All Forum Posts by: Nancy Zhao

I'll be 61 in a few days and now travel outside the USA twice a year.  I am referring to "developed" nations, not places with naked natives and/or dictators.  

Rima and I pay $1,000 per month for health insurance with a high deductible.  It includes all kinds of coverages we do not need nor want (pregnancy - impossible, mental health - not wanted, and so forth).  

Just think about car and home insurance.  Both are essentially mandatory, and both are readily available from numerous sellers competing to offer the best service at the best prices.  For car insurance, their are high risk pools to cover drivers who could not otherwise have insurance.  If everyone was required to have a Health Savings Account from birth, with a major medical policy, insurers were allowed to sell in all states, and we had high risk pools, the problems would go away very rapidly.      

Facts. How about what my wife's sister saw when her husband died of colon cancer at age 40 - people howling with pain in the colon cancer ward because their relatives did not pay for the expensive pain killer drugs? Real enough for you? I've also discussed the need for the white envelope of bribes with relatives in Europe many times. My wife's father was laying in the hospital a few years ago with a bad gall bladder and nothing happening until my wife's mother produced an envelope full of cash. That is the reality you want to not see. The stories regarding England have been on major TV shows and in print.

as a buyer... WHY?  you pay nothing.  get your own person in there fighting for you.  As a seller.... I have an agreement with my broker (whose subordinate is my buying agent) that I get a discount, free staging etc... since he is double dipping on my flips...  But as a buyer... makes no sense to ask the LA to be your agent too...

Also yuge factor is the elimination by the Feds of the State property tax deduction, combined with many of those states completely screwing the people that are trying to flee by raising those taxes, and demanding to show where they lived every single day to show they actually left the state (hint, the blood sucking tax collectors in NY). 

Now that that is back firing, sales are down in CA, NY, IL, and the other States that have high property taxes. Texas should be next, BTW. Now State Citizens have to deal with the realities of massive property taxes they have to pay because of their voting socialists to office for decades, who have levied the very taxes they are now trying to escape.

And do all of us Red State Citizens a big favor, don't come here & duplicate your progressive, commie voting records and destroy our state like you destroyed your state. If you are a Liberal Locust, you are not wanted in a Red State, unless YOU change you liberal ways!

Otherwise have a nice day!

Also it doesn't have to be RE that is the trigger.

Combine student debt, ez car loans, and credit 💳 S. Could be an issue.

I just want to put in a good word for some HML's out there. We have two that we have worked with: one in Redding, CA and one in Boise, ID. Both are great. We generally have to put 25% down (which is the drawback), but we're not paying any points and we're only paying 10% interest (I say 'only' because some people throw out numbers like 14-15% or more). Granted, we have cash reserves, but their terms are worthwhile for flipping as we don't hold the property very long. The biggest benefit we have seen in using hard money is our ability to be more competitive in our very competitive CA market. We still can't compete with all-cash investors, but hard money is a close second because we can close so quickly (7-10 days in most cases.) This gives us a real advantage over bank loans and the application process is much, much quicker. When you're making a lot of offers and doing a lot of transactions, time is money. Yes, we're paying more in interest but when you're holding a property for less than 4 months, it doesn't make a huge difference (note: we are buying at the lower end of the housing market - not multi-million $ homes where a couple of months and higher interest could, indeed, make a big difference) That said, not all hard money lenders are created equal for sure (and they don't all charge points, either!) But don't be scared away entirely. Keep looking for one that comes well recommended and offers terms that are right for you. Many, many investors start with HELOCs or by refinancing their current home to pull out their equity to get started. Many use credit cards. These methods have worked for a lot of people and many of us have to get creative if there's no rich Uncle in the family. Whatever method you choose, it all comes down to your individual ability to manage your money. Based on your credit scores it sounds like you're pretty good with your money. You have to decide what method works best for you and then take the plunge. As long as you buy right (make your money going in) you'll be as safe as anyone can be. There are no guarantees and real estate investing is not for the weak hearted but you've armed yourself with a lot of education and that counts for something.

All:

I have been combing through Zillow and Auction.com for several months for my area (Southern Illinois / Belleville) and I am having a hard time finding properties that have good Value in them.  By Value, I mean that Projected Sales Price - Cost of rehab - purchase price leaves a reasonable amount of profit to make it worth it.

On Auction.com, I participate in Auctions every week where I have physically gone to properties, tracked down previous owners, done all kinds of analysis to get an understanding what the rehab cost may look like.  What I find is that the banks just want too much money for houses that need too much rehab.

Is there some way other investors are getting access to properties that aren't on the MLS, or these common sites I mentioned? Keep in mind Im new at this, about 2 years, but I have made money with two flips and two rentals so far...

It does seem to me like in the fall of last year, there were more properties out there with Value in them - maybe its a time of year issue.  Final Note, my area is about 20 minutes from downtown St Louis across the river here in Illinois, investors from STL are picking off properties over here adding further scarcity.

Just hoping to spark a discussion that might help me and others - where do you find your good buys?

Thanks!

Rob