All Forum Posts by: Mark Smith

@Brian Knox, thank you so much for your input!  I am looking for a lease agreement for New York state now, hopefully I'll be able to find something here.

I'm definitely going to check out Cozy.co too!

Thanks again!

I am looking at my first set of houses this weekend with my realtor, but before I jump into my first property I want to start getting my ducks in a row!  How to I go about drawing up my first lease agreement?  Of course I want it to be as solid as possible; any suggestions on items that should definitely be included?

I'm also curious how most investors collect rent.  I would like to do it electronically.  The thought of driving to the property once a month to collect checks, then bring them to the bank, seems like it would be a nuisance.

Thank you for any advice you can offer!

I'm not sure exactly how long I have been a member here...maybe 8 or 10 months...but I'm finally getting the ball rolling, and really looking into acquiring my first property.  I met with a realtor this past Saturday, who seems awesome and has some investment knowledge (he has a few properties himself), and I'm really excited to work with him.  I have found three properties that I am interested in looking at, but there is certainly one that stands out from the three, and I will be seeing them this coming Sunday at 11am.  I'm sure there are hundreds of posts just like this one by excited first time buyers, but hey, I'm pretty pumped and just needed to talk about it!

@Charlie Fitzgerald that's exactly what I'm hoping for! Thank you for your input.

Thank you, @Curt Davis!  I'm looking forward to getting some estimates and seeing what the numbers really look like.  This weekend should be eye opening.

Long story, but I'll try to condense it as much as possible!  One of my girlfriend's family members passed away several years ago, and left her house to two of her children (my girlfriend's aunt and uncle).  The water was not shut off in the house, and needless to say, there were several pipes that burst.  A company came in and took out all of the sheet rock and flooring (down to the plywood), due to all of the water damage.  

The house would also most likely require a new heating system with all of the cracks in the copper, and we see a lot of other pieces that have expanded.  It is currently gas hot water, but I want to have a few companies give me an estimate on a new (potentially different) heating system (very open to suggestions).  Unfortunately, I don't know the square footage of the house.  What I can say is that it is 5 bedroom, 2.5 bath, with a good size living room, a dining room, and a kitchen on the smaller size.  The house was originally 4 bedroom, but part of the garage was converted when the grandmother could no longer climb the stairs; we would take this bedroom out to restore the garage space.

There is also part of the cinder block foundation that needs repair as it is cracked and slightly bowed in; that has been given an estimate of $7k.

We are not sure what the family will ask for the house; they have homeowner's insurance that they will be collecting, but there are back taxes on the house, and we just have no idea if they will give it up and be done with it or if they will want every penny they can get out of it.  We estimate (very very roughly) that the house could be worth $225k to $250k when renovated.

I guess I'm not sure what the point of this post is...maybe words of wisdom, advice, and I just want to talk about it!  We plan to live in the house, however there is flip potential (live in flip?).  We have our first general contractor coming to take a look on Saturday and give us an idea of renovation cost :)

@Eugene Kemp thank you for your input!  I'm not sure how to go about finding a hard money lender, but I guess there's no better time to start learning!

@Wayne Brooks thank you for clearing that up, that's what I was trying to figure out.

@Eugene Kemp, turns out that house is on the HomePath site.  Now I'm not sure what that realtor was trying to say, or maybe he was just wrong.  However, if I go that route, I guess it would have to be fixed professionally.  So I would either have to go that route, or try to find a hard money lender so my family and I could do the work.

Sorry, I was a little confused. If we bought for cash then we we wouldn't have to fix it within 6 months.

The ARV may be in the $225 - $250 range. @Percy N., unfortunately I cannot speak to your first question, the realtor did not mention that.

I am going to check out that website now and see if it is in the list.

I found a property today that I became really interested in.  It is a REAL fixer-upper.  It is a foreclosure, and the sign that the realtor hung by the road says Fannie Mae HomePath financing available.  Upon calling the realtor, he said Fannie Mae no longer offers this financing, the house must be purchased for cash, and restoration must be completed professionally within 6 months.

Here is a random collection of my thoughts:  Is there any other way to finance this property?  Because I certainly don't have $60k.  Between my family and my girlfriend's family, we have enough talent to do the work on our own, but we are not "professionals."  Could a private lender work for this?  How can I find one in my area?

This house could be renovated into a gorgeous home.  I could rent it out or even live in it myself.  I know the BP community will have more knowledge on this sort of situation, so I welcome any and all thoughts and advice.  I was bummed when the realtor said "cash purchase only."