All Forum Posts by: Mathew Lambright

@Account Closed

This particular find was through the first thing people teach when you become an investor, TELL EVERYONE what you're doing with your life. I was in the middle of something that had nothing to do with real estate when I brought up that I'm looking to buy homes in a particular area. They just happened to like that idea for themselves. 

I imagine the best way to do it is contact people that are on the default list. Thats the main avenue so you'd probably need to hone in and specialize your search from there. 

Thank you Rey Vargas and I completely agree!

Subject to was a thing I had original heard about on BP podcast. It seemed unreal to me but I just had to try it. 

Months later I found a couple that could no longer afford their big house and it was burying them. When I went in I realized they maybe had $30k Equity, but would see that fly away into the breeze on market with commissions and repairs. 

I offered to take over their existing mortgage (It was adjustable!) and pay them full equity in a carry contract. If they were willing to move on for $10,000 dollars and carry the remaining $20,000 over the next 4 years... I would save them from this mortgage that was about to increase. 

I put the insurance in both our names, wrote them a check for $10,000 (all I had at the time), and executed on the sale. They went into 2nd position on the home at $20,000. 

I had been working on getting renters in there during our closing period and found a group willing to rent it. They actually ran into the previous owners on move day due to the owners taking an extra day to move out. 

I still have this rental after 2 1/2 years. It commands $3000 a month and I pay the previous owners every New Year. We are down to $10,000 on their lien, $237,000 on the note, and the house has now become dividable and currently worth about $370,000. The lot will hopefully command $70,000 in value after we pay a decent amount to divide. 

Moral of the story is, we felt like we were doing something STUPID but we just trusted in the education and made it happen. Real Estate...what a ride, huh?

@Andy Mirza thanks for the response here. I took a break from BP and got to work! It's been a fun ride so far. 

When it's this slim it's basically the ideal Sub To opportunity. I would say, if you plan to pay commission, put as little money down as possible. This will allow you some time to push equity a little. Maybe delay them a year on half the payment. This was already mentioned, but check the payoffs and if there is an adjusting rate coming up. I personally wouldn't rehab the home with my own capital unless I knew I could sell it next day for a profit. I've owned a sub to for years. It's fun stuff.

Check out my post "Why networking gives me wings" Finding people and simply talking to them is your best bet, hands down.

@Brandon Turner , Thanks that exactly what I needed.

 I'll refrain from throwing out names just yet. Let me adjust to the community, even if it is in a good light. 

This is my first hour on BiggerPockets and I am truly excited to become a member of this community. Thank you for reading.

A little over a year ago I was sitting with a good friend of mine, talking about how I wanted to take our long time talk of "getting into real estate" into a reality. I didn't really know how we would do it, I just knew we would. 

My friend suggested that we look into the local investor network and see where to go from there. So we joined, told them we were "from the same household" to get the 2 for 1 discount (roommates count, right?) and got started. 

I quickly realized that I had a passion for communicating with people on a face to face bases. On top of the fact that, even in a community that had a residual reputation for maybe being a little bit snake-like (thanks gurus), most people were genuinely pretty amazing and (to me) super knowledgeable about real estate. 

Soon I began to realize the priceless value of just listening to people talk, and learning from some of the brightest minds in local real estate. But maybe it wasn't priceless. Many gurus and mentors out there are charging what is equivalent to a college education to give understanding and mentor-ship to people. 

So I listened. I stayed late after networking meetings. I spent $5-$6 and bought these people drinks. I got to know people. I got involved. 

I soon realized how amazing the real estate investment community is. Here you have an incredibly large group of people that simply do not need to compete directly, because they have done well enough with themselves to feel pretty confident that....the next deal will come along just fine.

My associate and I have recently discussed this. He believed that networking gives me fuel, and it's true. I spend hours sitting and chatting with people about their deals, their troubles, their triumphs, and most importantly their lessons. My questions are ones where I can learn from their biggest mistakes, so that I can simply bypass as many as possible! It does give me fuel, and I leave in disappointment if I haven't met anyone new with a story to tell. 

Because of all of this I have met some of the most AMAZING people in the rapidly growing sea of Portland. Being a tiny fish in an OCEAN it can be intimidating to make those first moves. And yet, I have been able to team up and make Portland, obtainable.

These amazing people are the reason the pieces come together. I would like to say thank you to the great people that are not afraid to share their advice and help others progress. So, my first post to BiggerPockets forum is not to ask for help on anything, it's simply to say...

Thank you. 

I look forward to interacting.