All Forum Posts by: Patrick Daniel

Deals are very hard to find on the MLS in most areas. The best thing you can do is find a good Realtor that will pull you a list with auto-updates for your specific criteria.

Also, if you know people who are selling off-market deals, get on their mailing list.

D4$ is great, especially for those who do not have a big marketing budget and/or just starting out. 

What is your market? I am sure that there are people here that know someone.

 James,

Welcome to the community. going from 0 to 1 is always the hardest step in an investor's path. As far as Bemidji is concerned, are you looking there only because you have family there or does it also offer good returns? 
Whenever I speak with someone new, I always tell them to get plugged in to their local REIA, even if they are not going to invest locally. You are bound to find someone that has had a similar path to you and someone you can emulate.

I would advise against a school loan for financing these types of purchases. If for some terrible reason, your deal goes bad, and the worst-case scenarios start happening, there is no relief from student loan debt.  

My personal coarse of action would be to do one or both of the following:
1. Find someone in the Seattle area that can afford to purchase in the area and bring him deals in return for a share of the equity.

2. Find a market you can afford now, and start from there.. 

BTW, is house hacking a realistic option for you?

 I tend to agree with that. Do you find that people would rather just tell you about the person that lived in the house than talk about the house at all? 

 I think your sales technique needs to come across in line with your personality. With probates, you are not buying a house, you are likely selling yourself as an answer to prayers to a family member who has recently lost someone. If you handle every deal as an "I need you to sign today and only that will work" then you may come across desperate and pushy to someone who does not want to deal with that. 
  Find a persons personality type (Dove, an Eagle, an Owl or a Parrot) and use it to build your strategy. For people who can't get a contract on meeting one, put them in your follow up campaign.

Dove, an Eagle, an Owl or a Parrot

@CJ Wallace,

It can be very lucrative for people. Especially for those living in expensive markets, like David does. I personally live in an affordable yet hot market where people from out of state are investing all of the time. I personally have not had the need to branch out yet, but will need to as the multi-family in my locale is getting a little too hot for comfort. 

The biggest key is: find a Realtor that is an investor him/herself or one that works with a ton of investors. They will be your linchpin for all of the rest of your relationships in that market (Contractor, PM, Landscaper). I believe as a realtor that you may get paid for the transaction, but the real differentiator is the value you add before and after close. 

I have never spoken to a successful out of state investor that does not have a good relationship with one or multiple great agents in their farming area. I am sure they are out there, but it sounds like a lot of work to use the expertise at your disposal.

 They can really vary depending on the market. I have seen everywhere from 10-25% of the rental gross rents. As with most things, the more streamlined and professional, the more it is likely to cost.

 There are a few ways that I know of, not sure if they are the best. Find the top 2 or 3 hosts in the area that you are looking to by in and see if they offer the service, 2. There are people who have systematized it and do it nationwide, I have seen "Hostie" as one. Never used them, so cannot give a recommendation for their quality of service. Air BNB used to have a database of co-hosts on their side, but have removed it.

If you want more info on the Pensacola market, I am licensed in Florida, and know a few hosts that may be interested in providing services depending on the property profile.

@Angie Shires,

They perform a lot of the functions that a PM would cover but bring AirBnB specific experience, and for some, you can use their credibility and ratings to make your property rank better if they are a preferred host. Normally they charge a fee and handle the cleanings and guest issues. A lot of it comes down to credibility and niche expertise. 

 Hi Angie,

We actually invest in the Pensacola, FL market mostly doing flips, but we are getting into the airBNB sector now as well. We have found in our area that as long as you stay off of the beach and find something in or near downtown Pensacola, you can stay pretty insulated from the seasonality of it.

Instead of a PM, have you thought of looking for someone to co-host with? That way you can find someone who specifically works with short term rentals and has great systems for the daily surprises that PMs may not be used to.

-Patrick

You could do a few things:

Make them pay hefty points up front, charge more for the home, charge a monthly/annual loan servicing fee.

Also, there are some services out there that offer products similar to this with risk sharing, also many cities have Habitat 4 Humanity (or similar) when they work with a family, their terms are no-interest (In all of the localities that I have worked with them, at least). I know that doesn't exactly help you, but it could help the buyer if you can work something out between the two of you. H4H does normally have income limits though, so they may not qualify for the program.