All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Robert Blanchard If you can get 15k at a time thats a great alternative. I'll have to look into that.

@Mitchell Jaworski thats good to know. I wasn't aware Paypal was so strict even though they're charging a fee. I wonder if anyone has any alternatives for charging credit cards for cash?

 I have tried to get a line of credit and they've only approved me for a few thousand. Could be because of mortgages and other credit cards. But ya you're right if you're flipping you should hopefully sell the property long before 9 months. But if you've got multiple flips going on and limited cash then being able to have access to your whole credit limit is huge! With this method I don't need to pay back the credit cards after I flip. Instead I can just keep using that cash and the cash profits from the flips to fund the next ones. I never wanna turn down a good deal because I don't have the cash so having the credit reserves gives that cushion.

@Chris Z. That is a good hack as well I haven't thought of. But like you said that will take a lot of work many people won't want to do. But definitely a good alternative if you're willing to put in the work.

@Royce Talbo I have done it twice on Paypal for 10k each time. They haven't said or done anything about it. I am concerned if what you're saying is true though. I would think that since Paypal is getting their 2.93% cut they shouldn't care right? But if they do then I would imagine there is another site out there that would basically let you "purchase cash" on your credit card for a fee. I just haven't really looked into it because Paypal hasn't caused me any problems. Also it might help that I have a verified business Paypal account.

I'm not sure if anyone has brought up this strategy before but I'd like to share how I funded my flips starting out. I call it credit card hacking though thats probably not a great name for it with cyber crime and all. Oh well lets get to it!

What you need: Credit Cards and Paypal

Purpose: To fully cash out your credits cards and get the lowest interest rates possible in doing so. This money can then be used for down payments and rehab costs.

How it works: First let me start with the easiest solution we don't use: The cash advance. I don't like it because they typically only let you take out 25% of your credit limit. We're trying to get our whole credit line cashed out. So to do that we need to look at balance transfers. For me I'm always getting mail from my credit card companies offering 0% interest for 18 months on balance transfers. If you're not getting them usually you can call and ask for them. A lot of times they'll have them and you can take advantage. I've found that some companies will let you balance transfer your whole credit line into your checking account with these promotions. 

So for example I have 3 cards that are managed by FIA Card Services and two are Bank of America Cash Rewards and the other is a Fidelity American Express. With all three of them I'm able to balance transfer any amount for an up front 4% fee and then I get 0% interest on that cash for the next 18 months. So lets say I have a $50,000 credit limit on the Fidelity American Express, I can borrow that whole amount in cash for $2,000 and have no interest for the next 18 months. Now after the 18 months the APR will jump to a high rate but if you're a smart flipper you should be able to pay it back then repeat.

Now there are some cards that don't allow balance transfers straight into your checking account. I have an AMEX Blue Cash and a Discover card that don't allow me to do that. They have the same kind of 0% for 18 months at a 5% up front fee but its only on balance transfers from another card. 

Here's where the hack comes in:

DON'T CASH OUT YOUR CREDIT CARDS THAT ARE ABLE TO BALANCE TRANSFER STRAIGHT INTO CHECKING! You will need them to balance transfer onto the cards that can only accept balance transfers from other cards. 

For example assume I have a $20,000 limit on my AMEX Blue Cash that only accepts transfers from other cards. You will need to have $20,000 on another card that you can transfer to it. To do this you need Paypal. On Paypal you can transfer cash to somebody as a gift for a 2.93% fee if you use credit card. So you need to create two Paypal accounts. One to transfer money into the other. So for me I would use my Fidelity American Express because it gets 2% cash back on any charge. I would send $20,000 from one account and receive it on the other account. Now my Fidelity American Express has $20,000 in charges on it and I have $20,000 in cash. Then you call up the AMEX Blue Cash number and you balance transfer that amount to it. So now your AMEX Blue Cash is maxed out at $20,000 and the Fidelity American Express has a $0 balance again. Now you can use the checking account balance transfer on the Fidelity American Express for $50,000 and they'll both be maxed out and you'll have $70,000 cash to work with.

Conclusion: So with this hack you now have $70,000 cash for the next 18 months at 0%. So what did it cost? The Paypal transfer of $20,000 cost 2.93% but it was offset by the 2% cash back the Fidelity American Express offers on any charge. So it basically cost $200 to transfer on Paypal. Then the balance transfer on that $20,000 is 5% so thats another $1,000. Then to do the checking account balance transfer for the Fidelity American Express on $50,000 it was 4% so thats $2,000. So the total cost to borrow $70,000 cash for the next 18 months at 0% was $3,200. If you're a flipper thats an amazing deal and there are a lot of properties you can get the next 18 months with that cash.

I hope this hack can help somebody! Please let me know if you have any questions. And lastly I don't recommend this for a beginner. Credit cards are risky if you don't know what you're doing!

I've been doing a lot of reading about finding leads on Craigslist. It seems the most effective way is to ask landlords trying to rent their property if they want to sell. 

For the guys who have had success with this I'd like to know what your strategy is? Do you just email them all the same thing? If so what does your email say? Or do you just call and feel them out?

I'm out here in Vegas! I do a lot of work in Henderson too.

@Sheryl Gurvey There are definitely good deals to be had on the MLS unlike most will tell you. For me being a licensed agent I can keep track and monitor them everyday and write lowball offers with ease. And I have gotten them accepted. I have also purchased deals from wholesalers that were on the MLS. Now obviously its much harder to find them on there then directly from the seller but don't let anyone tell you they can't be found. Numbers don't lie!

Ya out here in Las Vegas I have never paid more than 4 pts for a hard money loan. So that could be a short term option until you're able to refi.

I would agree with @Phillip Dwyer on this issue. From what I've seen most of the 4plexes here are in rough areas and don't rent for very much. I think better money is spent on getting a SFH in a better area and thus getting a better tenant as well. I would love to buy a 4 plex here but I just haven't seen any deals that make sense.