All Forum Posts by: Rivers Plowden

@Isaiah Lopez  I would say you've taken a good first step in joining BP and trying to educate yourself.  If you haven't already, I suggest reading all the books put out by BP members.  Especially if you're interested in getting into something without much money, "The Book On Investing in Real Estate with No (and Low) Money Down" is a great place to start.

With rentals as with any other strategy, there are a million things to look out for.  The best thing to do is become an expert at that strategy.  I think it's also good to be knowledgeable on different strategies for acquiring a property as it is not always one size fits all.

I know I didn't really answer anything directly, but I hope it helps you along the path.  Good luck and keep at it.

I have heard of others using a seller financed carry-back as a 2nd position to finance a purchase.  However, I am being told this is not possible by the bank.  Is it not possible to say, on a purchase price of $100,000, take a conventional for 60% ($60,000), and then rather than a cash down payment, have the seller carry back a note for the remaining 40% ($40,000)? I understand this is a 100% financing situation, but I just read the other day someone using this strategy.  Do I just need to find the right bank?

Any insight is greatly appreciated.

You can't generally wholesale off the MLS, but I guess you could get lucky. Most people use direct mailings, Craigslist posts, bandit signs, and driving for $$ in order to find leads to wholesale. There just won't be enough profit margin with an agent involved, not to mention you will not really find the deeply discounted deals as you can find by direct marketing. Most wholesale deals involve some sort of distress on the seller side. You need to be able to solve their problem and find a mutually beneficial arrangement.

I would suggest paying a contractor for a couple hours of his time to come and walk through with you to give a ballpark unwritten estimate for repairs.  That way you have an idea of what is needed.  Then, you can make a more educated offer, assuming you haven't made an offer and are not under contract.

Once an offer is accepted, now it's time to really go to work.  Have an inspector do a full inspection and have the contractor come back out and give a written estimate for repairs.  If you find something big, then it may be a good time to renegotiate the sales price.  The contract should have contingencies for inspection and other situations.

It has been my understanding that you get pro-rated rents, hence why some try to close within the first week of the month and use the pro-rated rents to cover closing costs.  I would assume that it would have been in the purchase contract somewhere.  If it is, I think it's a closed case and they owe you some money.

What would be wrong with a double close other than some extra closing costs?  That way all you have to do is get the new buyer under a purchase contract and schedule the closings.  Thoughts?