All Forum Posts by: Justin Ward

Thanks for the recommendation Esmir, I'm willing to look into both options. I have to double check on what the Syracuse Land Banks standards are, some of the houses I'm looking at are from them. In their class they talked about lead paint and pipes needing to be dealt with, but nothing specific.

As most of the houses I'm looking at are early 1900's homes that require moderate to complete rehabs, the one constant I run into is lead paint. Due to the seriousness of the dangers and the fact that I'd like to rent to small families in hopes of lower vacancy, I'd like to have a certified professional handle the lead paint removal. I'd love to hear any recommendations you may have, as well as any advice on the topic. 

I'm definitely not the person to answer this question but if I were in your shoes some questions I'd want answered would be:
How the eviction process works when you aren't the property owner?
Who pays for and arranges major and minor repairs, and if it is you then does the group write off the improvements and depreciation? 
I'd also imagine that you wouldn't be able to write off mortgage interest since you don't have a mortgage.
Does the property have any remaining liens against it that could threaten your investment down the road?

I'm very new to REI, so maybe these are dumb questions but maybe one of them will be useful to get answered if you haven't already.

Thanks for all the great responses guys! Bigger pockets forums, articles, and podcasts have been an amazing resource. And thanks for recommending John Adolfi, Ronald and Mike. I'll have to get ahold of him in the coming weeks. Right now I'm working on getting my financing situated and creating a tax strategy. 

Thanks Christopher and Esmir.
I wasn't holding out much hope for a resource with accurate data on it but I had to ask. Esmir's info, even if it is no longer consistent, is still a good low-end for me to come up with some range estimates. 
7-10% below asking sounds great to me, hopefully there are still some of those left to grab. I'm thinking a cash offer in the winter months might help me get closer to those numbers. 

I've begun looking into foreclosures as a possible avenue for BRRRR deals in my area but I know that the listed prices of foreclosures doesn't always reflect what the bank is willing to accept for a property. Is there a resource to find what a specific bank actually accepts properties at?
For example, if the bank tends to list houses at X price, but usually only accepts offers over 2X. It would give me a better idea for determining if it will cashflow and what I should be offering on these properties.

Alternatively if anyone has experience with foreclosures in the CNY or Syracuse area and has a general rule of thumb (if one exists) for making offers on foreclosure listings I'd love to hear about that as well.  

@Ronald Starusnak Wow, that sounds like a rough deal. I was already straying away from it because a lot of the repairs that are covered I can do with my father's help. He has built quite a few houses including my family's.
I'll probably just do a conventional or standard FHA loan and do the rehab myself for my first property. Less paperwork and less chance of arbitrary rules cutting into my margins. Thanks for sharing your experience!

@Darren Kresge Thanks for the suggestion! I'll check that program as well.

@Brian Murphy Thank you for your insights, I'll definitely be giving them a call. I do have a full time job as a designer and I'm looking into the options for financing my first investment property. 

Yesterday while at a local REI group meet up, one of the guys was talking about finding The Syracuse Landlord Property Improvement Loan Program. (https://www.homehq.org/renovating-rental-property)
He hadn't used it before, but it struck my interest, so I thought I'd see if anyone on Bigger Pockets has any experience with it. If you have I'd love to hear what you thought about the process, and whether it was worth it. Or, if you decided it wasn't worth doing I'd love to hear what you didn't like. Feel free to comment with your opinions on the program even if you don't have experience with it.  
For those who don't want to follow the link, here are the details given:

SYRACUSE LANDLORD PROPERTY IMPROVEMENT LOAN PROGRAM

The Syracuse Landlord Property Improvement Loan Program provides landlords with loans of up to $25,000 per unit for code violations and/or lead remediation improvements. The housing units must be located in the .

PROGRAM DETAILS

• Loans of up to $25,000 per unit (including closing costs).
• The loans currently have a 6.99% fixed interest rate and a 6.99% APR.
• Loans are 50% pay back and 50% deferred (no payback).
• Landlords can use own funds to match grant funding.
• The landlord chooses the contractor (contractor will need proper insurances and certificates).
• The scope of work for this loan will be determined by the lead risk assessment and code violations.

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

• Must be current on taxes & water bills, or in a payment plan.
• Property must have 1-4 units.
• Buildings built before 1978 will require a lead risk assessment and lead clearance.
• Tenant information is needed for properties NOT located within the Syracuse Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Areas.