All Forum Posts by: Michael Haynes

Hello Geoffrey Paugam in Philadelphia. Your an Agent and you don't know all the answers? What did they teach you in the course about buying Foreclosures and Financing? Your first step should have been to pre-qualify for a Loan. How do you get your numbers if you don't know that? Your walkthrough and extensive Title Inspection should have been your second step and get ready for bad news even after you Close on the property. That is why you need a good Title Insurance Company who preferably is also the Underwriter. In my experience the Bank will not let the property go for less than is owed to the Bank. Where is the advantage? 

Hello Mark C. in Baltimore. The AC question starts with, "do you have enough room in the attic to install all the duck work?" Here in Tampa the houses made after WWII only had very low pitched roofs with not enough room for the ducts. So, we always had to install at the highest point and that left no room for repair or inspection. The AC question with Mini Split units is that they have to have an outside drain. lots of rooms without windows or office buildings do not have a place for a drain outside in a yard and people install without which leads to a problem with dripping water. And you have to keep the filters clean, which tenants will not do and the unit starts dripping. The remote controls are just like the TV remotes and tenants break them and lose them and there are no replacements at times. No one takes care of your stuff like you would. Tenant is a dirty word in experience. 

Hello Adam Zamorek. I had Rental Duplexes and Houses in South Tampa for thirty years and self-managed. I bought at a time when property values in Hillsborough County had not gone UP for ten years. It took ten years for my Rentals to double in value. Then, we lost 60% starting in the 2007 to 2010 Economic Collapse. It took ten years to get the properties back up to a good profit level as I was Short Selling and finally Selling the last few for up to $100,000 Profit. You need to study IRS Publication 523 concerning Sale of a Residence. Some of my properties I had lived in for 2 out of 5 years and they were Tax-free up to $250,000. I sold my four Commercial lots on Dale Mabry Hwy in South Tampa just before Covid. Then, I paid $172,000 Cash for a 3/3 like new Townhome in a small, gated Community, with garage and pool in Valrico. In one year it was worth $320,000. Have you studied the 5 and 10 Year Plans to buy 5 to 10 Rental Houses to Make a Million? You sound like me when I started out. I also have a Farm and Mountain property and Beach House and Rentals in Brazil. I'm 75. You need to know that Single Family Houses do not make Money, unless you find some Special Circumstances. You should watch Grant Cardone's YouTube video, "The Worst Investment You'll Ever Make." You say you will move here end of Summer when you find you new JOB. I would suggest you Buy a Home within a few miles of that JOB to avoid Traffic Jams. Use all the discounted Financing programs you can find with HUD etc. Live there for two years out of five and be sure to Homestead it for a Tax-free Sale of your Residence when it shows a good profit. You buy a Rental, fixer-upper while you wait and when you Sell you move into your Rental as your new Home. Tax-free Money Machine provided for you by the Government.

Hello Deonte Hill in Houston. You want to build a new house in the "Houston Bayou?" Come on! Houston is a Flood Plain with 22 Bayous and Rivers. You just had the second worst Floods since Hurricane Harvey. Flood Insurance is a Federal Program. Here in Florida, Governor DeSantis made it a law that all Mortgages have to carry Flood. End of story. The program has been broken for 30 years and Congress said they would have to raise the rate 10% a year until they could find a solution. Just like Home Owners Insurance here in Florida. It is untenable for Private Companies to make a profit without buying another company that is leaving Florida and then declare Bankruptcy to Steal the companies leftover funds. The only way to make Flood Insurance work, is to Socialize it and make everyone with a Mortgage in the US to pay something for Flood. That's how insurance works. Everyone has to put in a little, to protect the ones that will need it. 

Hello Diana Tran and two partners is a Duplex in Tampa. You are trying to do a Deal for a 100 year old, fixer-upper, Duplex in a "desirable neighborhood." You are doing this with 3 Co-owners? And this is sight, unseen, Absentee Owner. Are you kidding? Can you line up any more ways to lose Money on a Real Estate Deal? If, you give me the address I can go to Zillow and find out what a Vacant Lot in that area is worth. Then, you add on the Square Footage Cost of New Construction and compare it to what you would pay for a Heartache. I had Rental Duplexes and some Houses in South Tampa for 30 years and the kinds of damage and rot you are talking about with the 100 year old side of the Duplex need to be shown to Code Enforcement in case they would consider it a Tear Down structure. Mold damage in Florida is considered Environmental Hazardous. I just watched a Youtube video of a lady who bought a House on the East side of Florida and when she received the updated Property Tax bill that tripled, she put the house up for sale and is moving back to North Carolina. Do you know what the Worst type of Business is? A Partnership. Here in Florida we warn Newbie's not to get a "Gator." I would say that you are looking to grab a Gator by the tail!

Mickael my friend just rented a 3/2 Ranch style house with double garage for $2000 a month in South Valrico area near Bloomingdale and Bell Shoals Rd. She got it off Facebook. 

Hello Mickael Castillo who wants to move to Tampa. Are you Military and have to live off Base? What was your Plan? You have No Credit, not enough Rent, want to study Real Estate Investing when you need to concentrate on your JOB and working up your licenses or skills to do what you are doing to make more Money and you have a big family. Do you even have a car? I had Rentals in S. Tampa, near the Base for 30 years and all my Tenants were Minimum Wage Slaves, without a Bank account, who could not pay the Rent if anything went wrong. You obviously are familiar with all the Social Media sites. Try Craigslist.com for a Rental. You need to move in today? There is an area just South of Hwy 60 around 78th Street in East Tampa that has Trailers to Rent for the First Month up front and move in today. Call www.MobileHomes.net.

Hello Mitchell Morgan in Jacksonville. Your "business plan" sucks. You need to read the IRS Publicaton 523 for Sale of a Residence. You can live in your house in Tampa for 2 out of 5 years and Sell Tax-free for up to $250,000. Duh! Like the Life Insurance Commercial on TV..."He does not know he is sitting on a Gold Mine!" You bought at the Low of the Market in 2019 and for sure your property in Tampa has doubled in value! Wake up! I bought my 3/3 Townhome in Valrico to get out of Tampa for my retirement, just before Covid and in one year it went from $172,000 that I paid Cash, to $320,000. Your Money is in Tampa if you live there for two years and then SEll before the CRASH.

Hello Paula Hernandez. You did not mention where this property is? Did you have an Agent? Fire or sue the Agent. Did you have a Lawyer? Get a second opinion and sue the Lawyer. Do you know that Flips take at least six months to fix up and sell and you are lucky to break even if anything delays the process as you have Monthly Costs that eat into any profit. When I think of Flips, I am reminded of my 35 years as a hands on Landlord and my lesson was to, "Work Smarter and Not Harder." Flips? Yuk.

Hello Annie Balagot in NY. If you live in your Home for 2 out of the last 5 years, when you Sell it is Tax-free up to $250,000 per owner. Read the IRS Publication 523 on Sale of a Residence. This is the time to Sell at the top of a Market.