All Forum Posts by: Brandi Young

Call the mh dealerships in your area. Ask to speak to someone about financing. Tell them that you are looking for a lender that is willing to finance a mobile home as an investment property and see if they can point you in the right direction.

Most dealerships do not have in-house financing so if they do not know of a specific lender that will what you want then ask them if they can give you the name and number of their favorite lender. (You want this name and number because it is usually a direct number to a human and will hopefully keep you from being transfered and having to repeat your story 500 times.)

Call that person and if they cannot help you then see if they have any idea what other lenders might.

Good luck.

My brother-in-law has a completely different landlording style than I do and despite all my efforts over the years he still refuses to enforce his own lease. Yesterday it almost landed him in jail.

His tenant decided to not pay rent for a while and like he does with all his tenants he failed to post a pay or quit notice and get the eviction process started. After a month and a half of dodged phone calls, the tenant finally decided to move and told my brother-in-law they would be out by Saturday and that he could start showing it on Sunday.

The tenants did not give him his keys back so he had to drill the lock to get in. As you may have guessed the place was in no condition to be shown. It needed some clean up and the tenants had left a small amount of personal belongings inside.

He placed all of their belongings neatly outside the front door and began to clean. The tenant showed up while he was cleaning and was furious! She began screaming at him and accused him of breaking in. She even told him he had no right to be there as it was still "her house".

After about 20 minutes of her ranting and raving she decided to call the police. Seems there was a box of jewelry that was left in the house that was now missing.

The police arrive and the woman starts screaming at the officer. I suppose that was good news for my brother-in-law because the officer ended up cuffing her and putting her in the squad car to shut her up.

When all was said and done and everyone was calmed down, the officer advised my brother-in-law to get something in writing and signed by the tenant stating that they relinquish the property back to him.

The part that dumbfounds me is that even after that wonderful advice - he failed to get anything in writing! Hopefully this little story does not have another chapter - but it very well might.

Lessons for all:
1. Always post an eviction notice on the first date it is legal to do so according to your local laws.
2. Always enforce your lease - that is why you have one in the first place.
3. Only trust your tenants as far as you can physically pick them up and throw them.
4. Listen to the warnings of your very smart and wise sister-in-law. :D

Rant over.

You could try www.craigslist.org. It is kinda weird to navigate at first, but you get used to it.

-Brandi

I am a firm believer in getting people to call you rather than spending hours calling unmotivated people.

As a fun topic, I'd like to ask: What is the wierdest thing you have done to get motivated sellers to call you?? We all know the traditional ways - so what I am talking about here is the more bizarre attempts to get leads. So let's hear it!

What did you do?
How did it work?
Would you do it again?

I'll start this off....

I once emailed a single dollar bill (crisp and brand new) to every pre-foreclosure I looked up at the courthouse. On a Post-It Note stuck to the dollar was a simple message that said,

"One Dollar - One Chance
Don't throw either away.
Call 555-5555 today to fix
your housing situation."

I consider the response decent. Out of 250 mailouts I got about 35 calls, met with 8 sellers and bought 2 houses.

OK your turn.

I spent way too much time dealing with unmotivated sellers. I was told, "you will know a motivated seller when you see one." That turned out to be SO true. They are the folks that hardly ask any questions (if they ask any at all) and will practically give you their house just to be rid of it.

Easy. Some of us are just wired that way. All I can say is that for us nervous types it gets easier over time. It's kind of like some performers that say they still get nervous right before going on stage - even after years in the business. The nervousness is normal and can only be counteracted by preparedness.

Basically, just tell yourself that you are going to screw up but that there is nothing you can screw up so badly that you cannot handle. Mistakes are, afterall, one of the ways we learn.

Hope this helps.

I had a similar discussion a while back and this is what was thrown around...

If the property has some feature that "offends the senses" of the appraisor it is possible to get a lower appraisal due to a common trait among humans... When we get offended - that is to say taken out of a positive mindset ubruptly - we begin to have a less that positive outlook.

We ended the discussion having decided that the best bet is to compliment other houses in the neighborhood. Don't make it so bland that it blends in and fades away, but stay away from colors that make even the color-blind folk cringe.

I will venture a guess that your common sense already told you that.

I know this is a REALLY old post... but I am curious if you ever finished it and if so, how did you like it??

About a year after reading this book there was major discussion as to whether or not the story was true. At first I found myself upset at the idea that it may not be but then it hit me.... Who cares?? Fact or fiction this book will get you off your hindparts.

If it doesn't - well - REI life just isn't meant to be.

It all started with a middle of the night infomercial. I looked up the particular "guru" that was selling the course online and found a great message board that advised me not to pay for what I could get for free online.

After a few months trying to figure it all out and LOTS of guidance from some very generous people on that message board I braved my first deal. It nearly ended up in a law suit - which was thankfully averted using advice and support of my "online friends".

I ended up making a few thousand dollars and never bought the house! (They bought me out of my contract.)

Anyway, it was a rotten yet wonderful time and it makes me laugh whereas it used to make me want to stick my head in the sand.

Great post idea, by the way.