All Forum Posts by: Patrick K

Bill S. "I guess I read your question different than others."

You read it correctly, and thanks to everyone else chiming in but that was what I am looking for.

So if I have 7 houses which had a total number of 65 vacant days between them over the course of 2 years would the following math be correct?

Vacany = 65 Vacant days total in 2 years

Timeline = 2 years = 365 days in a year X 2 (for 2 years) = 730 total days

7 single family houses

65/5110 = 1.2%

Could this possible be right?.

What would be a standard way to calculate a vacancy percentage on multiple houses across a portfolio for an entire year, based on days vacant?

Seems standard and easy but I am finding conflicting answers. Thanks-

Thanks too all for the dialogue. I will have to go back and read more thoroughly when I have a minute.

But to add real quick. There is no question this is a great deal number wise and I do have a plan for the property, so I am not really concerned about that angle regarding this purchase.

One could question whether it is the right deal for me regarding holding costs + interest over the course of the years, but the numbers are even such that including taxes and interest over 10 years (lets say) that it is that good of a purchase if you hold it that long, build and exit. Appreciation in this area and city historically is quite significant, but I am not relying on that even....the value is built in on the purchase price that is well below market rate.

The reason no one else is jumping to buy it is because it is on a busy street just outside of downtown (less then a mile) in a weird intersection in terms of access. Homes are flying off the market in this area, and even if this slows, there will always desire in this area.

I already have proven this concept that you can take a throw away lot on a busy street that looks extremely undesirable and turn it into a profitable build when it is in a highly desirable area that is appreciating and with high prices per sq. ft. We accomplished this on a previous build already, I'm confident I can repeat it.

My father and I purchased a lot and I helped project manage the entire build, subcontracting out the entire job and sold the house without even having to put it on market for a +$100K score. Every deal is not going to be roses, but again, I know enough to see this as potential so I am at least exploring it.

The property is zoned enabling you to build two structures as well (duplex) which is really where the frosting is, otherwise I would not even entertain the deal if it was just a single home lot.

My problem is a common one. I see a potentially great deal but have no money :)

Thanks Mehran. I should add:

The owner owns a lot of very valuable property (commercial and residential) in the city and does not owe anything on this property. Within the last 10 years the property was deeded over to a holding company he owns from an estate he is related to. Someone in his family previously owned the property since the 70's, so it is highly doubtful he is real cash hungry although you can never be certain obviously.

He is paying quite a bit in property taxes on the land each year (over 2% on $200K assessed value).

I guess we can speculate all day, I just started looking into this and had no idea if there was a general common denominator I could expect, or if someone had some creative ideas. Basically I am strapped for cash over the next year and traditional lending is out, but my outlook will get much better over the next 2-3 years and plan is to pay down hard and leverage a construction loan through owning this lot.

I have potential partner but want this on my own.

I thought it would be crazy to expect someone to finance a 10-year deal on a piece of land, but who knows. I simply couldn't commit to anything shorter then that term.

I contacted a local agent who represents someone selling a $200K lot in my city, asking if the owner would be interested in financing the purchase. Problem is, I really have no idea what they would expect, want, or even what a standard deal might look like.

My capabilities would be 10% down, 10-year @ 5-7% is the wheel I was looking for. I could be close, or way off I supposed but if he is not cash hungry seems like a good deal for them.

I just asked if he would be interested without expressing anything regarding terms, in the hope to hear the owners expectations, if he is even interested, to see if we would even be in a similar range.

Any thoughts or help on this?

I went to a class for all mine...knowing what I know now from the process of both I think it is the right decision, particularly for me, and I'll tell you why.

Going to classes forces face time with instructors who are (hopefully) knowledgeable and are, or have been at one point working in the field. You can communicate and get real answers and get real time feedback. It also forces interaction with other people and allows for interaction to potentially create friends/contacts down the line. Also, in the school I went to atleast, there is a lot of recruiting done through the school, so brokerage teams come by and offer lunch to those who want to sit down and listen to them pitch about working for their team.

I am personally that type who just doesnt do well with online only type stuff, and I knew I just wouldnt learn as much. I have taken all of my continuing education courses online and it is a joke. Most programs out there give you ample opportunity to simply cheat on quizzes/exams to pass their courses very fast.

The Real Estate Exam is not very hard and I really think I could have come very close to passing it without any study work and simply using common sense, educated guessing, but there is a lot you simply will not even know anything about without proper studying.

If you are self motivated, not very social or care to be, and know you will learn in-depth and want the freedom of being able to do it on your own time then take it online.

If you like interaction, and doubt your will power to really study something on your own and not cut corners simply to achieve the end piece of paper result then take classes.

I live in Texas though, so we are only one of a few states that seems to actually require any real amount of education to recieve a license. A majority of states seem to be something you could do over a weekend online. I recommend the face to face classes depending on your requirements, but if I could go back I probably would have done atleast one class online I think, as some of them were dragged out and pointless.

Welcome....I dont have much to offer but will be following this thread since I would like to know too!

One thing I have heard though since you mentioned closing accounts, is to never close credit cards once you have paid them off, unless they have yearly costs associated with them. Its better to just leave them open and never use them. This might be different with store credit cards, not sure?

Im a total new to investing but have a suggestion....

If the property is a single family home, couldnt you just claim that you want the property as a second home to visit and spend time with family there or something?

You would have to literally move into the house and occupy it, so simply move in there with an inflatable bed and spend a night or two or wait until whatever the legal requirements might be, then change your mind and decide you dont want to use it as a secondary home and rent it out.

Is this a possible solution if you REALLY wanted the house?

Thanks guys....Just start setting up my accounts and consolidating them in Gmail, was a breeze.

Thought surely this was possible but just never took 30 seconds it required to look into it!

I agree as well, however I HATE my email client for my website and love using gmail, but I would never send an email from anything but my company account.

If I could find a email client that is close to gmail or somehow mirror my company email account through gmail I would be a happy man.