Skip to content
×
PRO
Pro Members Get Full Access!
Get off the sidelines and take action in real estate investing with BiggerPockets Pro. Our comprehensive suite of tools and resources minimize mistakes, support informed decisions, and propel you to success.
Advanced networking features
Market and Deal Finder tools
Property analysis calculators
Landlord Command Center
$0
TODAY
$69.00/month when billed monthly.
$32.50/month when billed annually.
7 day free trial. Cancel anytime
Already a Pro Member? Sign in here
Pick markets, find deals, analyze and manage properties. Try BiggerPockets PRO.
x
All Forum Categories
All Forum Categories
Followed Discussions
Followed Categories
Followed People
Followed Locations
Market News & Data
General Info
Real Estate Strategies
Landlording & Rental Properties
Real Estate Professionals
Financial, Tax, & Legal
Real Estate Classifieds
Reviews & Feedback

All Forum Posts by: Mark Scarola

Mark Scarola has started 40 posts and replied 270 times.

Are you still interested in being an appraiser? Valuation is an important and definitely useful skill. I'm sure you understand the difference between being licensed and having a designation like MAI or SRA. Also there's the fact that you don't need to be an appraiser to do valuations. For example, I just spoke the other day with an accounting firm that hires people to value real estate, but they don't prepare appraisals or require "licensure".

Post: Needing Insight on Landlord Insurance

Mark ScarolaPosted
  • Developer
  • San Diego, CA
  • Posts 294
  • Votes 70

Hi Nicki,

Congrats on your first deal. At some point you do have to just bite the bullet and jump in. You can only learn so much beforehand. I assume that you're talking about having purchased a single-family residence that you're now renting out.

I have limited experience in this area, and am not the best person to explain the differences between the two policy types. What I can tell you that I used a company called NREIG, which provides insurance for landlords. In addition to covering you while you have a tenant, if the property is vacant you can temporarily downgrade your service. I was paying between $50-80/month for a single property in Ohio. That's the other thing.... you want to make sure the company will work with you if you only have one property in your portfolio.


The other thing worth mentioning is the issue around keeping the property in your personal name versus your LLC. Just because you can put the property in your own name, doesn't mean that it's necessarily the best option. I don't know the details of your situation, but generally investors use an LLC because of the liability protection.

Post: Do RE meetups really exist?

Mark ScarolaPosted
  • Developer
  • San Diego, CA
  • Posts 294
  • Votes 70

Meetup.com is a better source for finding in-person (and these days Zoom-based) meetings. Although many normally in-person groups are temporarily virtual, there are definitely still a lot of meetings out there. Of course, there will be more or less depending on where you live. I would also check out REIA. It's a national organization with local chapters across the country: https://nationalreia.org/find-...

Actually, I just checked because I was curious. I'm surprised that there's not a REIA in either Syracuse or Scranton. But there are groups on meetup in both cities. I had a similar issue a few years back. Where I used to live, there weren't any groups within a 90 minute drive. Personally I made the drive because I was committed. But eventually I started my own group. I get that you might not want to do the same if you're new, but it looks like your options then are either driving or attending virtual meetings.

I also did a quick Google search and found this. They haven't posted since June, but it's worth reaching out to them and asking if they're still operational. https://www.facebook.com/South...

Good luck.

Post: What does this mean?

Mark ScarolaPosted
  • Developer
  • San Diego, CA
  • Posts 294
  • Votes 70

Looks like you have 15 messages, a submitted application, $1650 pending or received, and at least two documents that were uploaded. Is there something in particular you're asking about?

Post: Pepperdine Student Interview

Mark ScarolaPosted
  • Developer
  • San Diego, CA
  • Posts 294
  • Votes 70

Interviewing someone in real estate is pretty broad. Is there a particular niche or topic you want to discuss? Even if it's not part of the assignment, is there something you want to learn more about (e.g. construction, office buildings, multifamily, syndications, brokerage, zoning, legal issues, etc)?  

Post: Finding Smarter friends

Mark ScarolaPosted
  • Developer
  • San Diego, CA
  • Posts 294
  • Votes 70

Hey Gabriel,

Welcome to the site. It looks like you've already made a number of friends! Having previously worked as a career counselor (among other things) I always recommend new investors find something that fits in with their skill set and that they'll enjoy. There are a bunch of different niches to real estate investing and you don't have to follow the beaten path. Find what works for you. You mentioned having a sales background. That's a great skill set, but do you want to stay in sales or are you looking for a change? Do you want to
write reports or hammer nails? Do you want to work with contractors, city officials, tenants, lenders, delinquent homeowners...?

