All Forum Posts by: Michael Meeks

Seller financing, assumption, low money down, mobile homes, partnering, and wholesaling are all viable options to get started. My current residence is a 2500 sf home, 1000+ sf workshop, an additional 2br rental house sitting on 5 acres. I paid seller $15k, and put home into a land trust. Property value $250,000, took over payments on $137k loan, rent the 2br house almost equal to monthly note. Seller also left behind furniture, generator, jacuzzi, log splitter, small utility trailer and other miscellaneous items. There are deals to be had. In this scenario, it was a divorce and sellers were ready to move on.

So, after a quick search I see Mr. McKorkle is once again a free man, after spending 18 years in the pen. I remember those late night infomercials, with flashy cars, beautiful wife, private jets, and exotic yachts. What young 20 year old wouldn't get excited about real estate?

That was my first real estate course. From it I learned to watch the newspaper for seasoned mortgages in foreclosure, knock on doors to find tenants in need of a solution, attended courthouse auctions, found a hard money lender, had a title company do title searches, learned to track down owners, and check probate and tax records.

I found and closed 4 deals in my 1st year and a half. Fixed and flipped and each made around $15k. All sold within 45 days of me purchasing.

Then I began building and selling houses. About 20 houses in the next 2 years. I let it drag me away from the foreclosure business. The economy tanked. I had to file bankruptcy. I also learned there was a lot less margin in new construction than in distressed homes. There was also a lot more headache, and took longer to turn money over.

Fast forward 20 years, and I finally find myself back in the game. It's a new game with new strategies. Always exciting, because there is something else to learn. My advice to anyone is there is great value in a real estate education. The 70% rule is an important one regardless of the strategy to get there.

As for the flashy, flamboyant and fraudulent William J. (Gonzales) McKorkle, who even lied about his name - Thank you for inspiring me to become a Real Estate Investor.

Lesson learned - Don't try to reinvent the wheel. Learn the principles of real estate investing, don't stray from them, and continue to apply and hone your skills.

Greetings from Mobile, AL. What type of law do you intend on pursuing? Business and Real Estate maybe? A good bit of real estate is networking. This could lend itself to plenty of opportunities in your future, in addition to those collegiate relationships that may one day be a great resource, for raising capital in the future. 

Instead of focusing on securing debt, focus on securing title with little or no money down, and inheriting the equity.

Is this a flip, or buy and hold? How do the numbers shake out, if you incur the cost? You might ask seller to split the cost.

@Brian Adams this is definitely a popular thread with great an inspiring information. Being a part of an apartment management company, and working with owners and asset managers, i thought I may add a little insight. 

Benefits of having a good management company and what we do.

1. We are setup and have systems in place to effectively manage a property.

2. We provide a buffer, that shield you from day to day tenant issues, and are versed in how to handle those situations. Tenants can get pretty irate when a roof leaks, or a water line burst.

3. Buffer applies to vendors. Cash flow doesn't always cover the expenses, and when collection efforts start, you avoid the brunt. Just a dose of reality.

4. We provide the site staff that handle day to day operations, maintenance, leasing, marketing, scheduling make ready activities, entering purchase orders, bills, etc.

5. We have regional managers in place to help govern the sites, and keep watch of the financials, assure things run smoothly, tweak as needed, and keep you informed.

6. Department heads also watch over operations, marketing, maintenance and accounting.

7. We use our leverage of buying power to save owners money on products and services.

8. We also use leverage to renegotiate contracts and increase your ancillary income.

9. We assure staff are getting necessary training on fair housing, sexual harassment, and so much more.

10. We do the leg work on your capital improvements, and assist with insurance claims

11. We offer due diligence services to help you expand your holdings, and inform you about deals that may come our way.

12. We have a blanket insurance policy you can piggy-back on.

These are just some of the major things. You get a relationship with a group of people to answer questions, and offer advice from our combined years of experience.

The biggest thing you get. The freedom of your time to look for new acquisitions, time with your family or doing the things you love. 

@Robert Blanchard

Development is another animal. Zoning, land acquisition, construction loans, impact on utilities, architects and engineering, etc... Plan on a couple of years just to break ground. I built a couple of 240 unit complexes. Construction time another 12 to 18 months, then another 6 to 12 months to lease up. So this is a 3 to 4 year project. In that time the market could change.

it's explained upfront 'non-refundable'

All qualification criteria needs to be explained (somewhat scripted)

Your traffic needs to be documented

Care should be taken on a tenant who qualifies.

Fair Housing is a big issue.

Always conduct your business professionally

It's no guarantee the tenant will do the same, and don't think you can always make everyone happy.

Run all your aps, and let them know they along with others are qualified. Who ever comes in, brings their deposit, and executes their lease first gets the rental.

If they don't make it, offer to put them on a waiting list, and let them know their application is good for x days. 

I'm also in a hurricane zone and have a couple of deals under my belt, and submitting a LOI, on a park this week. My deals are inland, and agree deals quickly pay for themselves, and threats of a direct hit are few and far between. Mobile homes in hurricane areas are built to higher standards, and require additional anchoring. Low risk high returns.

even with the mistakes and issues, you are learning valuable lessons. The number one thing you got right,'you took action'. You will learn more through doing, than any other way.

Please send me the details. I have an owner with several holdings in Memphis, all over 100 units. Thanks