All Forum Posts by: Jim Stardust

So people are rushing to buy treasuries today, didn't they get the memo from S&P?

Homer, not everyone lives close to HD/Lowe's and shipping is usually free for orders above a certain amount. Now, I just ordered a whole pallet of flooring and it was delivered straight to my door, free of charge! It would have taken me several trips to get from my local HD store, so think of how much I saved on gas, time, and hassle by ordering them online. Also, there are far wider selections at both HD and Lowe's when you're ordering items online than you will find in the store. Finally, if you order something online and it doesn't work, you can take them back to the store and they'll issue you a refund on the spot.

So wait, you're planning to quit your day job and head to Florida with no money or income? If so, you should stay where you are, get some experience under your belt while having the security of the day job, and then decide if you're ready to make the move. Florida's real estate market is not going anywhere for several years.

My question to you, is what kind of job do you have and can you find something similar )or better) in Florida? You realize it will take a while to learn the area and you'll have to compete against people with similar interests, ambitions, and have a huge leg up on you being Floridians?

You still have to pay partial interest and insurance, possibly tax and HOA fees if applicable, unless the buyer is willing to pay those as well?

If you close later in the month, you can cut down on the partial interest (assuming you're taking a loan on the property) and might get away with minimum amount of money out of your pocket, assuming that's what you're trying to figure out...

The Fed issued the following statement, basically giving S&P the big FU:

"For risk-based capital purposes, the risk weights for Treasury securities and other securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, government agencies, and government-sponsored entities will not change. The treatment of Treasury securities and other securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, government agencies, and government-sponsored entities under other federal banking agency regulations, including, for example, the Federal Reserve Board's Regulation W, will also be unaffected."

I'm watching Bloomberg at the moment, most of the experts are saying that while the downgrade is serious, there's no where else for anyone to turn except U.S. treasuries. Nouriel Roubini is expecting treasuries yields to actually go down even more, so short term, we may not see much of an impact but long term, it's not going to be pretty.

I've seen it done, looked cheap, but can be done. Buy some of these spray paint cans (primer + paint) from HD or Lowe's, tape around the walls and edges really well and go at it.

I found success by getting to meet and know folks outside of their banking jobs. There are so many venues when you can meet people, either through friends, colleagues, church, golf, you name it and then if you find out they're in the banking industry, they can either help you or introduce you to someone that can help you. Otherwise, like any relationship, it takes time and work to build trust and mutual understanding with a banker. I agree, locally-owned or operated banks or credit unions are better for cultivating a good relationship but if you find a good banker at a major bank, you can also find success. It helps if you refer friends/relatives/colleagues to that "person" or bank so they know you're an asset.

In a couple of instances where I got good service and good products, I wasn't hesitant to let the broker's boss know how much I appreciated the service. A simple email, letter, or just a quick face to face to a manger/VP in that branch will do wonders. In one of those instances, the person went above and beyond to get me a deal the next time around, got that same manager involved and they were able to pull it off. It takes work, I've seen people invite their bankers to a sporting event or dinner/drink after work when they have a major deal to work on, or send a nice "thank you" gift when it's all done.

I've had a couple of runs that made me uncomfortable, one time I was sure I was going to be robbed, two guys came over and one moved to block the front door when we moved in so I immediately looked to the back door and shouted "what the f$%&"? I exited through the back door before they could figure out, I told them something was stolen from my back porch and I started to dial 911. I told them they can hang around, but they left immediately and never heard from them again.

There was another instance when I tried to evict someone and the boyfriend of the couple went berserk, acted in a threatening manner but I kept my cool (and distance). I told him to cool it right now because "I won't tolerate it" and eventually he calmed down, sometimes you worry if someone is on drugs or something and snap, it's a chance you take being in this business (or almost any other business).

few tricks I learned over the years and these could apply to many situations:

1. Always tell someone that you'll be at a property, ask them to call you every 10 minutes, and then say out loud..."OK, I'm here, come on over..."

2. Let the prospective tenant know that the neighbor/realtor/friend may be dropping by "some papers" or something and you may have to excuse yourself for few minutes.

3. Keep back and front doors unlocked, don't let your car be blocked, if it's evening or later, turn a bunch of lights on and make it look like something is going on. Arrive early and see if you can spot a neighbor to chit chat with, etc.

4. Trust your instincts, if it doesn't sound or look safe, just make an excuse and walk away. Phone are great for this, act you received an emergency "text" and just leave.

5. Numbers matter! Ask a partner, a friend, or a relative to accompany you. You can also announce that you have another tenant is coming to a showing.

Most importantly, you shouldn't be showing a place until you have received and verified some basic information from them. Ask them to drive by the property and if they're still interested, to give you a call, you can obtain some information then and verify it's accurate. I've had little chit-chats with people just to get a sense of what type of person I'm dealing with. When I ask where they're coming from or why they're moving, I use their answer to start a completely new line of conversation just to get them talking about themselves.

I bet he's not even located in the UK. I bet his "general manager" is his cousin "Mr. Wilson" from Nigeria. I also bet you he'll be asking you for you bank account so he "deposit" the money, looks like a scam so be careful.

But there's no way to do the normal screening procedures, if there's a company that can verify his employment status and back up his story, you can get some information to help you with your decision but somehow I doubt it.

What about buying a duplex, if you have credit and income, you can use FHA or other govt programs such as HUD? Stay in one and rent the other one, you'll be there and learn what it takes to manage properties and take care of maintenance and other issues. If you're successful, you can save some money and start expanding bit by bit, what are you doing with your college degree?