All Forum Posts by: Jim Bowser

Hi Ryan, I'm not too far from you and I am looking for deals throughout Macomb as well as Wayne and Oakland Counties I'm fairly new but I am looking for wholesale deals and also ones for flipping as well. If I come across any good multi family properties,I will let you know. I'm very interested in how your direct mail campaign is going.

Without mentioning your specific situation or property, I would survey various financial institutions and see which would be better-to refinance as a personal residence or as investment property. You will also have to decide if you want to continue to hold the property because the cash flow is good or you want to sell it and pull out your equity now. All three of those possibilities have to be evaluated based on specific facts that you discover. Borrowing as a personal residence will not be possible if your tenants are still in the house, but if they move out, then you could move back in and obtain the loan on personal residence.

My feeling is that it depends on the house. It's something you have to take into account when you're evaluating the property. Where is the plumbing and how easy would be to have that extra bathroom or half bath? Furthermore, is there someplace that you can create another bedroom-possibly basement or existing garage into a bedroom and adding just a garage to the house. Or maybe you could have an extra bedroom go to the side or to the back of the house and it would still flow with the house layout. Some places are just impossible add on because of lot size or configuration of the house. I would run the numbers and see what's practical. Obviously, it's always better to have three bedrooms rather than 2 and 1 1/2 baths rather than one. But it has to be practical as well.

Welcome Ivan! This BP group is so supportive to learning about real estate investing and keeping your mind focused on what is important. It is human nature to sometimes get distracted from an important goal. The BP site helps to keep "your mind on the game" if you daily spend some time on its forums, blogs and podcasts. We invite you to jump right in!

Looks beautiful folks!  What a job!  That will definitely sell fast.  Do you mind indicating what you paid for the property, the amount of the rehab and what you expect to sell it for?

thank you! Very good information. 

Specific information about that is in the BP forums, blogs and podcasts. It has been discussed over and over again so you should find the answers there. I would suggest that you definitely do that. For a quick answer, I think typically they require you to season your rentals for about six months and the percentage is generally 70 to 80%. Obviously, there are a number of factors such as which financial institution you're dealing with, your details, and the property that change these loan factors around. Good luck finding the information in BP. It is very rewarding!

Hi Valentin - I still have not gotten a good answer to a question that I put out a while back about actual sale info on these sites. Certainly Zillow's estimated value is suspect, but what about their listing of actual sales? That is generally accurate. At least in my experience, actual sales listed on sites like Zillow or RealtyTrac have been accurate. So you can examine the area, house particulars, and sale price, and get some reasonable general comps for the property. I happen to have access to MLS and it is certainly far superior to using the other Internet sites, but as a substitute if necessary or for a quick evaluation I don't see the big problem with looking at actual sales from these other sites for comps. I am newer so don't take this as absolute fact but hopefully someone will respond and let us know.

Welcome Miranda! I haven't been a member very long but it's incredible how helpful BP is to growing your business. All the instructive information on the site and great contacts and interaction you receive by being on the forum. Having BP along with you is a great partnership. Good luck to you and your business growth!

Hi Chris, if you're looking for any properties in southeastern Michigan, please let me know as I wholesale properties in the area. If I can be of any assistance to any of you, please let me know.