All Forum Posts by: J. R. Crowell

@Joe S. not sure if you are still looking for a contractor.  If so, reach out to Chris Hase with Versamax https://www.versamaxllc.com/co... Tell him I recommended you.  

@Brandon Montgomery @Connor Woods I’m an investor out of Central Mississippi and am actively buying off market deals in the Birmingham market.  We have several sources for off market deal flow and are always looking for a place to park the ones that don’t fit our model. I would love to connect and discuss what we have going on in that area. I’m in town once or twice a month and am always accessible on here and via phone. 

@Collin Lee Johnson can you clarify what exactly you want help with on this deal? Your post is a little open ended and may be difficult for us to provide some direction. If you can drill your questions down a little, you may get a better response.  I'm only speaking from experience.  

It looks like to me you are considering this for a long term buy and hold rental?  

Using the most basic of recommendations, I would suggest you purchase at a lower price and verify that's the rent rate for that market.  If you have everything correct, that deal would not pass the "sniff" test for me.  

@Ryan DiCanio this is not uncommon and is even more prevalent if you are newer to the investment world.  You've received some solid advice so far: Evaluate the area, get up and "take a lap" then come back to your deal, evaluate the "class" of the property, etc.  I echo all of those statements. 

I'm not sure how many deals you have done, but one way I got over the analysis paralysis was by DOING A DEAL. There is a healthy piece of investment education that you have to learn on the go.  Until you put your analysis into action, you are simply working on theory.  Once you get a few deals under your belt, you have some evidence and a proof of concept, or a disproven theory. 

You most certainly need to do your homework.  I would start by defining your buy box, farm area, and non-negotiables on the subject property: size home, size of renovation, neighborhood, bed/bath, garage/no garage, etc. I'm making a sweeping assumption that you have defined all of that and that you know what financing route you will take (traditional, private, cash). If you need help there, let me know, I'm happy to share more about how I work this process.

Once you have those clear parameters and you find a deal that checks the boxes. LOCK IT DOWN and move through the process.  You've done your homework at that point and you didn't do it for nothing.  Take the confidence and put it into play.  You can analyze all day, but until you have results to compare, there is no clear answer. Best of luck, my friend!

@Joe S. that will be relative to the loan product and the individual situation.  Do you already have a list of properties in mind? What about a portfolio loan?  I recommend calling up the local lender and telling them what you want to do, let them get creative with you. 

@Joe S minimum houses or minimum dollar amount?

@Joe S. I deal with Community Bank and they have proven to be a "common sense" lender for us.  What I mean is they look at the assets, credit history, and ability to pay (whether personally or via property income).  As for @Jay Hinrichs questions regarding local vs out of town, I can't say for certain.  As with any bank, the decision criteria may vary slightly lender to lender, but I can say I've dealt with multiple lenders at Community Bank and they have been swell to work with. 

I would recommend getting on the phone or in front of someone and telling them what you have going on.  A good banker is just like the rest of us, when they see a good deal, they want to help. If you seem to get any pushback on the out of state investor piece, a local partnership on this deal may be an option. 

@La'Terrius, I will echo @Shari Peterson. My relationship with the buyer and the amount of the fee will dictate whether I assign the contract or double close. When closing via assignment, you will disclose your fee up front to your buyer via the assignment contract and they will sign. It will be on the HUD anyway. If they are going to have a problem with your fee, it's best to get that out of the way on the front end, not the 11th hour.

Keep in mind, our job as a wholesaler is to be a problem solver and a deal finder.  Its our job to make sure a true deal is there.  If you are bringing a good deal to your buyer and they run their own numbers and determine it is a good deal, it shouldn't matter what your fee is.  Though that is not always the case.  If you think there may be some push back with your fee, opt for the double close scenario: A-B contract B-C contract. 

@Caden Wakim all of the lists mentioned are great sources for finding sellers. My opinion here, when defining your "farm" list and area, it boils down to time, systems, and capital.  An investor with deep pockets and a staff may be able to mass mail and cold call multiple very wide lists to generate a steady flow of warm leads.   Once all of these leads are generated, they need to be followed up, otherwise you have wasted money and potentially harmed a good lead for another investor. This is where having the staff necessary is crucial. 

If capital is limited but time is plenty, I find it hard to beat a good driving for dollars list.  There's something to be said for  a specifically targeted off market deal.  For me, I feel a little more invested in that lead and my marketing is catered as such.  I'm also driving in my permanent resident area or areas where I frequently invest, so there is more of a personal relationship between me and the potential seller.  For me, this immediately removes one layer of defense. 

  I put my driving for dollars leads on a mailer series of 4 handwritten letters, mailed every two weeks.  Each letter has a little different content catered to the responses in my area.  I've found the majority of my call backs are on the 2nd and 3rd letter and I'm always pleasantly surprised at the response rate I get on the driving letters. 

In addition, we will skiptrace and call the list.  If no response is received after the fourth call and no skip trace is successful, we will put them on mail campaigns we have going in that area. There is usually a few direct reach outs via door knocking within this time frame. 

Best of luck to you on your efforts. Feel free to reach out for collaborative discussions.  Iron sharpens iron.  

Hey Leilah, while I don’t have a good answer for a good pre-foreclosure listing source (I’m interested in that answer, too!) I have another avenue  that may work for you if you haven’t tried it yet.

I used to be a commercial lender. Each week, we would pull a list of the “slow pay” notes in our book of business. This could be 30 days late and beyond. It was our job as the banker to call and find out what was going on with our client and their cash flow. If there was a problem with our clients financial situation, we better know about it before it got to a foreclosure status. You become a respected banker by keeping your clients and your bank from losing money and assets. 

It takes a little networking and a few lunches, but if you can get in with a few bankers that deal in these type notes and become the person that can keep their loans from going south, you’ll be a hero. I would get calls all the time asking for deals, but rarely did someone try and find out how they could help my clients out of a cash crunch. On the occasion I did have someone try and find solutions for my clients, I always took the time to listen. 
For your investment strategy (spec developments) find the bankers that write the most construction loans in your area. 

Same source, different area is the special assets department (that’s what we called it). This is where loans go that are in the pre-foreclosure process. The special assets manager is not public facing and may be harder to find, but if you can ever get on their call list, you’ll have good deal flow. In a nutshell, their job is to preserve loan loss and get the deal out of the bank as quickly as possible without losing money. 

Not exactly what you asked bout, but it could be a good rabbit hole for you to run down. 

Happy Hunting.