All Forum Posts by: Pat L.

Set yourself up as a "go-to guy" for the banks (some will be out of state) etc to secure the properties, inspect them regularly to report any issues & or address serious maintenance rodent/insect problems.
Most hire someone to do an initial inspection but if you can provide followup it ensures the place remains in a somewhat sale-able condition or at least it's not going to deteriorate any further.
I doubt if you would need anything other than an LLC.

I have a friend up here & that's all he does in his retirement years.
He also gets to charge extra for cleanup repairs & paining & you should see the stuff people walk away from.
good luck

We had a similar problem with thefts & vandalism etc as we worked on a rehab. (This was my wife's idea)

I walked over to the 17 yr old kid who was known to be the local 'hood rat' running the gang of kids & offered him $200 a month to keep the place clean & under surveillance. No-one on the property @ night & no-one there during the days except my guys. Any trash on the lawns etc & he takes care of it.
He accepted & it was like night & day, I also had him do some landscaping for extra cash. (I never did trust him though.)

A couple of years later I was viewing the same property as it was for sale again & the kids driveway was full of MP's in hummers.
Later I was talking to his Dad & found out the kid went AWOL after boot camp, & after a stint in the brig they shipped his butt to the front in Iraq.

I have since done this a couple of times where we have a vacant property & there is a neighbor or a kid that they all fear. Our biggest problem is kids breaking in & getting injured.

good luck

Mech Eng .....consultant, drive control automation

Retired @ 49 when my passive income exceeded what I could make working 60 hrs a week.

During my years of working I was able to accumulate a lot of property that I rehabbed & sold &/or held high % notes until they could qualify for conv. financing.

(I avoid conventional rentals like the plague).

I specialize in a LTO niche that has been very profitable.

Same here...near Lewiston NY
anytime your over this way PM me & we can meet
we have a small group that gets together
good luck

I don't know if it affects you down there but up here we had a similar property. Large Duplex up front, nice home in the back & being an Estate sale they wanted CASH.
BUT because of the commercial zoning (already in place) conventional financing was not interested & commercial mortgage brokers were demanding 30% min down @ 11% with a 5 yr balloon.
So if your intention is buy/renovate/sell your Exit Strategy may be restricted to cash buyers.

Another case:
Commercial zoning allowed a welding/repair shop to install a large propane tank on site. Our fellow investor/owner of the duplex next door couldn't refinance because of that propane tank.

good luck

I am an Aussie but have lived in NY for 20 years. I still have my Aussie citizenship etc.
The wife & I went back to my home town of Adelaide a couple of times in 2010 & 2011. The housing market is just insane.
We have significant holdings here in NY, FL & Canada but the cap gain over there is beyond amazing.
I visited my first home in North Adelaide. I bought it for $4,800
while a student at Adelaide Uni studying Engineering.
To afford it I rented all the rooms to my engineering cohorts & sold it several year later for $6,250.
I was taking pics of it in 2010 when the owner came out & asked me what I was doing. After I explained my past ownership we had a few laughs & a tour. He then told me they paid $975,000 for it several years ago but it had just be reassessed for $1.25million raising their property taxes (council rates) to an astounding $1,800 a year.
For each 3 week stay we rented the same home on the beach (Largs Bay) from a couple of plumbers who were heavily invested in property. At the time they told us their 'investment mtg interest rate' was 9% so it was tough to maintain a positive cash flow but they were in it for the Cap Gains. The other killer cost was very high water bills that are based on investment property valuations rather than usage???
Against the wife's better judgement we put in a cash offer on a house that was a complete 'gut job' two blocks from the beach. The Private seller wanted $281,000 but we lost out to a buyer with $325,000.

On the way home in 2011 my wife tried to convince me that Adelaide was due for a correction but in 2012 the local paper (Advertizer) reported that suburban homes were up an avg 15% & properties on the beach were up 40%. (It's amazing what a booming economy will do to real estate).
South Australia has less than 1.3 million people in the entire state.
Take a look at this site the prices will amaze you.
http://www.realestate.com.au/buy/in-south+australia/list-1?preferredState=sa

We are seeing a lot of Canadian CASH buyers in upstate NY bidding prices up.
My BIL (an investor in Phoenix AZ) is also seeing a lot of CDN$ invested in single family homes for managed rental then resale anticipating a price rebound.

Here are a couple I have completed
Bought a property @ tax lien auction for $20,000
Put in $7,500 for renovations, buyer/investor did all the work.
Sold it to investor for $38,900 holding the first.
Collected $18,000 in payments over 4 years.
City reassessed property @ $78,000 taxes went up considerably making rental income cash flow less viable.
Worked with the investor to sell the property to a Veteran who qualifies for significant property tax concessions.
Selling price was $50,000, buyer put down $5,000, I offered to hold the first @ 10.5%.
Seller had to evict old tenant & clean the place up so arrears & late fees on the original note for 5 months vacancy pushed the payout on the original note to $42,240.
Seller had the option to take the capital gain over 10 years but chose to take $1391 cash immediately.
Final note was for $52,000 @ 10.5% as I also financed the escrow.
Bottom line is 10.5% return on $52,000 for a total investment of less than $3200.

Second one
Investor wanted $32,000 for a quick flip.
I took it @ 14% for 4 years.
Investor put in $4,000 of his own $ & did all the renovations.
Home was rented for $950 & I collected $17,800 in the 4 yes.
Investor tried to sell it but had given the tenant a lease so she wouldn't move.
Investor had already spent what he thought he was going to clear on new construction equipment so was in a bind as the mortgage I had on him affected his borrowing for the construction business he was in.
We simply took the property back deed in lieu of. Then did a lease to own it to the same tenant for $950 a month & $2500 down. Two years later she moved & walked away from her option to buy deposit & all the renovations she had done.
I had an open house for potential Lease to own buyers & had a deal signed that day with a $3400 deposit. Two years later they got financing & paid me $80,000 for the property they also put significant renovations into.