All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Nick Larsen I would start out with "Are you a broker or a lender?" Know who you are really dealing with before proceeding because it will make a difference.

@Lawrence Henkel III I don't do any hourly to contractors, all bids with a solid number. 

I have a contractor bid for "what you see is what you are bidding on" and give me a solid number. Whether it takes the contractor an hour or 40 hours I don't care as long as I am getting accomplished what I need to. If hourly I am sure it will take the contractor longer to complete the scope work. 

I personally think hourly is way too lenient. If something comes up unforeseen, such as a plumber contracted to replaced all of the fixtures in the house but now there is a plumbing leak in the wall, then the plumber gets an additional $ for that unforeseen item(s). You would have to fix these unforeseen issues anyway. 

Good luck in your 2016 investing endeavors! 

Kansas City is a great market for rentals and turnkeys. 

@Steve Ipock welcome to BP. KC is a great market. 

@Account Closed comments on skin in the game (money in the deal). Most hmls will require something in the deal from the borrower. 

Look up and join a local REI group if you can find one. You might find lenders there, private lenders (individuals) too.

Financing and funding is one of the hurdles many investors have but if you really get out there you should be able to find some options.

Good luck!

Welcome @Pan Forysythe to BP.

Sounds like you have a good plan lined up. Caution, on the owner occupied property you mentioned 6 months of living there. Make sure you live there for the term the lender requires as part of your loan documents. Since owner occupant financing is usually more favorable than investor financing, there will be general stipulations in the loan documents about occupancy terms. Much of the time that is 12 months. I've done this strategy before and I have other investors I know who also have and it works well. 

I also suggest you look into a local real estate group called MAREI. I am a member and it has been good for my own investing business so figured I would suggest it.

Good luck!

Hi @Heidi Huang . It sounds like you might need some overall help figuring out pricing, negotiating, some of the processes of basic real estate investing. You can find a lot of good information on these and other tools for investors right here on BP by doing a search. There are a lot of podcasts, older forum posts, etc., you can use to help you in your own investing business.

Lawrence is a college town, you know that. But any investment is always about the numbers all of the time. Regardless where the investment is located the numbers have to work for you in your own investing strategy. How do you figure out how to run numbers? Refer back to my paragraph #1 :)  There are a lot of investors on BP who would help you if / when you posted a potential deal in the forum as well.

MAREI.org is a great local real estate investor group. While it is located in Kansas City I do know there are several investors from the Lawrence area who are in it. I am not affiliated with MAREI other than being a member and since it has worked well for me in my own investing business I figured I would share the tip.

Good luck!

@Timothy Aughinbaugh those units look fantastic in the photos great job! 

@Tony Velez I agree with @James Wise excel spreadsheet works fine for a few units. Personally I still use excel and I currently manage >200 units some of these my own and the rest for other investors. 

I also like the idea of being mobile so I have a Surface Pro which interacts with Microsoft Office (excel included) so I am fully mobile too.

Good luck!

@London Stewart I was out of college working a full time job. I wandered around for several years trying to figure out how to get started in real estate investing. At the time I would go to local bookstores and read every book on investing I could get my hands on (this was before BP). The problem was information overload. There were way too many things I thought I needed to learn in order to do investing. So I just decided I would start with rental properties and found a great local real estate agent who had experience in rental property and went from there. I sponged up as much information as I could doing real estate investing part time. In about 2 years I quit my full time job and started doing real estate investing full time. That was 11 years ago. Now, it hasn't always been fun and profitable... but it has been a learning experience each and every day.  You being in Minn, MN I suggest you seek out a local real estate agent or investor with experience to help you get going. You might find that person on BP, or maybe your local investor groups, or perhaps doing an online search. 

Bottom line it is very possible to get moving and you will.