All Forum Posts by: Rick Bradd

I had a similar problem, always late, but paid the late fee, after about the fourth time I asked her why, turns out she gets paid once a month on the 5th, by the time she deposits her check then pays me she was late.

I changed her due date to the tenth and re wrote the lease and extended it for one more year. She has not been late since, and now is on a month to month. I miss the late payment money but I did the right thing by her, plus I do not have the aggravation of having to follow up on it anymore. Maybe some good Karma too.
Rick

I am almost done working out a deal to invest some money with a respected REI, who is a well known and respected BP'er. I set up a SDIRA with UdirectIRA.com in September 2012, from application submission to funding took a total of 8 days, WOW. They promptly answered my emails, answered my questions and even called me to make sure I understood the process, they really made it easy, and I would recommend them without hesitation. I looked at a lot of companies and it came down to a few strong positive posts in the forums here that finally swayed me.

I then started putting out feelers both here on bigger pockets and on the websites that had contact information, I had narrowed down my search to a few rehabber's that I had been following, that were reasonably local to me, so I sent out simple emails asking if they were interested in using my capital.

Then I waited, and waited, then waited some more. Now I am thinking I need to get this money to work, its sitting in an account doing basically nothing. Then one day I read a post here on BP from one of the few I had focused on, talking about an offering he had, so I sent an email again, and he responded. He missed my earlier request but was interested, so we sent a few emails back and forth. I explained that I was new to the process, had read many books on how it works and had the basics down, but still wanted to place my trust ( and money ) with a more experienced end user, at least in the beginning. So we did a phone interview and agreed to see if he had anything lined up that he could use my loan for. Four days later he sent me a sample DOT, Promissory note and exhibit of a property he would use as collateral.

At that point he basically took me under his wing and walked me through the process, even to the point of teaching me what kind of questions I should be asking him, what I should look for in the investment property, how to really do my due diligence, etc. He even agreed to meet me on a Saturday at the property and showed me around, looked at my research paperwork, explained a few things to both me and my wife ( who was slightly skeptical until she saw this house ), and we agreed to move forward.

That all happened last Saturday, today the deed was recorded and the wire transfer should go out tomorrow. I am happy with the terms, the length of the loan and am super confident that the next time I loan I will know what I am doing. Plus he offered to let me bounce questions off of him on future deals, even if they were with someone else.

Mostly I want to thank him for making this easy, and for making me some money, his name is Will Barnard, I am sure all of you know him. If you are looking to place any money I would recommend you too reach out to Will. Thanks to BP, guys like this are available to help guys like me who want to get out of the stock market and into secured investments.

So here is my politically incorrect finish to this long post, Merry Christmas and Happy New year to all of you.
Rick

Really looks nice, I like the whole house, especially those floors, the expresso color makes it all look so tight. I have friends who live in Sherman Oaks and the views at night are even better than the daytime, you are looking down into the valley and can even see planes on approach to Van Nuys. Those are million dollar views.

Well done.

Bill,
Would you get lasik surgery without reading up on it? Would you plant orchards in a hot house without studying up on it first? Of course you might, but I like to read up, study and be informed before I jump into anything. While you give sound advise to use a broker, and that is appreciated, I could have done without the insult. Some of us are here to learn and ask questions, not be treated to your elitist attitude. But that is just my opinion, while I was not the original poster I was very interested in the responses, so I was taken aback by a respected poster such as yourself offering up such an unnecessary comment.
That said, are there any other contributors to BP that have any new reading recommendations on note buying?

Great question, I too am interested in the BP community recommendations for books on note buying, I just ordered two books yesterday on the topic on Amazon, wish I had thought to ask here first.

I based my purchase on publication date being newer than 2010 and number of positive reviews, kind of a sketchy criteria I guess.

I also read Invest in Debt, went and bought a financial calculator, and read it again, really interesting read.

Rick

Just wanted to bump this, I am not sure where to look for an attorney who is familiar with notes and real estate. Even if you do not have a reccomendation for me, can anyone tell me where to start looking? I googled, looked in the yellow pages and emailed the attorney who did my family trust to no avail.

Is there a website I can check? How did you find your attorney?

Seriously appreciate any advise.
Rick

I am looking for an attorney to help me with a promissory note and am looking for referrals. I live in Ventura County, so if you know of an attorney you are happy with please let me know. I am hoping to buy discounted notes in the near future, but right now I have negotiated a business loan and I want to make sure I am doing it correctly.

Thanks in advance.
Rick

I use Terra property mgmt out of Simi valley for mine, they charge a flat fee that includes two monthly handyman calls, then it's 50.00 per visit after that. They collect the rent and direct deposit it to my checking account. They charge me 500.00 to market it, screen renters, run credit and background checks and then present the application to me. I could not be happier with them. Monthly fee is 75.00

Appreciate the feedback, the cost is so high because of the slope involved, they are going to have to go pretty deep to get solid footings in. Hence the reason I was asking about sharing the costs with the neighbor, its not going to be cheap.

I called the city about the fence type and left a message, apparently they are understaffed due to some cutbacks and furloughs. In any case I will update as I find out the local rules about the replacement fence. I did learn that 4" blocks are no longer up to code, but since its an existing wall they will allow you to rebuild it with the 4"

As Jon mentioned I can not force anyone to do anything, unless the city deems it to be a hazard or danger, then I would guess the city might warn both of us?

Best outcome would be a wooden replacement fence being OK, and the neighbor being ok with an unmatched fence from his side, or viewpoint.

Thanks again.
Rick

Backyard block wall is ready to be replaced, large gaps showing due to earth movement. In this part of the country the fences are mostly 4' block wall, my property is on a slight hill and backs up to a neighbor behind, who is lower. I told him about a year ago that we would need to replace it soon and I felt he should pay for half the cost, he said he can not afford it right now, but he propped up some 4X4's on his side of the fence in a feeble attempt to delay the inevitable. Anyway, its time to face this again, its not getting any better, but I would like to know a few things first.

First question is this, since we share a fence and it needs to be replaced before it falls down, are we both responsible for the cost? I am trying to be a good neighbor, but the first estimate was for 6K, so its a good bit of money. I will get more estimates of course. The neighbor is probably in way worse shape than me, because the shape of his Big Backyard has three other neighbors butting up against it, so my 25 foot section is one third the total fence he is looking at. A quick inspection shows all three us us are creeping into his backyard.

Second, does the city usually have codes where we have to replace the fence with the same block wall? Or can we demo and put up a wood fence? Might look goofy because the two side walls and one small section on the back are block, but hey, 6k is a lot of money. I am sure I could call the city and find out, but I thought sine I am here asking anyway...........

Thanks in advance for any advise, I love this site.
Rick