All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

I am purchasing a multi unit here in Las Vegas, and we set to close on the 23rd of this month and well there has been a sticking point as of today. 

It is so small in nature and I am confident it will not change the outcome of this transaction, but I still need to know who is Entitled to the money! 

Here are the facts - 

The current owner signed a lease with a laundry company for the laundry room in Mid April for 60 months. 

The services from the laundry company are to start the beginning of August (2 weeks away)

I am currently in escrow for this property and set to close the 23rd of this month. 

The laundry company advance paid the current owner 1200 dollars for the lease and contract. 

My question to you who is entitled to the $1200?

Me because I am carrying the lease, and It lease date does not even start until after I am the owner of the property. 

Or the seller because he signed the contract in the first place and there for is entitled to the money? 

The exact terminology on the contract that was signed by the seller -  "Lessee to pay lessor a one time only payment of additional rent in the amount of one thousand two hundred dollars ($1,200.00) within 30 days after Lessee's Home Office approval of this lease."

I tried to be as unbiased as possible in my description of the situation and would appreciate any and all feedback. 

Everyone has their own strategy's and whats works best for them. 

Obviously you've heard the expression, "Never listen to the naysayers" 

I commend you on writing this post, because my strategy that I am about to implement after this tax season will go against the grain of traditional strictly cash flow investors. 

Keep doing what your doing as long as it makes financial sense for you. 

@Sam Craven I just bought a home in Houston to flip, because the market in Vegas was shrinking in margins. I bought in the spring branch area and plan to stage this home when the rehab is completed. Do you outsource your staging or do it all in house? 

If you outsource could you please recommend a company for me to use? 

When I did my internship with a billionaire out of Beverley Hills he taught me that 

Finding the deal with 33%
The Rehab / Rehab Costs were 33% 
Staging was 33%

As I have flipped homes I came to my own conclusion. While I was flipping lower end homes between the 100-150k homes in Las Vegas I did not stage any of the homes. And I was correct, at this price point you do not need to because your return will not great on investment of staging, whether that is hiring a professional or doing it yourself. 

Yet, when you get to luxury high end market you most definitely want to stage your homes. The return on your money will be great, also if your home has an oddly shaped room or living room you would want to show the potential buyer how to use the space. I have had some really professional staging jobs cover up some really odd shaped living areas for me in the past. 

I was a realtor before I got into investments, and from my own experience anytime a home was staged there was a bigger emotional attachment to that home from my buyer. 

Also a quick tip, regardless of price point, ALWAYS make the home smell amazing. Put out candles, febreeze products, or whatever it is. When a home smells good it creates a stronger emotional attachment because we attach certain emotions to certain smells. 

All in all if your home is considered in the luxury market I would stage. 
If not I would just make the place smell amazing. 

PS - 

I think staging is more like 25% of the whole transaction. :) 

Also check if Auction.com is your area as well. 

And yes it is convenient, but we do not pay for the service, they just ask that we use their services when we go to sell. 

Have you already developed a relationship with a title company? If not, I suggest doing so and ask them to help you as an investor grow your business. They usually provide a wide range of tools to help investors in hopes to win their repeat business. I get all my lists from my title company, I am able to ask for information on any property without a fee, and also get 30% off every transaction. 

But, I do realize every city and state is different with their own set of rules. Good Luck! 

I vote Vegas! 

And not because I live here
or hate spending money on a rental car
or hate flying
or I would miss my family
or my dog
or wouldn't spend money on a hotel
or I could eat at the places I like

Non of those reasons apply to why I vote VEGAS :) 

I would also say this, since your starting out I would apply the 50% rule until you have one  or more under your belt. 

Once you have the first one or two your belt, then you can start to reevaluate your numbers. 

I am just now in the process of purchasing my first 6 plex, and the great thing is in a few months I can start to really understand for the future what goes into owning a property like this. Which will only help me when I start to purchase the bigger complex's. 

Its all experience, but until then, do not let anyone tell you the numbers they want you to have. Hope this helps! 

On to the Next one! Its a numbers game, when you start questioning your numbers and use someone elses numbers that's when you get into trouble. 

Andy, If I were you I would do a combination two things to increase your portfolio and cashflow. 

Figure out which city is going to appreciate in the future the most. (I am no expert on this but, fundamentally find a city that will have huge population growth in the next 10 years compared to the available housing in the next 10 years) 

Then I would purchase 4 "cookie cutter" homes with a down payment of 20-25k each. (cookie cutter as in 3/2 homes)

Receive the cash flow from those 4 property's and sit back and watch the appreciation take in the next 10 years.  

Easier said than done though. I would suggest looking into citys like Houston, TX or Raleigh, NC

I would also figure out what kind of return you are looking for. Generally on a minimum scale I will not even consider a property unless it has a 10% Cap rate. 

Hope this helps! Good Luck! 

Here in Vegas we have the title company's send us the list at about 4-5pm each day for the upcoming auction tomorrow. 

They mention all the liens for every property already, and if they will insure the property or not. 

Then its just up to us investors to do our due diligence before 9am tomorrow. 

I also like to use foreclosureradar.com to track homes in my certain criteria before the daily lists so I can get a jump on what property's I want to bid after.