All Forum Posts by: Scott Hollister

The event has been moved to May, we will have an April event and post it on the Event page once scheduled with the speaker. 

And @Latisha Douglas, correct. It's for investors. 

@Reynold Orozco pretty sure last quote was mid 4% as of early 2019. 

Hello All! 

The central CT meetup wants to welcome Chris and Sandy from Liberty Bank!

Christopher Stokes is a lending originator with Liberty Bank in Naugatuck. He will be talking about their Good Neighbor Investment Mortgage where Investors can finance 1-4 unit properties at competitive mortgage rates. This loan is available for homes in low-to-moderate income census tracts in: Ansonia, Bloomfield, Bristol, Derby, East Hartford, East Haven, Enfield, Groton, Hamden, Hartford, Manchester, Meriden, Middletown, New Britain, New Haven, New London, Norwich, Plainville, Shelton, Waterbury, West Hartford, West Haven, Windham, and Windsor. They are for non-owner occupied properties, purchase and refinance, no income limits, loans up to $400k, and title may be held in an LLC!

Sandy will be talking about Lines Of Credit to keep your business running! They have great programs at Liberty and you won't want to miss this one! 

Light refreshments will be served. Please ask any questions in the thread below. 

Hello All, the meeting has been pushed to next Tuesday. Be safe! 

Congrats Mike! 

I am in the same boat being an agent and having some trade experience, I've learned so much in the last 3 years from reading and interviews. Here it is in a nutshell: 

Take all that active income (Plumber, Licensed agent) and put it into passive income. For me it is rental properties, you have a unique background that will allow you to manage sub contractors effectively, I would use that for value add properties, purchase with cash/hard money/private, rehab them, and find local banks to refinance your costs out. And you said your wife was involved? Thats awesome, have her involved in the business helping to build the passive income. 

5-10 years you can easily replace your active income. The goal is to put your passive income goal on the wall, make sure it exceeds your expenses, attack it every day, and once you hit it, you are financially free. Then come back and post your success story:) 

Are You Buying the Best Fix ‘n Flip Ever or the Next Tear-Down? Come and learn how a HUD Plan Consultant and Home Inspector views your House Hack, Flip, or Buy and Hold Investment! Make sure to bring your questions and be prepared to learn how to see thru walls and build value the intelligent way.

William "Bill" Vernon is a certified HUD Plan Consultant and CT licensed Home Inspector. He has been in the construction trades for over 50-years, ranging in positions from laborer to the owner of a residential renovation contracting company, with stops along the way constructing highway bridges, building high-rise condos and apartments. Nothing about Bill, or Bill's presentation, is from a book – it's all the real deal based on life-experience and just a few mistakes, too.

What Does the Bank Think Your Project Is Worth? Come and learn how an appraiser determines the value of 1 – 4 family homes, what renovations matter… and the ones that don’t! Make sure to bring your questions so that she may help you look at that next investment thru the lens of today’s appraisal methods.

Marshall Montana is a licensed residential real estate appraiser in CT and MA. She has been practicing for over 20-years and brings expertise in Conventional, FHA, and USDA property appraisals for properties ranging from single to four-family homes. Marshall has deep experience with renovation loan appraisals and brings the vision and resources necessary to properly value complex projects. Her experience also includes 30+ years on a Planning & Zoning Commission as well as other land use boards which adds to her unique ability to understand how vital real estate development is to local economies.

Hello @Michael J. Finnegan, 

Feel free to come to our Central CT meetup. It was the best decision I ever made for real estate investing, our meetup has provided me/others with capital, contractors, attorneys, CPAs, insurance, and everything else under the sun. I can't promise you will find all of those, but if you remain consistent, come off trustworthy and knowledgeable, capital and deals will find you. 

Just keep an eye out under the network tab, under events. We will be posting the FEB meetup within the week. 

Hello @Nicholas Leimbach love this post because when I talk to other people out of state about investing, some of they same 1980's construction is "too old" for them... And I'm over here walking through houses built on stone and dirt, before the united states was even the united states...haha

But as an investor, my cut off is 1950's and newer. But again, some of the older houses were built VERY well. You just have to walk each property and understand the type of rehab you're getting yourself into. I look at structure first, if the house isn't sound then I tend to stay away from it because it's not my area of expertise. Then I look at other things like heating, electricity, and if the house is insulated/gaps can be fixed. Those are big ticket items and the price has to reflect the rehab involved. 

The first killer for me in older houses is ceiling height, doors not shutting right, no insulation, rooms added on over the years resulting in a weird layout, small kitchens, etc. 

My best advice for you is to stick to a newer flip/rehab for your first deal. And get familiar with rehab costs by walking through with contractors and reading J Scotts books. The two places that will really hurt you is underestimating the TIME it takes to rehab and the COST to complete the project. Learn those two and you should be fine, assuming you bought right:)

@Paul Bergagna To cut it short and sweet, yes CT has a problem but it should not be treated as the "sky is falling"

The main issue, after taking a Market Analysis course in CT, is that we are losing our "good" 100k+ jobs and replacing them with 40k jobs. As you know, real estate tends to always focus around job growth. 

As far as total population trends, don't be alarmed. We have great proximity between boston and new york, top colleges, 4 seasons, etc. 

My easy to explain take on the whole thing, on a very small scale this "should" not matter too much, but if Im looking at VERY large residential, commercial, office, retail then I would be worried. But a solid 4 unit, in a town that you are an expert, managed well, you should be fine. Again, don't let the headlines dictate whether you invest or not. Are there other places better than CT to invest? Yes and no, all depends on your investment goals and risk tolerance. 

@Kerry Mertz Of course, he is the best. His name is @Bill Couture

Best of luck!