All Forum Posts by: Laird Wynn

In addition to being a potential violation of State law in Texas ( I know it is in Ohio) wholesaling that property would also be a violation of the NAR code of ethics. A better solution is to do a good job of explaining your value to the client and charging them a commission to help them sell the home. You can charge as much commission as the seller will agree to pay (assuming your broker is OK with that) and assuming you do a great job of explaining your value to them, you should be able to charge as much commission as you would earn wholesaling the house. This way, you and the seller are on the same side of the table and you are working together for a win-win outcome.

I rent.  It's cheaper than owning a home.  I take the $2000/mo that I'm saving and use that to borrow about $300,000 that I can use to buy about 4 homes and rehab them.  They cash flow about $1,000/mo each for $4,000/mo total.  So instead of owning my home and losing $2000/mo, I can invest that money and make $4000/mo, a $6000/mo increase vs. owning my home.

In a lot of cities, Shiller is right. Investing in a primary residence can often times be one of the least efficient investments you can make.  'Pride of ownership' is what people tell themselves to make the negative yield feel palatable.  

 David,

How do you save $2000 by renting your house instead of owning and cash flow $1000 in another house you own and rent out?  That's a neat trick!

The nice part of having a real estate license is that you can collect commission income  from everyone who is ready willing and able to sell their home. Not just folks you can convince to sell to you at a price low enough for your to re-sell the property.  In addition, you can earn commission from sales to all the buyers you meet while marketing you listings ( and wholesale properties)   Get the real estate license.  Trust me, it pays very well.

I have pulled a lot of wall paper in my days.  

Your result will depend on the substrate.   

Here is my approach with plaster:

1.  remove any water resistant coverings like vinyl.  Unless its a foil paper this usually comes off pretty easily in sheets.

2.  Use a tool called a Paper Tiger to score the wall paper.   Really go after it in this step.  The Paper Tiger will make tiny holes in the paper.  The more holes you make the faster the next steps are.

3.  Mix a product called DIF  with very hot water in a garden sprayer or, if you have one, an airless paint sprayer.

4.  Let is soak in an respray.

5.  repeat this step several times.  

6. Use a combination of 4" razor scrapers and drywall knives to remove paper with as little damage to plaster possible.

7.  Wipe the wall down with the DIF solution and a sponge to remove excess glue.

With Drywall its a bit dicey.   Try to pull the paper in layers.  when you get to the drywall make sure that the drywall was properly prepped before the wallpaper was applied.  If the drywall was prepped correctly the paper will pull off with a little help from DIF.

If the wall paper was not prepped, you will pull the face paper off the drywall when you remove the wallpaper and this makes a mess!   If this is the case,  remove any vinly top layers then use two coats of BIN alcohol based shellac.  It dries fast and will seal the surface of the paper.  Skim coat on top of that then prime and paint.   

I've tried it a million ways and the above will get you the best results most easily.

Unfortunately,  I agree that it sounds like it is time for a lawyer.

My suggestion would be to put the max into your 401k and get the employer max every year. Then, when appropriate roll your company 401k into a self directed IRA to use for real estate investment.

You get the best of both worlds. I work with Equity Trust for my self directed and have had great service from them. They also have something called Equity Trust University that is a great learning tool. I suggest you see if you can get access to that to learn more or just google "self directed IRA" there are many great companies that can help with that.

If you are buying a portfolio of properties then I imagine you are having title work done to make sure that the houses have clear title.  I would suggest that you have the title company arrange for the seller to sign. That way you reduce the impression that you may have unduly influenced an elderly person.  That impression could be very expensive, time consuming and hard to defend against if a family member or government agency objects later on.  

One note to several folks who have posted to this thread.  Family status is a protected class according to federal fair housing law. You cannot legally choose a tenant based on the number of people in a family or the wear and tear they might create as a result.  Fair Housing law is confusing and seemingly innocent violations like the ones discussed here can be devastating.  If you are in real estate,  do yourself a big favor and get some fair housing education.  Call your local Board of Realtors for a start. 

Great news that you have three tenants to choose from.  What a great problem to have, right!

When I look at a tenants application I want to see three things:

1. Stable income

2. Stable residence history

3. Positive reason to move

Looks like #1 and #2 have all three.    Number #1 is better as the reasons for moving are verifiable and their income is stable and also verifiable.