All Forum Posts by: Nick Ferguson

I have a house near a college and I just make sure that I always have next year's tenants lined up a few months in advance.  For a traditional situation where that is obviously not possible, I think you have to always figure high on your pro forma and then anything you achieve below that vacancy rate is icing on the cake.  I assume 10% vacancy if the property is currently rented and 20% vacancy if it is vacant (at the time I'm looking to purchase).  These numbers are high and I'm sure it makes some good deals look bad but I'd rather have a good deal look bad than have a bad deal look good. 

Ray, 

Which part of Southern Ohio are you looking in?  Are you looking in Cincinnati region or "southern ohio".  I have a house in Portsmouth and I'd be happy to share my experience with you if you PM me. 

So I've been talking to sellers (some on and some off of MLS) about seller financing. No deals so far have been the right one but I've had some open to seller financing. My question is this, after I find the right deal, and an owner who will seller finance, now what? I'd assume the next step would be to contact a real estate attorney to draw up a purchase contract? Would the real estate attorney set up escrow? When would the title company become involved in the process?

So I'm looking to make my first "true" investment purchase.  I have one other rental but I house hacked it with owner occupant financing so...  

I have 15,000 in cash available and I've been "driving for dollars" focusing on houses that have for sale by owner signs that may or may not be on the MLS. I'm going through the process of getting pre-approved for financing but I'm looking at seller financing as a backup plan or alternative.

Here is the potential deal in a nutshell.

top bottom duplex asking 70,000.  

Built: 1919

Roof: 20 years but "has had yearly maintenance and patching when needed"

Water tanks: both new in 2016

furnaces: both new in 2014 or 2015

Basement: unfinished

Rents:  Upstairs filled at $600.  Has indicated she wishes to stay.  Market rent probably $625-$650.  Downstairs vacant, being repainted and light cosmetic rehab currently. 

House was purchased in 1979 so I'm assuming paid off.  They are selling because they live too far away to manage effectively and they have 2 SFRs closer to their home. They may be willing to do some form of seller financing. I'm thinking put down as little as they will take. 30 year amortized for 5 years and then full payoff (which I'll refinance to do) is what I would shoot for and try to refi and pay it off as soon as possible after 6 months. If they don't go for that, traditional financing it will be but I have a 2 month "seasoning" period on my down payment money that I just pulled out of my other house's equity. I may lose the deal by then so locking it up to favourable terms with seller financing would be great. 

What does everyone think as far as price you would be willing to pay for something like this?  Sellers have had the house on the market off and on for about 2 years and have reduced price from about 90K previously.  They do seem motivated to sell and all money would be profit I believe.   How much would you all pay, put down, and what terms would you be willing to do?

Obviously, I'll have an appraisal and inspection since I'm not comfortable waiving those things yet. 

Welcome to the site.  I hope you find it as useful as I have.  Feel free to connect. 

With college students, it's a bit easier to overlook the income requirements because many of them pay for rent with student loans.  I don't even do income verification if they prove they are full-time students.  Just make a parent co-sign and do income verification on them and verify that the student is enrolled full-time. 

I am currently pursuing my MBA.  I'm doing this for non-RE reasons and my employer is paying for the majority of it.  I should graduate with less than 8K debt from the whole program.  For me, it's about opening doors for promotions and higher salaries. However, I've already learned lots of conceptual things that will help me in RE and more specifically in the business and management side of things.  The concepts, need to be reinforced by real world experiences though or it is no more valuable than reading a book about something and then calling yourself an expert.  IMO, if your work will pay for most of it and you will see a tangible benefit, go for it.  If I had to pay out of my own pocket, no way I would do it.  It's too expensive. 

Kiran, 

Disclaimer: I have never wholesaled and do not intend to any time soon.  

I would think that you would do a very similar analysis to the one you presumably performed prior to purchasing the property.  If the house is in need of a rehab, your market is only going to really be flippers/other investors.  Pull your comps from cash sales or some other metric to determine what investors are paying, work backwards from there by subtracting the cost of the work needed, and the profit/equity that the purchaser will expect and determine your number.  Hope from there, that it works for the numbers you need. 

PM me if you want to share specifics about the property.  I may be interested depending on details of the property and transaction. 

I would love to be the chief ombudsman.  I love hearing stupid complaints and then telling people what they did wrong.

Hello everyone, 

I have an Ohio specific questions. I have been going through the process of obtaining a HELOC on a rental property. My wife supports my REI but wants NOTHING to do with it. She does not want to be on any loans, deeds, insurance policies, etc. Nothing at all.

So, I'm going through the HELOC process on a property that I purchased before we were married and I will be the only one on the loan. She is aware that I am doing it. My closing is scheduled for later today and the banker told me that she needs to be present. I confirmed that she was not on the loan (they didn't take any of her income info so I'm sure she isn't anyway, but I did ask.) He said that she was not but that according to Ohio law, she was still on the deed for the house and would, therefore, have to be present at closing.

Has anyone ever heard of this before?  My wife was understandably upset that she has to take the time to leave work, go to the closing, etc. for something that she shouldn't be involved in.  She and I both are curious how to get her name off the deed, what is the purpose of this law as it is intended, and what are the pros and cons of leaving her on or removing her from the deed?  

Thanks, 

Nick