All Forum Posts by: Bryan L.

Agreed. If you don't have too much debt already, good credit, etc, you may be able to go conventional. And would probably get better terms.

I used to do this all the time. I would often even refi for more than my all-in amount. But be careful and don't load it up too heavily or you may end up with negative cash-flow. Anyway, what you propose is very doable, especially with small local banks that do "in-house" or "portfolio" loans. You will need good credit and be able to show good income on your income taxes. All of these small banks are different, so shop around a bit. Most will not amortize for more than 20 years, and will probably put a balloon payment after 3 or 5 years (or they may just have it be an adjustable rate). Also, most will only refi for 80% (or less) of the ARV,

If you're going to be buying MLS-listed propertied, being a Realtor in a HUGE plus. And you don't have to actually do "agent" work if you don't want to.

Keep trying. REO sales often have no apparent rhyme or reason to them. And it's a numbers game.

By the way - a difficult or non-responsive listing agent does not necessarily result in a "hidden MLS deal". Every other agent in town has a key to that house (or access to the lock-box or whatever) and can being showing it to their buyer and can be submitting offers on it. MLS-listed REOs are super easy to show and make offers on.
But that reminds me of one other thing. I once got a good deal on an MLS-listed REO that was in pretty good condition. Good enough than an o-o could have bought it. But the key didn't work with the lock very well. I had to mess with it for 10 minutes or so to get in. Many agents would have given up and taken their buyers somewhere else.

I was there - before the market crashed. I now have a 1/2-time j.o.b. along with my investing business. Let me give you this one piece of advice. Before you ever go "full-time", go ahead and get every stinking line-of-credit lined up that you possibly can while you have a j.o.b. Cause it's much harder to borrow money when you are self-employed.

I hope it all works out great for you - I really do. But keep this in the back of your mind - in my opinion and experience, the average renter is not "real people". I've tried it too. Maybe not to the extent that you have, but I have tried to use my business as a platform to help people. And it eventually sucked me dry and I had to turn it all over to a PM. I still try to help people, but using different methods. I won't bore you with a long list of real life examples. Hope it works out great for you.

I also sense that you are a very kind, caring, compassionate person. What is your plan of action when a tenant tells you that they can't pay their rent this month cause their daughter needs new glasses? A good PM can keep themselves separate from the personal stuff going on in peoples lives and can send out that pay-or-move notice. It's got to be done. Cause I can guarantee you that this renter who needs money for the daughter's new glasses will still be paying the cable bill (with HBO, movie channel set, etc), will still be buying games for the Wii, will still be down-loading and paying for songs and apps, will still be buying beer and cigs, etc, etc.

My suggestion - You've already got the tool, a phone. Call and hire a good property manager.

An experienced PM will give you better quality tenants, will collect more rent, and more on-time rent. Will take those 3 a.m. "my toilet is clogged" phone calls. Will send out late notices and pay-or-quit notices.

Seriously, I used to do my own PM. My life and my rental income are much better now that I turned it over to a good PM.

And don't let the other renters know that you are the owner.

You seem to be bright, ambitious, hard-working, etc, so I'm not doubting your abilities. But know this - most tenants are clueless.

Just my opinion.

So, what's your decision? Higher offer for better chance of getting it, or lower offer for better deal?