All Forum Posts by: Samuel Hall

Hi Joshua from the other side of the mountain, I am rehabbing for my first STR and am excited to explore this niche.

- How did you choose the CS market? What regulatory barriers have you come across in such a urban market? 

- What washer/Dryers do you put in your unit?

- Are you an owner, rental arbitrage, or "co-host"?

Hi Jordan, Congratulations on your success in scaling. I have mixed feelings on the rental arbitrage model. On one hand, scaling is much faster. On the other, you aren't building equity and taking advantage of all the other benefits of ownership. 

A couple options you may consider:

Seller financing - Everything is negotiable, and if qualification or downpayment is your barrier to entry, then you simply have to negotiate terms that fit your need. (I used this strategy on my current deal that will be my first STR)

Cashflow based lending products - I know NorthPointe Bank provides a loan that is based on future cashflow. One caveat is that this loan requires 20% down. 

BRRRR/ Hard money - You could acquire using hard money, rehab, and then refinance. Loan qualification for a traditional 30 yr would be much easier once you are on title. Hard money lenders often don't look at "you" in their underwriting requirements.

Private money - Use your track record to attract others to pool their funds in scaling. Lots of information published on the subject. 

Good luck on ramping up. Keep us posted on what route you take.

I'm excited to start my first STR. I am trying to determine the best option regarding a Washer and Dryer. I was told to get a set that has an "express setting." What brand/model have you found success with?

Hi Tommy, 

Episode 88 of the Real Estate Rookie talks about how to analyze an STR deal. There is also a google sheets Short term rental calculator in the bigger pockets file directory. Both of those have been extremely helpful to me.

Hi Mindy,

I use apartments dot com, direct deposit from the government assistance programs from my non PM managed unit and direct deposit from my PM company for my professionally managed unit. I do not know how they accept payment from tenants.

When you hire an attorney for a transaction (Instead of using an agent, or yourself) what roles are they expected to perform?

For example:

Do they coordinate with the title company, and other associated vendors?

Do they draft all documents and all revisions?

I have little frame of reference and am learning how to operate most effectively while covering all of my bases legally. In my current transaction, if I am unable to contact my hired attorney in a timely matter I end up handling the time sensitive components myself including the drafting of documents.

Thanks for posting. 

I've been in discussion with some sellers. They were seriously considering an 5 year owner carry/subject-to that I had offered. Their friend who is an investor himself, had warned them against this option due to the escalation (AKA due-on-sale) clause. The investor friend suggested a lease option instead. My goal with owner carry was to be able to refinance at the end of the term of the agreement in order to reduce out-of-pocket costs. What are my options regarding exit strategies if one were to execute this lease option? My name obviously wouldn't be on title. 

Hey folks, 

I have started a website (Carrot), have ordered bandit signs, door hangers and am cold calling lists while I am waiting on my marketing materials to arrive. I am tracking my conversion numbers, recording my cold calling sessions so that I can review them and share them with others for feedback. I want to track my objections so that I can develop effective objection-handlers. 

Two objections I have come across recently that I don't know how to handle:

A guy was speaking to me, until he found out that I used Google Voice for my phone number. He accused me of being a "Swindler" and asked me to not contact him again. 

I have since changed my voicemail from the standard google voice greeting, to a custom one. I mentioned my website on the voicemail. 

Another guy called me back after I left a generic voicemail on his cell (cold lead). I didn't pick up immediately, he heard my voicemail and I called him back within 5 minutes. After hearing my voicemail he sounded completely turned off to having a conversation. 

What are the best practices when cold calling? What is the balance between professionalism and presenting oneself as a genuine person? 

My current voicemail is as follows:
"Hey you've reached Sam and webuyhousesgj dot com, I'll call you back as soon as i'm able. In the meanwhile please leave your name, number and the property you plan on selling. If you'd like to find out more about what we are and what we do  visit our website at webuyhousesgj dot com"

Any feedback or insight is appreciated. 

Hey folks, let me know what you think of this deal:

Property: 4bd/2ba/1891sf. SFH Built in 1914. There are some stains in the dropped ceiling, and there is one corner of the house that has settled resulting in broken tiles. I don't see any crumbling of the foundation, it's just an old house. But it is definitely something that should be looked at thoroughly. It may work as a rental with some superficial updates, but definitely needs updating as a flip. The bones are good.

Seller: They are moving to a different state, and want to sell quickly. They are closing on another property this month. They are not hurting for cash, they just want to be done with the property and move onto the next stage in their life. The sale of this property doesn't affect their closing on the next. He intentionally FSBOd towards investors to receive a quick cash offer. He said that he has spoken to many investors, but they either flaked out or their offer was too low. I asked him what he wanted. He said he owes 143K, he wants to put 150-160 in his pocket and therefore wants 305K purchase price. I estimated his monthly payments are $989. I asked if he was open to selling on terms. He said that he didn't want to deal with anything "subject-to" and just wants to walk away from the property. I get the sense that he is relatively educated about real estate. If he doesn't get the property under contract by Monday, he will list it on the MLS.

Comps put the price per square foot around 170.97, ARV is 320-330 conservatively. Inventory is low and I think he could successfully sell it on the MLS. I think the settling foundation could scare off many retail buyers.

Here is what I plan on offering him:

1. All cash offer.
   1. 260K purchase.
   2. Closing in 10 days
   3. Sellers net $108,124.00
2. Interest only W/ 5 year balloon
   1. 305K purchase
   2. 4.5% interest
   3. Monthly payments of 1143
   4. Sellers net $230,625.00 (after 5 years)
3. 30 year amortized,
   1. 315K purchase Price
   2. 3% interest
   3. Monthly Payments of 1349.
   4. Sellers Net $342,688.00 (after 30 years)