All Forum Posts by: Khenkis K.

@Yolanda Eiland I've never done it before but a big pro I can see from it is not only cultivating your skip tracing prowess but gaining access to better skip tracing databases.

Cons would be the fact that judgments are pretty much unsecured, court awarded IOU's. So, they can be wiped if the defendant(s) files for bankruptcy. Hence, you need to think about the time value of money in terms of purchasing judgments and the uncertainties should they become unenforcable (as mentioned), the defendant(s) relapses, etc.

@Brett Peters Yes and no, the period of redemption differs between states. It depends on whether your state is a judicial or non-judicial state and then what specific time frames/limitations your state abides by.

Hey BPers!

For those that don't know, I'm a real estate-oriented programmer. Okay...so what does that even mean? :S

Basically, I want to give back to this awesome community by creating a free desktop app (i.e. open source project for you techies) for all my fine fellow/fellowette investors, licensees, property managers, lurkers :p, I'm sure you get the gist by now. Anyway, this is an idea I've had for a while now since I couldn't find an open source, real estate-related project that can contain my ADHD-like attention span. LOL So, why not create one instead, right? 

With that being said, what's this idea of mine? In nutshell, do you ever want to pull the plug when surfing from site to site to yet another site just to re-enter the same old, repetitive info on a property you're trying to sell/rent? I don't know about you but I do! Consequently, the sole purpose of my desktop app would be to automate this process for you.

All you'll have to do is simply fill out an Excel file with said info (just once), select pictures that showcase the property (just once again), and then click go as you watch the app traverse housing portals (i.e. Zillow, Craigslist, etc.) to take care of this mind-numbing task for you.

Any takers?

@Bryan Tilos Have you ever considered soft money? Their interest rates are usually in the 6%-9% range and typically consist of some sort of step-up 30 yr. This places you at a slightly lower rate than HML along with a 30 yr term you're looking for, structured of course.

They laugh at me because I'm different. I laugh at them because they're all the same.

@Dean Attali Here's my random two cents:

Someone has to pay the cost of conducting due dilliegence on the borrower. The lender sure as heck isn't going to front that just to find out a borrower is horrendous. As far as 10% interest and 3 points vs 13% interest is concerned, covering their bases, TVM, etc.

It's as you've surmised, for security. Not to mention, lenders talk a different language. "Talk is cheap. Money speaks."

I wouldn't know, I'm not at that stage yet. 

LTV's are calculated differently between lenders. It can be based on the ARV like you're thinking, actual LTV (as-is), or some other algorithm(s) specific to a lender's risk tolerance, experience, knowledge, etc.

@Nadine Delille Not sure if this is will help you but this is what helped me. When I started out I was doing everything too. Driving for dollars, attending REIAs, you name it and I've most likely dabbled with it in some form or another. Yet, no solid "financial" results. Just what's going on?! I was glad and proud that I was actually doing stuff and, most importantly, learning. However, at the end of the day, dreaded bills needed to be paid and you know the rest.

That's when I stopped doing everything not because I was discouraged but because I needed to invest some time into identifying what variables I was either missing or leading me amidst. One simple yet extremely powerful thought quickly flew into my mind, "return to the basics".

Okay, what does that even mean? Exactly! What does that mean?! I asked myself that as I proceeded to iterate and categorize my knowledge into the "what I have a decent understanding of" pile and the "yeah bud...you need to learn more about me" batch.

As soon as I started this culling process, Thee Answer slapped me right in the face! *Smack* It kind of hurt too. Nah, I'm just kidding. :p The origin of my dilemma was the undeniable fact that I didn't know what business was! Let me put it this way.

John: "Oh hey! You're a Realtor?!"

Mary: "Yes, I am."

John: *Makes mental note* Okay, you're a business woman in real estate. CHECK!!!

John: "Oh hey! You're a real estate investor?!"

Joe: "Yes, I am."

John: *Makes mental note* Okay, you're a business man in real estate. CHECK!!!

John: "Oh hey! You're a private real estate lender?!"

Jill: "Yes, I am."

John: *Makes mental note* Okay, you're a business woman in finance and real estate. CHECK!!!

Notice how all these hypothetical individuals are involved in business before anything else. Well, yours truly was was putting real estate before business! So, I set off on a quest to learn about business and that's when I discovered a book that has forever changed my life since then - The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman. I cannot do enough justice in describing the power behind the material in this book so you'll just have to go check it out yourself.

Let's just say that, before, I was like a bull running around in a China shop. All this vigorous energy oozing out of my essence and there I was; splattering it around everything like a three year old kid frolicking around in a muddy rain puddle! AHH YEAH!!!

To be honest, that giddy energy hasn't diminished one tiny bit and has only grown stronger. LOL However, I'm no longer flinging it around aimlessly like a rampageous toddler. I'm now extremely disclipined in managing exactly where and how much I need to exert and channel for maximum efficiency, what methodologies I need to implement/introduce/test into my systems along with the analytics of such, etc.

This is what helped me. Perhaps it'd be a catalyst for you as well?

@Sean OToole You're absolutely right!!! My mind has been on overload lately and I've honestly got the two mixed up! Which is incredibly ironic because I was recently helping a fellow BP not too long ago clear up the difference between a mortage/deed of trust (depends if the state is lien, title, or even hybrid theory) and a promissory note. LOL Woe is me! I need to take a step back, not get ahead of myself, and recollect for a bit. Whew!

Alright! Yes, I'm looking for any misc. companies that provide public records on seller carry backs, "private" notes, whatever you want to call them as long as they're owned by an individual or small/mid company. My research process is actually what you've suggested, which is:

1. Contact company

2. Inquire about such datasets

3. If datasets exists then proceed with further inquiry into what data is available

4. Cross reference with actual pulled docs to see how comprehensive their data and datasets really are

So far, my findings are exactly as you've mentioned and, more so on, "The primary limitation being what data is actually recorded".

Thank you Sean! You've greatly furthered the assumptions on certain things I've had (i.e. roughly the same data) since undertaking this research.

@Jacob Allweil The best source as far as general population/demographics shifts goes, in my opinion, is the good ol' Census Bureau. Its free with a plethora of analytics/studies on this matter and it provides nationwide coverage! Not to mention, it will give you a core foundation in markets you are interested in and, in doing so, help you formulate the exact specifications of data/info you need a private firm to provide you with should you ever invest capital into one.

Sorry Jack, I've got nothing when it comes to books on this subject. However, believe it or not, an inadvert source I've stumbled upon comes from my misc. life activities. You see, whenever time is nice to me I volunteer at hospices and homeless nonprofit organizations. People whom share their life story with you can often times bless you with their sage knowledge down memory lane.

@Bob Jones As with most things real estate, niches usually have their own state specific bylaws amongst their general real estate ones. So, understanding real estate itself (along with generic laws) is important before anything else in my opinion. You can learn that by either taking a real estate license prelicensure course or, better yet, just go burrow a book on real estate fundamentals at your local library!

I am not familar with Lonnie Scruggs or John Fedro but it appears they dabble with residential owner-financing in some form or another. If that's the case, I would highly recommend you trend very carefully and focus more so on whether what they teach adheres to Dodd-Frank and SAFE, aka major federal laws on residential financing transactions.