You mentioned having built up a network. There's definitely a place for people who can raise funds for larger projects and that includes building networks of potential investors, getting them interested in a project, and selling them on the abilities of your team.

Finally you said,

Before you jump into spending that money, make sure you have someone more experienced confirm whatever you're about to do (even if it's simply posting here). For example, you mentioned two options: buying outright or using that money as a down payment on (I assume) a larger property. Well, option #3 would be to divide that money into thirds and use it as three down payments on three smaller projects. Given that you're new and no offense, more likely to make a mistake, diversifying could be beneficial.

That's a tough situation being caught between your role as landlord, where you have to do what's in your best interest financially, and being an empathic human being. Even without five children, you never want to put someone out on the street.

Remember that it's not your responsibility to put a roof over their heads and that as her landlord she might not be telling you the whole story. For example, is it that she can't find a new place to live or that she can't find a place that she really likes? She may need to settle for a "good enough for now" home. She may also simply not want to move because of the hassle of moving five children.

That being said, she may also be doing absolutely everything humanly possible to find a place and simply not having any success. How many bedrooms is she looking for? How many apartments are Section 8 eligible? Her options may legitimately be limited.

My point is simply that you want to be mindful of all the possible scenarios and be fair without hurting yourself in the process. If you wanted to go the extra mile though, you could do a little research on your own and casually pass along something you might find (e.g. "I was talking to another property owner and they mentioned have four bedroom place that just became available..." or whatever she's looking for), you could refer her to any local social service agencies in the area that help people find housing (try your local 211 if you don't know of any - it's basically a social service lookup service), or if you're feeling extra generous and think that it's the hassle and expense of moving offer to help her with the cost of the move itself by hiring a moving company. Just be careful that you don't get taken advantage of. Hopefully she's genuine.

Post: Are there any math impaired RE investors here? :)

Mark ScarolaPosted
  • Developer
  • San Diego, CA
  • Posts 294
  • Votes 70

Judging by the reseponse you've gotten in just two days, you're obviously not alone. Math is definitely a problem area for a lot of people, but there are some things you can do. For example, if your husband or someone else on your team is good at math let them handle that aspect while you focus your time and attention on what you excel at.

The other thing is that perhaps you could put some time (when you're not feeling pressured or down on yourself) to jot down some rules of thumb. That is, you could research some common ratios and what's considered good/bad. For example, what's a good profit? Maybe you feel that below 5% isn't worth doing a deal, 6-8% is a low return, 9-12% is average, etc. Then when someone says they have cap rate, an LTV, NOI, etc. of whatever.... you can consult your cheatsheet and have an idea of if that's good/avg/poor.

Post: Do it all companies for out of state investors

Mark ScarolaPosted
  • Developer
  • San Diego, CA
  • Posts 294
  • Votes 70

The short answer is yes. But what exactly are you looking for someone else to do for you? It says that you're a "rental property investor" next to your name and so if you're asking if you can hire a company to find a property for you, find and place tenants, and then sell you the house where you become the landlord... yes, you can find that. If you want a company that will find a property, rehab it, and then hand it over to you ready to be rented... again, yes you can find that. 

Of course, as with everything be careful. Not all companies are created equally and if you're looking for these "turnkey" companies you really need to do your research on them first. They know that most of their clients don't have either the time or the skill to do it themselves, and so just like taking your car to a mechanic you need to be able to trust the person or company that you hire.

Post: Raising Capital for 1st Investment

Mark ScarolaPosted
  • Developer
  • San Diego, CA
  • Posts 294
  • Votes 70

My comment is basically the same. Look to bring someone else into the deal. If you're new, having a second pair of eyes is also a great way to make sure you're not overlooking something that a more experienced investor would run from. Even hard money lenders can serve that role. They don't want to lend you cash on a bad deal.

If you're looking for a hands on partner then make sure that you can articulate what you can offer. In other words, what are you bringing to the table. You don't have to be an expert at everything or even anything specific... but make it clear what you ARE good at.