All Forum Posts by: Kenny Smith

@Kathy Leach

Great question!  So it really just depends on what you're comfortable with and how the deal plays out.  If they are representing you in the deal, and the seller is on their own, I would think the realtor would charge anywhere from 2.5-3%, but could charge more.  They could also ask the seller to pay for that or split between the two of you.  Everything is up for negotiation.  

But, if you found the deal, and not the realtor, you could also look into working with an attorney to draw up the contracts and ensure no mistakes are made to save some money.  However, a lot of people think they can do it on their own, but having someone represent you and keep your fiduciary interest at heart can be smart if you're inexperienced with buying real estate.

Lastly, if the realtor finds the deal for you, they would likely not even show you the house without have an exclusive right to buy agreement in place.  Their finder fee essentially, but also representing you in the process.  So I guess it just really depends on the scenario as they will all be different.

Best of luck!

Kenny

@Angeli Ligad

I think they all can work, but you have to be super consistent with whatever method you choose. Personally, I don't call for deals, I cold call for my real estate agent business.  However, I do run across folks looking to sell their property off market at times.

I use a prospecting platform called RedX. They will pull the lists for you, sync your phone up to a dialer in which you can triple line dial (calling 3 numbers at once), and blow through A LOT of numbers. You can choose to pick different lead sources as well, expired listings, FRBO, FSBO, pre-foreclosures, and Geoleads. It is easy to do, efficient, and can hit the most amount of people in the shortest amount of time, in my opinion.

Again, everyone has their own method, but I'd give it a shot if you haven't tried it!

Best of luck,

Kenny

hey all!

The past 2 years, I've sent out holiday gifts to all my clients.  As my business grows, I'm finding that those gifts can start to add up really quickly and get expensive real fast.  

I'm curious what everyones opinion is of buying every client a holiday gift as their business gets really big.

Thanks for your feedback!

@Lyndsey Jenkins

First off, congrats on looking for your first deal!

Before directing you anywhere, what are you looking to do? Wholesale? BRRRR? Buy and Hold? Flip? If you're only looking for off market deals, my advice is get on the phones and start calling property owners.

If not, you need to get with a good investor friendly local Realtor in your area.  My brokerage has a very large network, I'd be happy to help find you one if needed!

Best of luck,

Kenny

@Aaron Dixon

Love the idea!  I would agree with Bonnie as there are many more benefits to owning the property outright, but if you are tight on capital, I think this is a great option.

So I use a real estate prospecting platform called RedX to prospect for all sorts of different leads for my agent business.  However, you could easily use this to connect with landlords looking to rent their place out.  The lead source is called For Rent by Owners.  You'll get an updated list each day and you can just call each one.  That would be the most efficient way to find these arbitrage opportunities in my opinion. 

Best of luck!

Kenny

@Spencer Krautkramer

As already stated, with house hacking, you should be putting most of your living expenses back into your pocket if done correctly!  Which will definitely help expedite the process.

Also, if you plan on doing some renovations on the place to help improve the value of the property, I would highly consider taking out a HELOC to fund the next deal. This will free up the money that you used to renovate to essentially pull back out of the property and do it again. That is why for most folks, if done right, it starts to become easier to scale as you acquire more and more property. Just make sure you do this before you move out as getting a HELOC on a non-owner occupied place is very hard to find.

Best of luck!

Kenny

@Gurjot Grewal

If you have to post to ask about this on BP, I would consider looking for a new PM company.  To Matt's point, this is why you are paying them.  They need to handle this situation and take this off your plate.

I would start interviewing other PM companies and see how they would handle it and see if there are better options for you.

Best of luck!

Kenny

@Amit Rana

I would agree with everyone here!  Comes down to what your cash on cash return is, your current interest rate on the place, and what other cash flowing opportunities are out there right now with current rates.

Also, if you're house hacking this place..I would consider looking at a HELOC instead of a cash out refi. Talk to your local credit union about this option. What's great about a HELOC is you only pay interest on the money you take out, so it is not a lump sum.

Once you get approved for it, the money is now readily available when you need it.  And can be used for another deal if something comes along.

Best of luck!

Kenny

@Roman Puzey

To Dan's point, getting a great CPA is critical as you start to build your portfolio.  I would definitely contact one ASAP.  Also, talk to one about doing a Cost Segregation Study.  Essentially it is front loading your depreciation instead of taking it out over 27.5 years.  This could be a good option for you, but again, a good CPA can walk you through all of the intricacies of what your options are.

Best of luck!

Kenny

We've done very well catering to travel nurses via MTR's the last few years.  

What is everyone's long term outlook on this strategy, and do we foresee travel nurses going to continue to be a healthy tenant market to cater to?

Thanks for sharing!