All Forum Posts by: Rick Pozos

I would vote for situation #3

If they really want it THAT BAD, they can buy it, YOU put it in so that you know they did not mess anything up, but it stays after they leave. A shower head can be $20 to $200, but so can the installation. Installation is pretty easy and I would do it myself.

I think you used the right phrase, "Ability to Buy". BUT that term is sooooo subjective. 

Your 'Ability to buy' will change with your creativity, not only with your credit score or income. Buying with a conventional loan is 1 way to buy. If you dont have it, find other ways.

My first house was a pre-foreclosure. The seller said he wanted to file bankruptcy. He did and it stopped the sale. I immediately before that, contracted the house. We stopped the sale, I found a buyer, double closed and made 12k. I owed 3 months of child support, recently divorced, back home living with parents, driving an old car with over 100k miles and had been recently fired from a job. Most people would say I had NO ABILITY to buy. BUT I had creativity. I bought and sold or wholesaled houses almost every month that year.

In 20+ years I have still only purchased 1 house with a conventional mortgage. That does not mean my ability to buy is not deep. It just means I dont use conventional mortgages, I have found other ways to deepen my ability to buy.

Owner finance, sub-to, partners, JV, syndication, hard money, private money, friends and some family IRA money are all ways to deepen your 'Ability to Buy'.

Foreclosing on someone is the "Big Bad Wolf" until you have done it a few times. It does cost some money for the attorney, takes some months to get done and YES the property will come back in worse shape. This is all part of the game. Rentals come back with issues when tenants move out just like foreclosures.

It's never a great situation to take a property back. The ones that I have done, we talked with the homeowner all the way through it. They could not pay and they knew that we had to have money or the house back. They were never mad at us or took revenge on the house. It does happen though. The horror stories should be the "Worse Case Scenario", they are not the norm, for us at least.

As mentioned above, scrutinize your buyers. Since about 2015, when we sell owner finance, we go through an RMLO and get at least 10% down. Have not had any issues since then. No foreclosures in about 10 years.

It will always make sense for you. It does not always make sense for the seller. Sometimes the seller just does not know enough about it, so they say no. You really have to educate the seller and find out what is important to them. 

I always ask after learning more about the person and their situation. Usually they say, no I just want cash. They can get a higher price, but just paid out over several years and then a big lump sum. It happens now and then, but I would not bank on getting more than 1 deal every year or two.

@Gilberto Rodriguez 

Well...I have a group that does NOT charge and there are no things to buy, just free knowledge. We had a great speaker from one of my title companies talking about title insurance. We have a mortgage broker speaking next month and a marketing person for your business in May. Info is on my profile.

Alamo Investors charges about $200 per year. It's bigger, but they try to sell you all kinds stuff. Lots of people to network with also.

Pints and Properties, all free. Good people. Good info. I get to have my one or two beers for the month.

IN Between, all free, Good people again. It's in-between SA and Austin, hence the name. 

I am sure there are plenty more around SA, but those are the ones that I go to regularly.

Hey Gil, get out and meet some people at the meetups. Some are free and some have an annual fee. Some you will like and some are very 'pitchy' selling all kinds of classes and junk.

Meeting people in person and getting to know them and what they do will help increase your knowledge that much more.

@Michael Dyer there is so much content from the podcasts and forums for FREE. Sorry, but I would not pay for membership extras when there is so much already there without having to pay for it. If you just listen to the 1000+ podcasts of the 'real estate', 'money' and 'rookie' you would have a good base of knowledge. 

Mentioned above: Lease all the properties at a certain rate. Pay an extra 5k for the option to purchase the whole deal on 1/1/25 to 3/31/2025 at XX price. In the mean time, you are renting from the owner, but sub-leasing to the tenants that are there.

Once you purchase with the installment sale in 2025, the tax man cometh. But it is with the installment sale parameters.

Hey @Andrew Blucker I know it seems like everyone is flipping houses and making tons of money. I am sure that your landscaping business was not easy. Real Estate is not either. 

Personally, I would do what you do best. Start another landscaping business since you have already done this. Get some cash flow from that. THEN start to look into real estate when you have cash in the bank AND cash flow every month. Seems the safer route. Just my .02c

You probably need to find an attorney that is closer to the property. Maybe someone in the same county.There have to be attorneys in Brown County. Find one that does foreclosures. Get all your note and deed of trust together for them along with all of your notices that you have sent and how you sent them. Texas is pretty quick to foreclose and should only cost you about 2k for the attorney.

Once you take the property back, get another down payment, but make sure you qualify the buyer with an RMLO.