All Forum Posts by: Brandon Heath

Hi @austin

I have also heard that you can save some cash buying the units yourself rather from the installer. I would look into the mini splits from Friedrich and Carrier. Unfortunately these are not the cheapest brands but they have amazing warranties  and are the best in the business. I work at Hdsupply. Give them a call to get a quote on a few different brands. Feel free to provide any competitior pricing to help get a good deal. 

HDSupplysolutions.com

Apologies if this is a question that didn't need to be asked. I could find a clear definitive answer.  

I wondering, when trying to finance a property with an FHA or conventional loan. does the bank take the rental income in to consideration. From what I've heard it looks like they don't. Being that these are residential and not commercial, my the landlords finances are the only focus.

One article stated that if you have a good relationship with the bank, its possible that the underwriter could consider this when working on your loan, but this is not for sure. 

Can anyone share their experience? 

Thanks in advance for everyone time.  

Thanks @Justin Fernandez

I was aware you could determine the length of the contract but I didn’t think about giving myself enough time to land a loan. I’ll be sure and grab the book asap!

Thanks @Adam Pierce

I just heard of this strategy on a podcast. Putting out the word with a bunch of wholesalers to go and bring in some deals (hopefully off market). I really need to start attending all the REI clubs in my area. I always seem to find an excuse not to. I've heard this is a great way to meet wholesalers in my exact market. And of course using bigger pockets.

If I do go with the direct mail route, I understand that it won’t be a quick one time deal. From what I’m reading you are correct, I’ll have to touch the home owners a few times before anything sticks.

How did you start on your first multi?

Thanks @Shawn Couch

I will definitely look into getting pre-qualified before I get started. I imagine this will also assist in letting me know exactly where I need the deal to land (financially). I won't completely ignore the MLS, but just from running my own numbers I have never found anything that would at the very least break even after I moved out. These of course are usually places that have sat on Zillow for 6-7 months so basically, no one wants them. Now having access to deals once they hit the MLS, that's something I haven't tried. Maybe I can work out something in the near future.

So do you own here in SD at all? Out of state does sound promising, but I feel there are enough things that can go wrong with me in a place I’ve lived my whole life. Maybe after I have a grip on what it takes to land lord locally, Ill look into another place like Indiana.

Mind if I ask how you acquired your property out there? Did you work with a partner who has boots on the ground? Family?

Hello BP!

I'm wondering if anyone has done this or if anyone can provide some insight on how this could work. I really would like my first purchase to be a great legitimate deal. I know that in order to locate deals now days, you have to get out there and get your hands dirty (especially in my San Diego market). My hope is to start a direct mail campaign to hunt down a small multi unit at a great, off market price. I hope to use either a standard FHA loan or try for a 203K loan (if needed or if possible). I am wondering what this looks like once I find someone who is willing to sale.

Should I have financing already set up? Only problem I have with this is that I know it will take a few months to find anything.

Should I always try to see if the seller would be interested in financing the deal until I found funding? Is it normal to request 6 months or 3 months? (I feel like I only hear about years being thrown around)

Should I try to seller finance even longer? I've heard a few podcasts that talk about seller financing being a great option that people don't request enough.

I currently rent and would like to stop throwing away ridiculous amounts of money every month. I plan to be a buy and hold investor in my local area.  At the moment I'm not interested in investing out of state. It's seems every time I ask a question about investing in San Diego I get 5 people telling me that there is no chance to be profitable and I need to try investing out of state. I do understand where they are coming from but also I understand that even if I did Invest abroad and made crazy amounts of money, I still will be paying for a rough over my head. If I'm able to shrink that living expense as much as possible, even if it doesn't "cash flow", I still think its a great investment in time and my overall wealth building ability.  

I am extremely green in regards to REI and would appreciate any and all feed back (even the people who will still reply with GTFO of San Diego).

Thanks everyone for their time  

im not in your market but this sounds like a great idea. Would love to hear more about how this works.

Congrats @Nancy Brook

Just to clarify your response to @Andrew Bondarchuk, a local real estate investor offered a class to teach you some great tips for a direct mail campaign? Do you mind if I ask if it was postcards or letters? Also what did the timeline look like with your campaign, did you do one large blast and wait a few months? Or did you consistently continue mailing over a longer period of time?

Great job! Keep us all updated as the projects progress. Lets see some photos of those Gold Mines too! 

Welcome @Marcus Prince!!!

Welcome to BP @Kevin Fanning

So your looking to do a little House Hacking (living in a unit while renting out the others)! This is the best place to learn about your options and what it looks like when done correctly.  I hope to do this also in the next few months. 

Here is a cool over view of this method of investing 

 http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/11/02...

There are a lot of blog, and podcasts that cover it also. This place is a gold mine of information! Good luck an have fun!

Thanks @Ali Boone, I actually would like to get into Buy & Hold. I hope to make a move in the next year or so using an FHA loan. I would Love to find some type of small multi. Can you expand on why you feel cash flow may not be an option in our Redonkulous markets? I can see from your profile that Buy and hold is your bread and butter. Mind if I ask how you initially broke into the market? (wannabe go-go dancer, lol)

@Bruce May, I right there with you man. Its hard reading posts from other areas and seeing the low entry point other markets starts at. I see you are a agent locally. Do you feel that even having access to early postings on the MLS still don't offer great deals? Is being an Agent in SD county just as tough?

I live in San Diego California, and as I’m sure you are well aware of, the market is quite different than probably 85% of the rest of the country. Space rent is more, the units themselves seem to be more (quick craigslist search). My wife and kid rely on me to make good decisions. My question is…. If you were to in my market like mine, is there a way to be profitable and would it be worth it to invest time and money.

I know more than likely I’ll have to look along the outskirts of the county in order to have any luck being profitable. Is anyone here doing something like this?

FYI I’m not looking to retire from this method or to even become filthy rich. I honestly am looking for something to maybe get me started in some type of investing while maybe making a little extra cash to move up the investment ladder.