All Forum Posts by: Michael Laidler

Based on the cash flow you project, renting my house will incur a lost (especially if those other factors like maintenance, damage, and utilities are high). I was only going to charge roughly $200-250 above the mortgage (and escrow) price I pay.

I agree with you about the square foot price. I know there are differences, especially in certain types of customization to a new home that my home does not have.

Like I posted earlier, I hope the open house is successful so I do not have to consider owner financing.

My hopes for selling are:

(1) sell the house with the bank as the lender

(2) sell the house with owner financing

(3) lease to own

(4) rent

@Jon_Holdman , how would you go about a owner finance in my case? Specifically, if those are the only people I can find to buy my house. My realtor was very positive about owner financing in the city I live in. She was so positive that she told me she already had a few people in mind who might want to buy the house if owner financing was an option (weird since she has only showed my house once while I showed it the second time). According to her, since Mexico is the border to my city, Mexican nationals frequently buy houses in the Laredo with a hefty cash down payment. It is not because they cannot afford the house but they cannot secure a mortgage loan (because they have no credit). I was told that a minimum down payment of 20% of the sales price of the house should be taken and monthly payment should be given based on a 8% interest rate (by me).

Jon, you're right. I made a typo about the "I did consider" part. But I am no where close to selling it at price of the loan or less.

What do you mean by "cash flow = rent / 2 - P&I payment". I understand the rent buy why is it divided by 2? And what is a P&I payment?

Also, the comparables were done in my neighborhood within the past 3 months. My house has gained value since I have moved in. Interestingly enough, new houses are being built for $100 per square foot while my house is on the market for roughly $75 per square foot.

I was told that if I wanted to rent it out, it could be done in less than 2 weeks while making a small (like $200 per month) profit.

I have been living in the house for 3 years and based on the other houses in the area, the value has gone up. So there is some equity in it. I did not consider selling it for less than the original price but I do not have enough extra cash to make up the difference to the bank.

Sorry about the one paragragh. Apparently, it did space like it showed.

Jon,

The main issue told to me by the realtor and a few people who have made online inquiries about the house is the location. They made the initial inquiry because of the price but they were not willing to live in the location of the house. Do not get me wrong, the neighborhood is not bad. However, people who are from Laredo do not want to add an additional 10 to 15 minutes to their drive to get home. The market in my neighborhood is not bad either. There have been 15+ houses built over the past 3 years since I have lived in the neighborhood and it is still growing. It is growing enough to the point where a larger real estate company (in comparison to the one that built the other houses) has bought land to build houses.

It is priced right according to the realtor. She based it on comparables in the area and it was in the middle of the pack. We even lowered the price a little to see if we could get some more takers but no luck as of yet. I am not sure about the legal implications of owner financing, especially in Texas. I considered it another option because I had a short amount of time to sell and there was nobody checking it out. I wanted to use it as a rental property as a last resort because I did not want any obligations to Laredo since I am moving to Florida. I am trying to not have any reason to worry about Laredo once I leave. If I was staying in Laredo, I would have made it a rental without hesitation.

We plan on doing an open house next week to see if we can attract more buyers. The realtor suggested renting it if the open house was unsuccessful.

Joe,

Is rent to own the same as lease to own? The realtor offered to help make it a lease to own. And once again, my knowledge of that is little to nothing. I wanted to weigh all of my options just in case I am stuck with the house after I leave.

I took up a new job in another state, 6 states away to be exact. My house is up for sale and has had 2 viewings over the past few weeks. Today, my real estate agent suggested that I look into owner financing because she feels it will attract more clients and it can produce good profits. I am in a time crunch since I plan on moving in less 3 weeks. I still have a decent amount left on my mortgage loan (no defaults) but I am worried about having two housing payments given my lack of income in my next job. What are your thoughts on owner financing your own property? Tax implications? Is it worth it? Pros and cons? Any information would be worth it.

I have been considering entering real estate investing for a while but I did not know where to start. This seems like a great opportunity to begin but I have no formal training or experience (aside from listening to the BP podcasts).