All Forum Posts by: Douglas Larson

@Jaden Connor

The best advice I can give you . . . is to find a sugar momma! She can support you while you get your real estate business up and running! - worked for me!

Seriously though, I had a day job in healthcare for over 7 years and bought 5 SFRs and one townhome during that time. 2 of the SFRs were house-hacks and my tenants paid most of my mortgage. These homes were in San Diego and Maui. The W2 income sure helped with loan qualification. I quit my day job in late 2004, when I moved to Utah and married my "sugar momma." 2 years later, the rental and flip income allowed her to quit too! Does that make me a sugar daddy?!? Anyway, I have never regretted the education, but it became clear pretty fast that Real Estate investing was a much faster track to financial freedom.

One on my rentals was a nice home in N. Logan that would have made a great house hack! I think Cache Valley has some great potential. College housing, fix and flip, buy and hold, hacking, lease-options... The world is your oyster!

Have fun . . . and make your own luck!

Thanks @William Hochstedler

So @Nathan P., Not seeing the home, I would pay 5 bucks! . . . and I'm sure about a million other people would too. I doubt anyone would pay $500K for anything rural without huge land or a diamond mine. Somewhere between 5 bucks and 500K is a price where you can find a wholesale buyer. If that price is 50K, offer 25K and see what happens. 

Also, remember that sometimes the terms are more important than the price. Find out what the buyer REALLY NEEDS. Is it some immediate cash to move to assisted living? Is it money for hospice care, while they stay in the home for a few more months? Is it a promise to take the house "as is" including all houshold junk? If you can take care of the real needs of the seller, you can often get the best value for yourself too.

Finally, do your title work! Rural property can be weird sometimes.

Have fun and reach out by message if you have other questions.

Hi @William Montgomery

send me your email by PM and I can send you a common wholesale contract.

Wow... Fun question! Only you'll know the answer though, and it will take some exploring to figure it out. 

I lived most of my life in San Diego's North County. I loved it . . . most of the time. 

I lived in Hawaii for about 10 years - split between Oahu and Maui. I LOVED IT . . . most of the time. 

I lived for a couple years in Minnesota, another couple years in Colorado and spent a lot of time in England. All fun to visit but not where I wanted to live permanently. 

I currently live in Utah, where I have some family and some great friends. I love to snowboard and fish and wakeboard. I love it here . . . most of the time. The cost of living is about 50% less than San Diego or Hawaii or England, if you don't fall for the 6,000 sq. ft. home and the Big Toys for every season. It's fairly easy to run my real estate business here and it's fairly easy to travel to warmer spots when I get sick of the cold. The schools are good for my 3 kids and it's a great place for families overall. The Mormon influence is significant and not for everyone, but it's been great for us! If you make it out this way in your search for Utopia, drop me a message and I'll show you around. . . unless I'm visiting Maui.

Have fun!

The questions you have are already answered here on BP. In fact, the questions you don't even know to ask are already answered a hundred times over. 

. Listen to at least  and . We all started somewhere, and searching for the answers through study is truly the best way to begin. In a couple weeks you will know so much more and be ready to engage and network with agents, lenders and other investors.

Have fun . . . and make your own luck!

Hi Joseph and welcome to BP Nation! Hindsight is always 20/20. I love real estate and I've made lots of money with it but if I could go back it time I would have bought Apple stock 10 years ago and just sat on my butt til now... oh, and maybe a little bitcoin 2 years ago!

Since I don't have a time machine, I keep plugging away with solid, cashflow rentals and a couple nice flips each year. 

Out of state investing can be a little tough, especially for a beginner. Only you can decide if that's the best thing for you. Another great place to start is with a house-hack. Can you rent out your basement?  Can you buy a house with a nice, walkout basement and rent out the upstairs?

