All Forum Posts by: Kristine Baker

@Matthew Crawford Let me understand what you are saying...The after repair value of the home is 500K? You are saying it need two rooms finished and up dated kitchen? Why would you pay full price? I would stay far away from this deal unless I was getting a seller backed mortgage for 60 years at 0% APR.

@Joshua D.  It all depends on your business.  What are your goals. For me, I have a big line of credit.  I leverage it out...I use my credit lines to secure down payments for hard money.  I am able to carry five properties at one time.  That is rehab and everything.  I had a home that was underwater and just got out of it.  I try to stay away from banks for funding.   However, you can get great rates.  It only goes so far though.  The hard money loans and credit lines move a lot quicker.  The bank loans take 45 days.  So how fast are you wanting to move property?  What makes since for you?  I also look at it this way, the funds I invest that is my money, how fast am I going to to see the return of the money?  6mo?  5 years?  What do I get in return for my investment?  Do I want the cash flow right now?  Or do i want a bulk sum right away?  Good Luck!

@Ken T.  It should be public record.  Showing up in person is never a bad thing.  If you end up buying the property, the people in the county will be more helpful to you because they have worked with you before. Might even wave some of the code violations.  I would take the time actually go there.

@Sharlotte Makoloi I would Join your Local REIA.

@Joe Pankiewicz, The seller might be motivated because he might be getting fines from the City for incorrect use of the property. You need to check the zoning. If it looks like the property cannot be SFH, then you might have to rezone the property for something else. Check with calling the City offices and see if the property has any code violations, check the zoning. Good luck!

@Astrid Van Boom

The CMA is not the most accurate use of the ARV. It is just an estimate. Gives you an idea of the market currently. Honestly, you can get your own ARV from online. Like anything, you have to narrow down the comps on the CMA, which can be done. Your agent needs to be experienced and should be. An appraisal is the most accurate followed by a BPO..Brokers Price Opinion. Like a CMA, the broker has to sign off on the comps used. Hope that helps.

@David McBrayer

So, you have to consider a few items.  

1. Do you want liquid capital to use?  Do business credit building...I can help you with that.

2. What is the purchase price and how long do I want to hold it for?  Conventional will not loan to anything below 55K...at least in FL.  If it is less than 1 yr.  Hard\private money would be ok.  If not, then I would go with a loan at a lower rate.  Hard and private will go from (8-15%)

3.  I love seller financing...I am referring to your condo.  FL is a state that makes it easy so that it is not completely on you.

as an investor, if I can get a property with good terms and seller financing...AWESOME!!

@Account Closed

Sounds like you have a great deal on your hands!  I would always try to put a 3rd bedroom.  To answer your questions, you should talk to the building department in your area.  You could possibly pull an owner builder permit...if you have one in your state.  Getting permits saves a lot of frustration in the end.  What is you business plan?  This could be a great opportunity for buy or hold or flip according to you numbers above. How quickly do you want to get you initial investment back?

@Thomas Lam  Is the mortgage you took out on the property held by the government or by a private investor?  Is the property creating a negative asset in you portfolio? Did you have an exit strategy when you bought it?

Here is my story:  I bought a house in the height of the market and it crashed.  The house has never been less than 50% underwater. The note was also held by a private investor.  We could not take advantage of any government programs. An adjustable rate mortgage was on the property.  We lost money on it every month. I looked at the short sale process, I had even moved money.  Then the rate adjusted.  The payment went from $1300 a month to $600.  Our lawyer even said it was going to be a hard short sale.  I bought the house across the street.  The house across the street was bought correctly. Both houses were rented out for 4 years while the market in Florida recovered to the point where selling made since.   I just sold the house across the street made a great profit, put the underwater house up for sale, bought 50k to the table and then completely sold the underwater home.  I did it without a short sale or help.  It is great feeling to be out of that situation,

What is your long term goals with investing?  Short sale, you will take a credit hit.  Conventional loans might be a problem for a bit of time.   I do however, not really do conventional loans anymore anyway.  So the conventional loan requirements would not have mattered to me anyway because of my network of lenders (private and hard) that I use. There are great programs out there to refinance however it depends on how holds the note.

Any questions...let me know.

Good morning,

@Sebastian Marroquin

That is a really good question. I am always a fan of going to you local REIA. However, there are hard money lenders that are great to work with. I found my preferred lenders at my local REIA. I have a guy in CA. He is great. Message me if you would like the contact. I look for investor friendly lenders, they have to be open minded. It is all about the relationships you build with people correct. With my lenders, I am able to construct the transaction in a few different ways. I can pay in the front end...pts, ect at a lower cost or I can pay everything on the back end. Typically that costs a little more but, it depends on my needs at the time.

Private money, in my state, you need a few touches (3) before you can use private people. Have you heard of lending through IRA's?

The typical private or hard loan will be 6-12 mo.  

Good Luck!