All Forum Posts by: Conway Churaman

 If I were to purchase the property I would be renting out the two other units and continue living in the main floor.  I believe the owner is tired of the headaches of ownership and just wants to get out.  He's older now and not well.

The owner had a soft spot for my Dad or was it a bit self serving that he could have a maintenance guy (my dad) on premises.  The owner figured he could save money that way.  The owner knew that he should have raised rents but ironically the utility costs were way higher than he expected partly because of my family.  Doesn't explain why he didn't raise the rents in the other units.  I don't have all the exact details on what the owner's expenses were.  I would like to have a talk with him.  At the very least I need to let him know I am paying this months rent. I don't want there to be any bad blood.

 To those that asked before the property is in Mill basin.  I could probably swing $25k for a down payment or possible $50k plus extra for closing costs if I get a loan from the folks.  As a real owner I would want to actually invest money into upgrading the place which would mean I would want to figure that extra cost in the financing.  I would not be able to afford converting it back into a two family however.  Besides that would defeat the purpose because I would want to continue to live in the extra unit.  Also, this is all just ideas at the moment and I would have to shop around for financing.  I don't know where it would come from yet.  What items would I have to pay for every month?

mortgage,taxes,insurance

utilities

repairs

Estimated repair cost would come from whatever financing I could get and would be dependent on how low I can get the purchase price.  Everything else would have to come from the two units and their monthly rent income.  I need professional help to help me run the numbers.

Unfortunately 25 years ago when my dad was renting it was month to month and no lease.  In return for my Dad's maintenance services the owner allowed him to pay a lower rent than the apt was worth (partly because it wasn't a legal apt conversion.  As well, the owner allowed him to get access to the basement and convert it into a living area minus a bathroom.  I haven't run any hard numbers yet but my dad on the phone pleaded with me for two hours last night that I should not invest into the place because of the hidden expenses that would pop up over time.  We have been tolerating a lot over the years because we were used to it.  As a home owner I may not be able to continue without investing heavily in upgrading the place.

So two years ago I became a member here at biggerpockets because I was interested in becoming financially independent.  The consensus here on the forums was that I shouldn't get into real estate if I wasn't going to become passionate about it.  Passion is irrelevant at the moment because now I find myself in a situation.

The owner of the three family house in Brooklyn, NY that my family (and now me and my brother) have been renting from for over 25 years, has suddenly decided to sell and has given us 30 days to vacate the premises.  Currently, I rent the first floor apartment, my brother rents the 2nd floor apt, and in the third floor is another tenant.  Needless to say, I'm a bit upset.  He's asking $700,000 for it.  I am about 95% sure that building is not a legal 3 family but in fact a legal 2 family only.  The owner converted it into a 3 family (first floor was originally a garage) to try to make more money.  In my opinion, the property is really worth $500,000 as compared with similar properties in the area. 

Known problems, some water damage on a couple ceilings, bed bug infestation in basement and 2nd floor apartment, back yard is a mess, and electrical wiring is old and designed to support 2 apartments not three so there are frequent breaker "tripping" events.  Furthermore, the boiler is very old and breaks down often and is due for a replacement estimated at over $7000.

Knowing all of this, do you think it might be a shrewd move to make an offer on the property myself?  I think the owner is a motivated seller but I think it's more of he's sick and tired of trying and failing to make a profit on the place.  He definitely was charging for less rent than he should have on the units as well as paying a lot in heat, lights, and water.  So would I be inheriting those same problems?  

The dream situation would be if I could get him to sell it for me for $500,000 and have the two units pay for a mortgage, utilities, and taxes.  That would mean raising the rents.  Both my brother and 3rd floor tenants intend to move.  Rents in the area for similar dwellings go for between $1600 -$1800.  I have been renting the 1st floor for $1000.  Over the years my father even knocked down a wall so we could gain access to the basement effectively doubling the sq footage of the first floor apartment.  You can't beat the rent I'm paying in the area I'm in.  

I'm not sure what to do here.  I need some guidance.

Thanks all.

I'm considering all comments seriously. Raising cash so as to enable myself to leave my current job may be the only way to create the atmosphere for me to pursue other interests.

So I may find myself learning to do deals regardless whether I'm passionate about it or not.

Hello all. I signed up to investigate investing in lease options and see if doing that would be right for me. And I'm trying to learn which sources of education would work with that. I also want to know about the current "gurus" and which ones are worth the money or not.