A general bit of advice I can give is that if you plan on being a long-term landlord, price doesn't matter nearly as much as cashflow. If a property will predictably bring in more money than it costs for mortgage and maintenance, you have a good start. If it is a property that attracts and keeps good tenants, you are even further along. The easiest way to make a million dollars is to borrow a million dollars and let your tenants pay it back!

Have fun out there!

PM me and I will send you mine...

Also, I recommend Rentler.com for all landlords because they have a great screening process, forms you can use and they will collect your rent automatically for a couple bucks a month (priceless)!

And, BP has lots of contracts 

Hi! We need more info to offer specific advice...

- Where in Utah do you live and work? It's a big state!

- What skills, attributes and experiences do you and your husband have? Handyman skills? Great credit? Piles of cash? Rich parents? Lots of time? Great organizational skills?

- Do you currently own a home you could house-hack (i.e. rent out the basement)?

- Do you plan on Living in Utah for many years?

A general bit of advice I can give is that if you plan on being a long-term landlord, price doesn't matter nearly as much as cashflow.  If a property will predictably bring in more money than it costs for mortgage and maintenance, you have a good start. If it is a property that attracts and keeps good tenants, you are even further along. The easiest way to make a million dollars is to borrow a million dollars and let your tenants pay it back!

Have fun out there!

I currently live in Utah and it's great to see my state in the top 5. However, way more important than a news organization's ranking is the creativity and tenacity of an individual, wherever they may live. I have lived in California most of my life and I spent many years in Hawaii. Both of those states regularly place low on the "affordability" and "business-friendly" charts. However, imaginative and hard-working people, who can create a good network and follow through on promises and projects always seem to find success. The 5 rentals and flips I did on Maui were great, early successes for me. 2 of my 5 flips in San Diego were some of my very best net profit deals at about 100K each.  was not the most lucrative but it sure added some fun to our family's summer!

I'm sure Texas (and Utah) are great for many reasons but I hope the BP Nation doesn't think they can't create some great business success right where they are!

Have fun out there!

I have been to several county tax sale auctions. In Utah, they usually happen in May. I have bid on at least a dozen properties over a 5-year span. I have only purchased 2 properties - both land deals. One was an orphaned easement next to my sisters old home in Provo, UT. It was about 10 ft. wide by 60 ft. deep. I'm sure it only had value to the 3 contingent property owners. I think I got it for just under $1,000 and it was a great buy to add value to their existing property. Most tax sale parcels in good areas are like this. They are weird shapes and not build-able or left-over from something years ago and land-locked. After being named as the high bidder at the auction, you have about 2 hours to pay the full price in cash. 

Another property I purchased just last year was 118 Acres of raw land in a rural area 2 hours east of Salt lake. The bidding started at about $8K as I recall, as that was the delinquent tax amount. I was the highest bidder at $30K and I had brought the right configuration of cashier's checks to close just after the auction.  I had to go through a "quiet title action" with a local attorney to be able to guarantee free and clear title to the next buyer. This took 3 months and cost $2,200. I had a local agent list the property at 139K and we had some good interest but the only real offers came in quite low. We sold after some negotiation with the property owners next door for 95K and netted about $56K after all commissions and fees. From purchase to sale it was about 7 months. I attended the same auction this year, trying to do the same thing but all the best properties were "redeemed" (taxes paid) or simply sold too high to make sense to me. 

It makes a great story but I'm not sure it's predictably repeatable. Another play is to get the county delinquency list as soon as it comes out (usually 3-5 weeks before the auction) and try to make contact directly with the delinquent owner. If the land is worth 50K and the delinquent taxes are 7K, the owner might be willing to sell for 10K over the tax amount and you get a bargain!

To get started in Utah, I would suggest you google the counties you are interested in, and the key words, "delinquent tax sale" and the current year. Do this next April in 2019. Find the property lists and auction dates and make sure to do your research on the properties that make sense. Know what you are buying and DO NOT OVERPAY!

Have fun out there! It's kind of like a treasure hunt!