All Forum Posts by: Michael Jones

@Kari Bennett I've never heard of it taking 6 months.  But then again I'm only active in the Portland metro area.  If you obtain the redemption rights and exercise them you should have title within or soon after 60 days.  

Don't lose sight of the fact that people often make agreements to purchase redemption rights before the auction.  You're wise to contact the owner before the auction.  You don't want to purchase and then talk to owners just to find out the rights have been purchased.  Hope you are doing your title work research as well .  

I've had title do this for me numerous times.  

@Chris Mason  Yeah I've stayed away from lending for listening to too many horror stories of how the documentation is insane.  But I haven't gone through the process.  The way you've explained it, I think, though it'll still be a pita I shouldn't have too many problems. I've maintained a bank account that is only for business and can verify the transactions and can show decent honest tax returns.  I think the big issue I need to get through is to maintain higher (non working for me) funds for a few months in the bank account.  

Final question(s).  I just bought a house 6 weeks ago and will be putting a renter in it in 3 weeks.  So, I go into the bank/credit union to get a loan, does it count against me if they say no I need to hold the house for a few more months?  My scenario: bought for 300K, putting 45K into it and want to pull financing for 270K.  Value 430-460K. Rent: $2475.  Would like to pull money back out the soonest I can. Thoughts? 

 @Chris M  

Please expand on this. I haven't gotten a loan since 2004.  I know it's changed a lot but what I can't figure out is how does underwriting work in regards to self employed investors.  I have thousands of dollars moving on a consistent basis.  My account may have 200K in it today and then in three weeks might be down to 20K.  And it might be just a few transactions or it might be several smaller transactions to pay for contractors etc.  I just can't stop working my plan so my bank account doesn't have activity.  

How does the lending community deal with people like me?  Or a better question is how do I set up for a smooth transaction as I'm just now starting to seriously investigate holding rentals with bank lending.  

 Other than the disruption I'm wondering why you want them out during inspection.  If it were me, I'd want them to stay.   I doubt this happens very often but requiring them gone for the inspection opens the door to claims of missing/broken items.  It's disruptive but they know the house is being sold and I'm sure you told them about the process.  I'm sure it would make it easier but I wouldn't want that exposure.   

Julie Martin at the Hollywood branch is pretty knowledgeable and understands investors.  

Welcome Mason.  This is a great place to get lots of info.  You might look into the local reia or Rarebird. 

What kind of investing are you doing?  flips, wholesales? 

Mike

I've owned townhouses and condos in the past. Most often though I've rehabbed and flipped them. Like said above, HOA's can increase monthly fees and have capital calls for repairs. You definitely need to investigate the HOA, see the financials and meeting minutes for the past year at a minimum. This should let you know the health of the community. You should also be able to chat with a hoa representative.

Red flag for me is when the hoa fees are so cheap like this one. Does it just cover landscape and exterior? If it covers water/sewer and garbage, as well as landscape and reserves for repairs, I'd say it's collecting way too little in reserves. Any HOA in Portland that doesn't collect at least $300/month would be suspect to me. It's a bigger chunk but HOA's that collect and maintain consistently are the ones that don't get run down.

Investigate before you buy. Your purchase contract should allow for review of HOA docs.

We all get excited with a potential opportunity and we need to avoid paralysis and pull the trigger.  However, there's always another deal around the corner.  

Good luck. 

@Ben D. 

Ben, I only asked because I thought I might be able to give you specifics on the areas but truly I don't invest much on the west side.  I'm much more familiar with Southeast Portland.  Like Michell Prunty noted, the areas you're looking are cheaper and rents cheaper as well.  Not that you can't do well in lower income areas and many people have, you might want to consider the area and the headache factor with lower income neighborhoods. The Portland metro area is quite pocketed.  Might be nice in one block and sketchy the next block over.  This is one reason why you need to know where you are buying and knowing your values.