All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Just wanted to poll the audience about something that was brought up in a recent episode of the podcast (ep. 356).

The guest mentioned that, as part of his extensive Section 8 application process, he conducts an inspection of the prospective tenant's current residence to get a feel for how they take care of their dwelling. My question is, are doing these sorts of inspections actually legal?  Somebody in another thread mentioned that this might be a violation of Fair Housing regulations.

Hi @Chris Armstrong,

Thanks for your reply.  In my scenario, I would be the one holding the note.  I understand the direct mail route for actually looking for sellers (have tried it myself with no success), but in this case I would be looking for a potential buyer for a property that I already owned.  I know that there is a large pool of people who don't qualify for a mortgage because they either have poor credit or are contract / commission-based workers.  These are the sorts of folks I'm wanting to target, but other than word-of-mouth I'm not sure how to find them.  Maybe post ads online or in the newspaper? 

I'm in the middle of analyzing a potential deal and trying to think of various "exits" I could take if the primary plan wouldn't work out.  The numbers would work for a flip, but renting is probably not a good option, as the cashflow would barely clear $100/m.  Also, the property in question would be worth less than $60,000 after renovations, so I'm not sure if a bank would even refinance it.  

So, let's say I decided I wanted to hold the note instead.  How exactly does one go about finding or targeting the types of individuals (specifically, non-W2 employees) who would be looking to purchase a property with seller financing?  And how do I even know if I'm in a good market for this sort of strategy?

@Jack Yen, the date is the 14th :)

I'd personally be very uncomfortable with dipping into retirement savings in order to fund a deal.  

Also, assuming you aren't paying cash, what sort of loan are you considering? A bank will probably require that you have a certain amount of funds available as a backup.  They usually look at retirement accounts, bank accounts, and other reserves to determine if you are eligible, and pulling from your 401k might prevent you from being able to take out a loan.

@Art Perkitny, Apologies for the delayed reply.  That gif is awesome, and very informative!  Crazy to see how Durham has changed so much over just a few short years.  Still kicking myself for not getting into investing earlier back when I moved here in 2015.

Thanks for the resource - will definitely be bookmarking that for future reference.

@Dan Bryant and @Randy E., thank you both for your advice.  I'll try to stick closer to markets I know.  Wouldn't have worked out anyway - the property is already under contract as of yesterday.

May have found a potential deal, but I'm a Durham native and have no idea what the market is like in Greenville. It's close to ECU (Right off of W 14th Ave) but I've read that a lot of the areas around the college could classify as "war zones".  The numbers seem to work but I'm not sure if this is the right move for a novice investor.  What are the good streets / bad streets, and what should I be watching out for?

@Jordan Stafford Yours and Jared's opinions are ones I've heard echoed from other investors in the area.  Thanks for the tip about IQVIA and Duke; I agree these are very desirable areas and property there is sure to increase in value.  I'll probably turn my sights toward some of the more developed parts of Durham.  Thanks for your feedback!