding due to short credit history and short employment history. This deal is sparking my attention mostly for that, but the offer of a relatively cheap 15k down payment sounds good too. I think at the right price I would take this deal with traditional funding, but maybe not with 20% down.

Comps are kind of weird in the immediate area , 2 houses right next door sold within 6 months, one at 146/sqft the other at 50/sqft, they both weren't rehabbed recently, but albeit, the latter defenitely needed more work. I think it's not unreasonable to put this house in the middle of the two, but these are not exactly ARV #'s. I don't think it's unreasonable to price the property around 110,00 as is.

I am making a set of offers as I type this! Great thinking!!!!!!

Hey guys, I have come a across a seller finance deal here in central CT, I am trying to make it work. The initial numbers aren't great but I'm trying to see how much I can work with the seller on this.

Backstory: seller and his wife moved out to CT for a job, which is now ending, and he is looking to sell his house here and move back to CA where he owns another residence. He is considering seller finance because he would like to give his wife some residual income.

-Specs:

3 bed, 1bath in Bristol CT

1,095 sq ft

It has another lot attached to it, I believe behind the property, I'm going to see it this Saturday

-Taxes:

~2500/yr (this doesn't include the other lot, I need to ask what he pays for them both)

-Initial home offer:

150,000 (defenitely could talk him down)

Needs a 15k down payment (nothing lower)

-Estimated rent:

1200 if rented as one unit I'm considering piecing out the rooms, might be able to get 14-1500 that way

As it stands at that price and a normal 30 yr fixed rate at 4% and money set aside for capex, maintenance etc, the deal is losing about 50 bucks a month, however this is a seller finance and a lot of numbers can be worked on.

I'm thinking of offering 125,000 (before 15k down) with a a 40 yr fixed rate at, maybe at a little under 4%, these numbers look better, leaves a little over 150 dollars in my pocket and a little over 10% Cash on cash return.

Do you think this is a reasonable offer to make in such a situation? I'm not sure how old the couple is, (haven't met yet) but 40 years is certainly a long time to hold a mortgage, and I'm not sure how great the terms will be for them he mentioned he's looking for around a 4-5% api

Any thoughts on the deal? Any experience you've had with long term seller finance deals? Or seller finance in general? Are there a lot of hoops to jump through in a seller finance deal like this? Do we still need an agent to help us close the deal?

I know this is a lot of information to sparse but any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks Michael!

@Josh Tamminen

Not sure, do you have any bridges for sale too?

Hey BPers,

I am looking to put together my first wholesaling deal! I am sort of fitting all of the pieces together all at once ... Flying by the seat of my pants a little!! (Love the feeling)

Anyways my question is for those in CT/MA . Do any of you have a solid title company that can help me do an assignment or double close?

The property is in CT, I'm not sure if the company needs to be in the same state as the property.

Idk I thought think and grow rich was a fantastic book! It's basically a book about the law of attraction, what we think and feel about life eventually comes back to us 7-fold ... I'm a bit of a woo-woo spiritual guy so it's not surprising I liked the book. When he starts talking about thought vibrations traveling through the ether I get very excited :)

I'm listening to supernatural: by Joe dispenza, just started. I just finished listening to his other book: breaking the habit of being yourself, a great manual for changing our subconscious into what we want, it has similar facets to think and grow rich tbh, but is much more actionable in my opinion.

I am reading Walden by thoreau. I think it only becomes more useful the more technology we gain.

I am reading the book on house flipping from BP! Super informative.

The 10x rule I am listening to, great mindset shifter, I would recommend it.

Lastly I am reading the Tibetan book of the dead, for my spiritual side :)

Yes I found one of these guys posting on a Facebook group. He was offering 5% on a 100% of property value for up to 35 years.

I gave him a call, left a message and he got back to me at 9pm that night (already a bad sign). Guy seemed extremely unprofessional and sounded almost depressed when I talked to him. Totally reminded me of a scammer of sorts, so I didn't follow up after our conversation