All Forum Posts by: Jeff Stephens

I am looking for ways to refinance out of a hard money loan, without using Fannie/Freddie conventional financing. I am going to be purchasing a property and using hard money for the acquisition, but I think I'd like to keep the property for the long term as a rental.  I don't want to/can't use conventional Fannie/Freddie loans--do you have any recommendations on options to refinance with?

Thank you!!
Jeff

@Rick Hupalo

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Hello everyone! I want to begin gathering information on how to buy properties with "credit partnerships": situations in which we would find a negotiate a deal, and then bring in another investor who contributes their credit to helping us qualify for the loan on the property. Do you have any favorite resources you could point me toward, or knowledge to share on how to do this?

thanks!

Hi Gino--congrats on taking this step. With our go-to hard money lender, they give me the option of having the phased disbursements distributed directly to my contractor, or to me. I started by having them disburse directly to my contractor, but now I'm having them disburse to me, then I pay the contractor.

I wanted to share my quick thoughts, as my perspective on this has evolved. After buying my first investment property, I went to a big real estate convention and had my first guru experiences. I bought one system and came home excited to use it. I did it for a while, but quickly started to feel "dirty" and "gimmicky," and quickly talked myself into thinking I had fallen for some kind of get rick quick scheme for suckers. The content in the course I bought was fine, but it just felt cheesy and didn't feel like me. I was embarrassed to tell my friends I was doing it.

So, I backed off it and didn't consume any guru stuff for several years.

Now I'm taking my investing business full-time, and my perspective has evolved. I am enjoying consuming some guru stuff these days, but with a different mentality. The way I now see it, is there's a difference between A) learning the principles of the real estate investing business and B) reading a instruction book for investing in real estate. Here's the difference in my mind:

A: Learning the Principles: With this mentality, I can read the guru stuff and focus on learning the main ideas behind what they are teaching. I see the bigger picture and focus on learning the underlying theories behind the specific tactics. I believe there's a ton they can teach me about these principles

B: Reading an Instruction Book: In this mentality, I am not thinking for myself--I'm just following step-by-step instructions and not really understanding why I'm doing what the instructions tell me to.

I greatly prefer 'Mentality A' and feel that if I can consume the guru's content but focus on this bigger picture, I'll be well positioned to succeed.

It's like the difference between learning the principles of cooking vs performing the steps in a recipe in a cookbook. I am much more likely to be a good cook if I simply understand the underlying principles than just follow the instructions.

Thank you, Tom, I appreciate your feedback!

Hello Everyone,

If I am lease-optioning a home I control to a tenant buyer, who has the responsibility for maintenance? Does the tenant-buyer take responsibility for those costs and issues, or do I as the owner have normal property management responsibility just as if it were a normal rental?

Thank you!
Jeff