All Forum Posts by: Matt Ridenour

Hi everyone.

We just hired our first virtual assistant and I have to say it's going great.  First of all it has forced us to systemetize our business, which was quite a process.  (And is still ongoing.)

My wife and I run our small portfolio of STRs and we flip 3-5 properties per year, doing much of our own contracting work.  Our virtual assistant was hired through Scale Virtually, whom we met up with at BPCon down in Cancun.  She is slowly taking over administrative tasks such as calendar and email management, contractor coordination, product research for flips, and many other things I'm not thinking of.  She's only been with us for a couple of weeks and I've been really happy with her skill set.  

What I am asking for is ideas for how to use her time as wisely as possible.  For those of you with virtuals, would you be willing to share some of the non-obvious ways they help you get through your work?  I'd like to build a list of things she can do when she has completed her daily tasks.

Thanks as always for your thoughtful responses!

Quote from @Ben Fernandez:

Oh lol...so you know! "Lankisster..."

 Naild it. ;-)

Quote from @Ben Fernandez:

Gotcha...I like your goals utilizing the lease option. The connection to the other business ventures is interesting. Even if you don't find someone able to chime in on that niche, you sound creative enough to make it a success. Keep up the good work.

 Thanks Ben.  Good luck over in Lancaster.  (I pronounced it right in my head, just fyi) ;-)

Quote from @Ben Fernandez:

You need to get licensed. These would be simple referrals.

Otherwise, wholesale them for a flat fee. Either the owner can pay or the buyer. However you structure it. You could also sell the lead to another company/person. There's plenty of people ready to pay for hot leads.

If those aren't options, and you are focused on owning them, seller financing, subject-to, and lease options are the only remaining options.

Thanks Ben.  Not interested in getting licensed.  Not my jam.  Also not interested in wholesaling.  I wouldn't feel good about convincing someone elderly to sell to me and then turn around and wholesale it.  Nothing against wholesaling, I purchase those houses all the time.  I just don't want to sit with an elderly person or their kids and explain my position in that deal.  I would rather just refer them to a friend in my network for free.
Seller financing works well with someone who wants cash flow for a longer period of time than I am working in. (I shoot for 3 month max on flips) Most of my people don't have a mortgage, so subto isn't a thing for them. That leaves lease option, or what I think is a more solid way to do it - lease purchase.  

I think there is a creative way to build an income bearing fund that would slowly drip towards living expenses in senior housing or assisted living.  I'm just hoping not to reinvent the wheel. 

Quote from @Jaedon Stout:

@Matt Ridenour yes the major Banks are the best especially for no doc funding and lending to start ups with great promotional rates. My main Partner is Chase because gives the biggest limits great when it comes to building a relationship and getting BLOCs and other things also would recommend local credit unions biggest thing you always need to figure is the banks Cap of what they are willing to lend until they need everything Chase for example is 150k Citizen Bank if in area a great one for Blocs only require bank statements to calculate how much you can qualify for.

Again you want Unsecured No Doc Funding every start up is eligible if your business is one day old or 5 years shoot me a Message if you want a better break down can create a loom for you. 

 Much appreciated.  We bank with Chase for our big transactions.  I'll message you shortly.  Thanks for the info!

Thanks for weighing in guys!  @Mitch Conrad I'm only thinking of escrow so the senior will have peace of mind that I'm not going to run off with the money.  Also, there may be some tax benefits if they can qualify for federal funding based on low income.  I do love the senior living wing of a business strategy.  Our boomer population's housing needs are exploding!  And I love that you are cognizant of the appearance of impropriety.  Our industry can easily get a bad rap for taking advantage of people.

@Jaedon Stout do you have business credit institutions you recommend?  My wife and I are full time real estate and therefore no W2.  That makes us unlendable, other than income properties.  I do have a good relationship with a local lender, but not for a business line of credit.  If my memory serves, I worked on this a year or 2 ago and ran into this wall. 

@Travis Timmons I think the key is to try and include a simple "one sheet" explaining 2 or at the most 3 options for them to choose from.  Optimally you also can get the children of the senior involved so nobody feels their parents were taken advantage of.  

I appreciate the convo.

I suppose that's a semantics discussion to your point.  Anything in that vein is seller financing.  I can give them 10k up front and then cash them out once I'm done.  Thanks for taking the time to answer.

Hi Jaycee. Unfortunately this part of my business is flipping. I build and run STRs for cash flow. The flips are to pay down my STR mortgages. (My full strat is to own as few STRs as possible to fund my lifestyle for simplicity.)

I feel like a seller financing would be unfair, as the seller wouldn't reap the benefits of holding the note for more than a few months.  My way around that is the lease purchase.  With that I can flex my offer to include profit sharing if needed.  

Ok Bigger Pockets fam.  I've had tremendous success asking questions here before, so here's hoping!

The quick and dirty:

I have several projects going currently (2 flips and a new build STR.) I haven't stopped my marketing campaigns, and suddenly I have several potential deals coming at me at the same time. It's a good problem to have, I know. I'm solving some of it with partners, that's not what I'm asking.

What I'm asking:

I have a few older folks looking to sell me their homes and downsize.  I'm looking for win-win solutions that will preserve my capital and get them the money they want.  My best current strategy is a lease purchase agreement, where they give me the house for a low lease amount and I cash them out after I'm done remodeling.  I'm also trying to find a way to "sponsor" their stay at a senior living facility for "x" years in exchange for the house.   In this scenario I would place that amount in escrow and have it auto-debit monthly until the funds were depleted.      

I'm certain there are good strategies people are employing.  If you've heard a good podcast or read a good book I'd love a recommendation.  I focus only on win-win and easily explainable strategies for these older folks and their families.  The last thing I want is to come across as a slimy salesman.  I'm very open with my sellers in terms of numbers.  I want them to know up front what I do, what I make, and why I have to have a "lower than retail" price.  

Thanks so much for any discussion.  Sorry for the long post!

Hello BiggerPockets fam!

I'm at BPCon this week and I'm striking out on my biggest need of the week.  BTW what an awesome event!  First time attending but won't be the last.  

My wife and I are small time investors.  We have about 4 million in mortgaged assets, but about 2 million in mortgages.  We do our own construction work which is how we build our equity.  

I'm looking for a commercial portfolio loan that wraps these properties into one loan, with the excess equity available as a line of credit.  I don't want to cash out refi because I don't want to store the cash and pay for it.  All I'm looking for is a pool of money I can use as a line of credit against my equity so that I can move quickly for fix and flips.  

Anyone have suggestions?

Thanks so much in advance!