All Forum Posts by: Bryan L.

With good credit and good tax returns, it's possible. But you will probably need to be working with a small local bank that does "portfolio" loans. I used to do cash-out refis after my purchase all the time.

Before the crash, it was much more likely. Especially if you have great credit and income. And most often happened with small, local banks that were doing "portfolio" loans. I've done it, and even better. On one house that I bought, I did even much better than 0 down, as I walked away from the closing table with a check - payable to me. And there were many, many deals that I did where I bought the house, then did a cash-out refi shortly after I completed the rehab. And no, I didn't have to wait any amount of time. But those types of financing deals are much more difficult now (but probably not impossible). I haven't tried to do these lately cause I learned that it's hard to have a positive cash-flow when one finances a property so heavily. I think it may still be possible - with the right bank, and with the right credit score and income tax returns.

It's almost always up to the buyer to turn on the utilities. Also, why are you hooking up the gas for the appraiser? Appraisers are not home inspectors.

Hey. I'm 80 or so miles from you. I do buy/fix/retail flips. Looking for partners and/or private money so that I can do more deals at one time. Maybe we can work together some time.

It's a good idea to always have the paperwork with you in the car. In a pinch, you could always write something up on the spot. "I, Billy Bob Seller, being the rightful owner of the property at 123 Profit Street, do hereby agree to sell my property to Mr. Ryan C for the sum of $572 and 34 cents with a closing set to be on or before Sept 1....." But it's best to have the forms always with you in the car.

An Option Contract is a contract that gives you the "option" to buy at some set price during some set time period. But it does not obligate you to buy. It does obligate the seller to sell if and when you decide to exercise your option. Option contracts can be assigned or sold (good way to wholesale). I thought your plan was to do a wholesale flip, so that's why I suggested the option route. If you want to own it and rent it out, the L-C would be more appropriate. Although, if the seller would be agreeable you could do a lease-option (lease it with the option to buy it), and then sub-let it out for the cash-flow on the spread. Many, many different methods.

On the student thing. A friend of mine recently lost his job. And I had been looking for wholesalers and/or bird-dogs in my area anyway. So I'm going to work with him and mentor him and he will bird-dog or wholesale deals to me. I've also thought about doing some phone and/or email coaching as well. My friend is also doing the rehab work on one of my jobs, and I don't do any of the actual work myself anymore, so I occaisionally have a little time available.

One could still make the case that it all comes down to the numbers. The numbers get changed (are different) based on local situations. An $80,000 house on the north side of town may be worth $120,000 on the south side. High unemployment effects the market by reducing the number of qualified buyers, which in turn reduces the ARV. A pot store moving into a neighborhood might increase or decrease your ARV or your market rent (the numbers). So, looking at it from this perspective it is still about the numbers. But when working the numbers, one has to be careful to include ALL items/issues that will effect the numbers. And one has to know that the numbers can (and do) change. And often they change due to factors that are beyond the control of the investor. Just my opinion.

The student that I'm working with right now is in a similar position as you. Not much money to work with, but eager to get started. There are tons of ways to make money at this without any many (or without using much money). Earlier this year I made a $1000 simply by sending an email out to another investor about a potential deal that I came across. I knew that it was something that he might like, so I emailed him and asked for a $1000 finder's fee if he bought it. A few weeks later he called and asked me "where do you want me to mail your check". For this particular house, have you thought about taking an option to purchase? You could negotiate an option agreement with the seller. Maybe give him $100 option consideration. If he will give you an exclusive option, then great. If not, still take your option and shop it around to your buyer's list.

Why not get licensed? That's what I did. My decision to get licensed was first and foremost to be able to serve my investing business. Then I make a little additional income as well. Most people think that agents "have to haul people around all day on Saturday and Sunday" but it's not true. I often take the Realtor leads that I don't want to mess with and refer them out to another Realtor. And I earn a referral commission on the closing. I usually recommend that all investors dealing with MLS-listed properties should go ahead and become a Realtor.

This must be a regional thing, I thought that all of the Realtor.com listings had a firm name and phone number listed. Kind of stupid of NAR to not do that. Here in TN, it's a state law that all advertising of listed properties must include the firm name and phone number. Of course, other states may not require that. But I still thought that Realtor.com did that across the board. I guess I learned something new today.