All Forum Posts by: Katharine Chartrand

I just talked to Dave Franecki at Capstone Capital http://capstonecapitalusa.com/.

He seemed to be straight shooting and part of his business is finding buyers for loans like yours.  Presumably he wants to sell them to me.  But his website offers free analysis of loans people want to sell. 

I am looking at DebtX to buy non-performing residential notes. HUD seems to sell their notes through DebtX, but I don't know if they sell the notes in pools small enough (<$100K) for an individual investor like myself to take down. 

There is a 500 vetting fee, which I would pay if I knew what they offered and it was of interest.  However, you can't see what they sell and how they sell it without paying the fee. 

Does anyone know what DebtX offers?

I invest in northern new mexico residential properties.  

Worked for me.

Thanks Mark for all of your help.

>KNC<

This is an area where there are a lot of vacant homes and it can be hard to move houses, particularly vacant homes that are not in perfect condition.  However, the area is well off and the mortgages on the homes are likely paid off.  One scenario might be one where the children of well off parents move away and inherit a home.

I have a list of residential properties in this area that have out of town owners. 

I am interested in ideas on how one might approach this group of owners and what kind of deals are attractive to these owners.

>KNC<

I am in interested in a house that BofA just foreclosed on in a small town near me. The house is not in the MLS, on their website or otherwise advertised for sale.

Does it ever work to contact BofA directly to make an offer on a house?

This house is in NM. Does anyone know who to contact?

>KNC<

I find it very hard not to over-renovate.  I enjoy renovating. I enjoy providing putting a house I am proud to sell on the market. But I also enjoy accounting, meticulously tracking costs  and analyzing numbers.  I can see that don't get my money back from the extras.

I want to sell people a house I would live in myself but in my market it seems that the maximum value comes in getting the house habitable and financeable. Beyond that it is all price per square foot.  

My buyers are moderate income and price conscious. They don't care about the beat-up linoleum in the bathroom.  I am guessing they think they think that it is something they can take care of themselves.  They'd rather get the extra bedroom than the bathroom remodel. 

Landscaping is absolutely zero return. People think they can just snap their fingers and get a manicured lawn and trimmed trees.  My buyers put no value in landscaping. To the extend that landscaping matters, I get around it by arranging the timing so most of my houses sell in the winter when everyone's yard looks about the same as mine. 

So that's my market. I am in a very tough buyers market with slim margins and you can't spend a penny more than you have to on renovating.  It's a miracle that I haven't lost money on deal yet.

I get universally terrible advice from realtors and contractors who are always pushing for what I know now is too much renovation. Even my realtor, who is experienced and brilliant, is obsessed with closets in bedrooms and the number of bedrooms and you need to add a second bath to be attractive to families.  

I don't question their intentions, but I know the numbers. After 6 flips, I can document pretty clearly the money lost on extra renovation. They payback is not there.

If you are new don't have a lot of money to test out different strategies, undershoot on the renovation while you study your buyers.

>KNC<

@Kevin Nichols 

By off of prime you mean above prime?

Prime is 3.25% right now, so .75% off of prime is what I have now.  A good deal I guess, but it does add up over time.

Happy new year.

I have a few 100K in mutual funds. I have a line of credit against these securities. 80% LTV @ 4%. I do my flipping with cash from this line of credit.

I thought I would shop around in the new year and see if I can get a better rate. I doubt I can do better than 80% LTV, but I am wondering if anyone knows if I might do better than 4%.

>KNC<

@Kristen M. 

I am not a tax professional. I generally prepare my own taxes, but when I get into new space as did with this solo 401K, I had a professional prepare the first return. With that in firmly mind ...

earned income is either wages from a job or self-employment income. The solo 401k requires that you have earned income in the form of self-employment income. IOW from your own business. Any self-employment income. Consulting, babysitting are clearly self-employment. I am guessing if you sold stuff on craigslist that would count.  But my understanding is that if you accept any money for a business activity outside of your job and you report it, they you are eligible for a solo 401K.   

Anything where you performed work and got paid for it counts, as I understand it. It doesn't have to be a lot of money. But dividends, for example, do not count.