All Forum Posts by: Kristin Caras

@JJ Buckner congrats!! Sounds like an awesome first step into your real estate career

Thank you @Christian Beyer! 

Thank you everyone for your input! We actually just received the signed release so our money will be refunded soon. This was definitley a learning curve and I appreciate all the help!! 

@Nick C. it’s being held by the agent’s broker and the property is actually in NY.  Trying to look on the bright side that $500 lost is better than $30-60 thousand but still a shame. Learning experience I guess! 

We just made an offer on a triplex that looked great, but turned out it needed about $30-60k worth of HVAC work from our inspection report and contractor bids (it was an old property and the system turned out to be totally shot). We had an inspection contingency clause in the contract that we could back out based on the result of the inspection and have the money refunded. 

The clause says exactly: 

“...If the Seller and Buyer cannot come to an agreement on rectifying the problem then the contract will be deemed null and void and the earnest money will be refunded to the buyer without interest.”

Our realtor is saying that in order for us to get our money back, the seller needs to sign a release and it isn’t looking good and we may never get this money back. 

Is it common to run into scenarios where you don’t get your earnest money back even if it is in the contract? 

 I understand there is a cost to doing business, but I don’t know how common/uncommon this is for the future or if something is wrong here. Deposit was only $500 but can’t obviously continue to pursue multiple properties if each time there is a chance we’ll be out $500. 

@Norm Chrostowski welcome to BP! Before getting a mentor I suggest attending a few webinars here and checking out some of the BiggerPockets books and podcasts. I think you’ll find that this site has so many resources you may not need one. Good luck!

@Nate Wilson I use Brandon's criteria of at least a $100/month/unit after expenses often when looking at deals - it's a good benchmark and depending on the area it can be harder to find than it sounds!

@David Nemrow I am reading the BRRRR book now! I think the chapter on finding your "rockstar" team is great - good people on your side can make or break your success. I think David does a great job showing how it's important to benefit your agent/PM/contractors as much as they benefit you.

Thank you all for your input and help! We actually just found out our offer was rejected and they accepted a higher offer. On to the next one! 

@Wesley W. that is similar to how the current tenants have it set up now, the parents have the open room and the child has the closed room...That is good to know that you're able to rent your similar unit for almost the same price! The current tenants are paying like it's a 2 bed vs a 1 bed. 

@Colleen F. The way I was envisioning you'd have both doors with clear access to the stairs, opening to the "hallway", the only tighter space would possibly be the hallway section leading to the bathroom... I think it is possible. As you suggested, this is a military area and a bunch of friends renting rooms together aren't going to want this open space, but a family with a young kid, perhaps. I think if we can negotiate the property to the right number we would close the deal and add the new walls.