All Forum Posts by: Paul Ewing

Personally I provide a stove, fridge, and washer and dryer in all my properties. I also have built in microwave ovens in a few. This sets me apart from some of the competition since I aim for mid level families. I have learned that if I am turning a property where the last tenant had their own W/D to not move new ones in until I find out if the new tenant has their own though. 

I have in the lease that the appliances are thereat the owner's convenience and I am not responsible for them. This gives me a few days to fix if needed, but I always fix or replace them if they are not damaged by the tenants. I have several spares in a storage building at my farm to do quick change outs.

Most local and regional banks offer them. Around here they are called in house loans. I'm not sure how loan officers would react if I went in asking for a portfolio loan. I had never heard the term until BiggerPockets and I worked in the banking industry doing IT.

A lot will depend on his situation. If the place is in bad shape, has bad tenants, lots of vacancy etc then you might can get it for 0-5% down and just paying the closing costs and taxes. If he is making good cash flow and the place is acceptable and close to full, it may take 10-20% down. 

Same goes for loan term and interest rate. If it is doing poorly, he might be happy with a stable 6-8% return over 30 years. If he doesn't need to sell it may take a 10 year term at 8-12% to make him go for the deal.

I would run some alternative reports using a range of values and decide what figures represent a good deal for you, a great deal, and the minimum you can get by and still be profitable. Then talk to him about the place and see what the deal is and where in the spectrum things will work.

Most banks are more interested in your income at that level than how your other properties are performing. That said those are some massive one time losses. Are you sure they should have been capitalized? The de minimus limit was upped to $2500 but you are implying repairs to systems way above that. 

I think a lot has to do with what state you are in and their rules. Then what broker you work for. In most states you can't just start working for yourself, you need to work as an agent for a broker for several years. Many brokers interpret the rules more strictly than most investors. I have heard that many don't like their agents managing their own properties because there is a dispute, it could come back on the Broker.

Then there is the disclosure thing. If you are buying off the MLS, it isn't a big deal and your license and access can be a big help. If you are mostly interested in FSBO or totally off market properties then it can be a distraction. If every time you called someone you had to say "Hello, this is Tiffany S with XYZ Realty I would like to discuss your house..." It can start things off on totally the wrong tone. Is this level of disclosure needed? It depends on the interpretation of the state regs. The couple brokers i talked to when looking to get my license seemed to think so and they both had large investment portfolios of their own.

My primary broker I use told me her father gave up his Broker license many years ago because it hampered his investing. He had hundreds of rentals, owner financed deals, and did several subdivision developments.

get with the Broker your wife plans to work for when she gets her license and see if they will provide you with a list of Solds in the area you are interested in. You can then use Zillow or Realtor.com to look up the old listings for pictures and stuff. Or just look at the current for sales and keep an eye open for how soon they go under contract. In San Antonio I think most places are selling fast at close to listing price.

Similar experience here. If I have a vacancy, I post on Craigslist and use Zillow Property Manager and then have to shut them down in a day or two and work through the flood of applications. I wish I had a dozen or two more properties. Last place didn't even get posted since I had overflow to pick from.

I really don't think of 10,000 as a small town. I invest in homes around towns of 1000 to 5000 but mostly outside city limits. I have had no problems renting them out in fact I wish I had another dozen right now since I rented the last two I have last week within a day of listing. Well the second never made it to listing. I had it rented before I was completely done with the transition fix-ups.

The place is the value of the land.  An uncooperative ex-spouse can pretty easily destroy a home before the new buyer ever gets in the door.

21st Mortgage Corp has told me in the past that they would do investor loans on MHs. Not great terms at 70% LTV and rates in the 8-10% range, but if you buy right you can make that work. Not sure if the numbers are there if you have to buy from a wholesaler though.