All Forum Posts by: Maria W.

Hi, new investor here. Like many new investors, the current housing market has made it really difficult for me to know what is a good purchase because I don’t have a lot of tools on my belt to make something work.

I currently live in Navarre, FL which is a beach town 30mins west of Destin, FL. My current house is close to the beach and I have AirBnb’d it when I’m out of town.

I have a 3/1 condo in Springfield, VA (just right outside DC) that I have completely paid off and its current value is ~$315K. It cash flows $2k/month. I'm currently working with a realtor from Bigger Pockets to explore my best options for selling it either now with a tenant in place or in the spring ~April 30th.

My long-term goal is to replace my current W2 income with investments so I can stop working. In this ever-changing market, what are the best strategies for me to consider in reinvesting the money from my condo sale so that I can purchase other investments and scale up year by year? I work remotely, so I can declare a new primary every year if needed.

He doesn't want to do seller financing since they'd just rent it out instead to still have access to the equity. 

So I just offered a seller financing option on MY terms (I like the suggestion from above). Essentially my terms are equivalent to an offer $30k over his current asking price in today's market which isn't going to happen. But I'd only be paying a .75% rate for 15 years. And I was right, he has never heard of seller financing. 

This is what I know so far:

-They have in their realtor's contract that they would pay him 3% on this deal.
-They want to hit a target number to sell their house now and if they don't hit their target number, they were thinking of renting it out.
-They are moving to Phoenix and will be renting since Phoenix is 3x the cost of living in our area so they aren't buying right away.
-They want to gauge interest from the market which is why they listed it at a certain price point to see if it encourages a bidding war (in my opinion they listed it at a range where people are still going to hesitate to jump all over it due to the current interest rates...anything under $300k in my area tends to move quickly but anything over $400k could sit there longer.)
-The house is priced fairly for the market value.
-My neighbor asked me flat out if I can increase my offer to match an offer that's 5k over asking (assuming we'd be able to do the entire deal with 3% commission fees and they'd be getting offers $5k over asking from strangers)
-They do want to sell it to me over a stranger since it offers some perks for them to return to the area and stay at the house since I'd be doing STR anyway and he could rent the house from me when he's in town for work.

Is it rude of me to ask my neighbor what his current loan balance is and his interest rate? I just don't know how this all works so I want to present a seller financing deal to him while also sounding knowledgable about it so he also feels comfortable entertaining something like that. 

I'm in Florida. I was working with a realtor that had a pocket listing that she showed me and offered as an option to me so I thought an agent could operate as a dual agent but then I see this sentence on this page:

"A real estate licensee may not operate as a disclosed or nondisclosed dual agent."

So in terms of someone on my side guiding me through the paperwork, can't I just have their realtor represent both parties for a lower commission rate and do that for me... especially if my neighbor would prefer to sell to me?

They have a target number to get in order to be motivated to sell, otherwise, they were thinking of renting it out. So, if I can meet their target number, they'd rather sell to me. But, I also think they're not aware of how different the market is now vs. last year. They are wanting $5k over their asking price but that isn't guaranteed in today's market. 

They are renting their next property because their new city is too expensive to buy. I just went over to see it and got confirmation on that. He'd prefer to sell it to me rather than a stranger so they can come back into town and use it when he's in town for work and needs to rent a place for 6 weeks next summer. I currently STR my home and would do the same on his place and alternate between the 2 homes depending on bookings.

He already signed a 3-month contract with the realtor this past week. I suggested 3.25% assuming that his realtor gets 3% so it's just a small incentive to represent both parties but that might not be enough. However, in today's market, when properties are sitting there longer, it would be an easy sale. I'm just trying to figure out a way to make it a win-win-win for everyone involved.

My neighbor right next door is about to list his house for sale. I want to present creative financing options to him so he could potentially become the bank and I can make payments to him at a lower rate so it's a win-win scenario for both of us. How exactly does creative financing work and how would the sale actually happen? I'm also trying to use his agent to do the deal at 3.25% rather than the normal 3% he might get. Thanks in advance for any help!