All Forum Posts by: Philip Lamachio

Thanks John, yes, I went to John Fedro's site and found that page. 

I think I have a workaround....Virginia allows 5 per year w/out a license, and SC allows 4. My state allows 3. 

I don't see any reason I cannot buy and sell in Virginia or SC as well....that would give me 12 mobile homes I could buy/sell/finance in a year. 

In approx. two years time or less, I should easily be able to have the 35K for a surety bond assuming $200/mo. per note cashflow and holding 12 - 18  notes. 

I just started reading Lonnie Scruggs book 'Deals on Wheels' on buying/selling and financing used mobile homes. I was attracted to the used mobile home market because of the low cost of entry and the fact that I don't really want to be a landlord.

However, just ran into a small problem. Mr. Scruggs seems to suggest that you need to have a Mobile Home Dealer's License to do this. This will require a $35K 'surety bond' in my state. 

Well, I don't have 35K that I can just let sit in escrow...

Anyone know more about this issue? 

 Thanks so much guys for your input. I certainly am not in a position to be at land speculator, but you've given me great information to be able to begin to determine the validity of the sellers intentions vis-à-vis a speculator buying the property. thanks again!

Thanks in advance for your answers. I was following up on several FSBO offerings I saw while driving near my home. I was actually looking for cash flowing rental property, but when I got a call back on a property with two homes on it, the owner said he wanted $275K for the two properties. Rentals for the two older homes would bring at most 15-1800k a month total, so I asked him why he had it priced so high. He believes that the 2.7 =/- acres that the homes sit on will be prime commercial development land, as this is the only exit that has not been commercially developed off this highway going out of town. He expected that whoever bought the land would hold it until they had a development plan, then bulldoze the homes and build.

I told him that I was only interested in rental homes at this time, and was not a speculator, at which point he volunteered the land had been on the market over a year and indicated he was ready for an offer, presumably much lower. 

He then offered me a finder's fee if I could bring a buyer. 

My first question is this:....what is a typical finder's fee? A percentage of the sales price? If so, what percentage? 

Second question: How do I approach a potential land speculator? I haven't yet begun to get to know the local investors or go to any local REI meetings yet.

Any other random thoughts related to these questions welcomed! 

@Michael Boyer 

I went to an online rent valuator for a house on the street they have one of their best rental houses.

Based upon the online info about local rents, they are charging at least $500 less than they should. They haven't been raising their rental rates with the years lately. I think they have rented that property out for $1200/mo. for at least the last 15 years and a comparable one the next street over rents for $1700/mo.  I told them about it since they have been complaining that even though they have all their properties paid off, they are not making any money due to maintainence costs. I hope they will  raise their rents, but they are afraid of vacancies.

Thank you Steven, for welcoming me. It is encouraging to know that there are genuinely friendly people on this site.

My parents have invested in rental properties as land lords for at least 30 years, but are unable to clearly explain to me how they became successful. My father was able to retire at 50 because of the homes my mom bought while he was working. 

I have a plaster restoration business and have been around the building/remodeling side of residential property for a very long time and know a lot about houses, but i don't really know the real estate investing business very well and want to learn from others. 

Presently I have 8-10K to invest. I know that's not much but would like to start somewhere and gain traction. Thanks.