All Forum Posts by: Robert Williams

@John Dean you are correct. It can be any contractor, but they must follow certain guidelines and pass some sort of certification I believe. And, they have to be willing to do all the paperwork.

@Nic Starr, heres a start for you... http://203kcontractors.com/con...

@Jonathan Dunn Mostly in state. I live in Illinois. Everything I have found so far has been off Zillow, Redfin. Or realtor.

I do analyze deals in other areas, but since I’m not necessarily interested in them, i use them to keep my chops up. As I’m new, my criteria is lower than most. I look for 6% cash on cash return, $100 per door per month among others. I over estimate expenses and use rentometer to set my rents in the lower percentile. If the numbers are close, then I know I’m golden. Hardest part for me is financing. I met a few hard money people, but the numbers don’t work most of the time because of the high interest. 10-14%. That is why I am taking a wholesale approach and hopefully within the next 60 days, will have done my first deal. Where are you looking to invest?

@Jonathan Dunn Welcome to BP! I'm a little scatterbrained, so bear with me... I just finished listening to Show 75, and they guest said "Real Estate Investing is not just one niche. Sure you can have a specialty, but the investors he knows do not stick with one thing", I said that to say, listen to the podcasts. Learn as much as you can about all facets of RE. Learn to analyze deals. Network. There are several people who will tell you that a deal was handed to them through someone they knew, who knew they were an investor. I am 35 with 3 kids and little money. I have found at least 6 deals in the 6 weeks I have been learning, that fit my criteria, but due to lack of funding, I missed my opportunities. It was suggested to me that Wholesaling would be a better route for me to raise capital as well as network. So that is my focus, but I still look at every opportunity from every angle to see what strategies could be used, how to exit, and how the numbers work. Numbers are the key to every deal. Go on zillow, redfin, realtor... pick a random property where you live and use the BP calculators to analyze it. Learn what each number means and how it affects the final outcome, and create a spreadsheet that will tell you if you should go for it or not, compare to BP calculator, then make a decision. It's not easy by any stretch of the imagination, but with dedication, you can do it!!! 

Just wanted to Wish all the Fathers and Father Figures a Happy Father’s Day!

@Tim Richter You did right by calling the exterminator. If the price is too high, call more companies. Different companies offer different services. I had mice within 2 months of building my home. Called company A they quoted me $4k, for a full walk around, sealing all gaps, traps, poison… but I’d have to empty the traps myself. Called company B they offered the same services for 2k and they came out every week to check and empty the tracks until they came two weeks catching 0 mice. I went with company B. Within a month no more mice, haven’t seen one since. Turns out the contractors didn’t seal around any of the incoming service pipes! Company B stuffed and covered them all with copper mesh and sealed them with some type of adhesive. Shop around, Google make a friend in all businesses.

@Lam N. Not a crazy question at all. I think as long as you have a good relationship with your tenants they won’t care. It’s only those that feel like they deserve what you have or that they pay you so they own you, who would be mad if you were driving a rust Turcell. I have never been a fan of flashy, but always a fan of “do what makes you happy.” If you get the truck, I want pictures! 😂🤣😂

@Ashton Fry fiberglass seems to be the best route, but I would look to see what other houses in the area have. It may be a waste to do tile if no other place in the area has it as it won’t affect the value as much as you think it would.

@Derek Kroeger every place I have rented from states in the lease 2 months notice, and or 2 moths payment to break a lease. If you didn’t spell that out, you may just have to let it go. Hope it works out for you…

@Eliot Shtru If that’s the area you have to be in, as long as you can afford the mortgage, and associated bills without roommates, the roommates will ultimately decrease your out of pocket. That’s 1000-1200 each month that can go towards finding another property.