You may have already seen a couple of my posts already. I'll probably end up being a regular around here. I'm really interested in learning about lease option assignments. Any great topics in the forum on the subject I should know about please let me know. Thanks.
See you all in the forums!

Excerpt from Bigger Pockets intro to real estate investing article:

As a career, I'm not in love with real estate investing. When I'm not slaving away at the absolutely life draining clerical job (8 years no vacation), I'm sneaking in surfing time on technology blog sites. I can't get enough of it. I need to know up to the minute what's happening in the tech world and tech business world. I have a desire to be part of it. No, strike that. It goes way beyond a simple desire. I have a unique perspective on it. This is highly ironic because of the fact I never finished college and don't have a technical degree. I never did find focus.

I do know though that I need to break out of this cycle of death at the office. I need a way out financially. I've figured out that I do not want to be rich. I do however want to be financially independent. I want to not have to think about money so I can concentrate my mind on other interests. I want the opportunity in life to be able to explore my interest in technology.
Real estate investing may be a way to earn a modest income so I can hopefully duplicate my meager salary and be able to leave my job. The thing is, while real estate investing has always fascinated me on some level....I'm just not in love with it.

Can I, should I pursue real estate investing when I'm not in love with it? Can I do this part time? But how can I hope to do that even part time when the killer job just destroys my will to do anything after a long day? Going to work is like putting my head under a blowtorch for 8, or 10 hours a day.

I really need some advice here from you guys. I have managed to figure a few things out I think.

I've figured out if I go into real estate investing I do not want to become a landlord or a property manager. And Learning about wholesaling lease options interests me.

I need some direction here guys. Hopefully comments won't be too harsh.

Thanks.

So I've been listening to Joe McCall's podcasts for a few days now and I really like what I hear. And Joe (on the surface) strikes me as a regular guy and approachable. His wholesaling lease options method and courses seem very doable and is a niche I'm interested in learning.

He has a regular course that used to cost approximately $1000 plus $97 a month which just got reduced to approximately $500. This made me seriously consider purchasing it.
Friday night he had a free online webinar for about 2 hours which goes over a lot of material which was useful but in the end turned out to be a pitch for larger education/mentoring/coaching/services investment. He's only taking 10 people for this special opportunity and will only accept payment from these 10 if they pass a telephone interview. If they do pass the interview they'll be paying Joe around $10,000.

Okay fine.

I get that after some years mastering techniques and making a name for yourself in the investment world that it may be time for advanced investors to take it to the next level and start sharing knowledge for a fee.
And can actually "get" the logic around $10,000. I mean, How much do we all pay for a college degree? $40,000? $50,000? And does that return on investment always turn out to be worth it? A $10,000 investment instead may seem to be like a bargain especially if it turns out that he helps you earn a very good return on investment. So I get Joe's "sell" here in this case.

But at the same time I can't help but exclaiming: "COME ON JOE TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS????????!"

To clarify, I'm not paying Joe $10,000. I simply don't have that kind of money nor do I intend on getting in that kind of debt for a course.

More power to Joe though. I'm sure he has paid his dues and learned from others as well as from the school of hard knocks as he's learned the hard way how to and how not to do investments which led him to focus on wholesaling lease options. He's doesn't strike me as fake and he knows what he's talking about. Now I'm guessing he's taking it to the next level by recruiting students which ultimately will become "virtual assistants" themselves.

That sounds all great for him, and possibly for his students too. But come onnnnnnnn mannnnnnn! Even though I understand alllll which I said above, I still can't help but feel a little disappointed.

I'd feel much more comfortable paying $500 bucks for a course plus for in exchange for personal coaching, students could find Joe leads on deals and split profits 50/50. Heck, why not 60/40 in favor of Joe depending on good the potential deal is. How about 70/30? Or perhaps $500 for the course plus a monthly fee for a turnkey virtual assistants service managed by Joe with tier levels depending on what kind of service(s) you can afford?

What I'm saying here is that I have a lot of conflicting feelings about all of this. Heck, why am I stressing myself out about this when I'm not a good "seller" type of person anyway. I'm clear and coherent one minute while a mumbling idiot when I'm nervous.
Whatever, LOL!

LOOK.....I'd appreciate any and all feedback on my post from one and all.

I'd even appreciate feedback from Joe McCall himself.