All Forum Posts by: Robert Uceda

One of the discouraging barriers is that talking to my RE agent who remains skeptical about me shoring up my buyer's list by asking him to on his MLS portal - round up a list of sold's list of cash buyers. He asking why investors (many of who are buyers themselves) would even want to find a 'middle man' (wholesaler like me) to help them find distressed homes out there, when they can search those themselves? I tried to tell him that maybe these investors do not have the luxury of time to find these distressed homes all the time. and that finding TLC, fixer upper, investor homes are challenging on MLS portal with the range of repairs varying. Any other ways I can explain it to my RE agent? He is definitely a bright successful guy and I'm trying to get him to see the light bulb of shoring my buyer's list. Thoughts? Suggestions?

Hello, I need some bright financing strategies for affording the cost of fixer upper distressed homes so that I can hire an awesome team of contractors to renovate such homes!!  Fortunately, I met a down to earth investor from Houston, TX whose team has for several years now invested in distressed homes worth pursuing and viable to invest in.  They are rated high on the Better Business Bureau. I also met another broker in person with a similar skill set of finding TLC homes. (granted we always need to be cautiously optimistic when meeting other RE peers).  

#1 - Of course traditional, hard money lending, FHA loans are but a few of the options to purchase such homes. Do you have any other innovative strategies to round up valuable funds to pay besides out of pocket??????

I have a traditional IRA account with significant funds but I'm not necessarily quick to utilize that as I want to minimize up front cost at my expense. I have a decent credit history in the high 600s and some 43k of student loan debt from a Master's which culminated in a therapist position. As you know therapist and teachers are underpaid nationwide. It pays the bills but doesn't allow me enough leverage to live a life to visit family/friends.

#2 - question- what are some innovative safer paths to hire reputable contractors and weed out the flakers unreliable ones? I meet with a local real estate club now for the past year that comprises of decent reputable investors and lenders.  Nevertheless I want to find other input from this investor community.  Suggestions??????  :^/

last note: I almost qualified for 175k  in terms of home purchase.  This attributed to high debt/ income ratio and only 1 year's worth of 1099 misc tax.  The professional lender told me I need to supply one more year's worth of 1099 misc to qualify.  

Robert 

RE investor at Denver tech center, CO 

I am tempted to use 5k of my self directed IRA as earnest for financing the acquisition of a distressed home worth fix and flip. I have a reliable broker (licensed RE) who happens to be savvy on finding fixer upper homes whose ARVs tend to be higher than the starting asking price. However, are not there other ways to finance such TLC homes with other finance them instead of just one's own money and jeopardize one's livelihood? Thoughts anyone?

Rob

RE investor at Denver tech center 

Rachel from San Antonio, thanks for the suggestion.  After much due diligence, and turning in the beloved 2016, 2017 tax returns, proof of income, etc.  my traditional lender informed me that with my high student loan debt spoiling the debt/income ratio, I only qualify for 175,000 and no more.   Time to revisit this home acquisition in 6-8 months when I can pay off my student debt by then.  

This brings me to my next question. Thankfully, I found a broker who is willing to help me round up distressed homes (fixer upper, TLC types) near the Denver area and its surrounding suburbs/outskirts.  What are some sensible ways to find financing to cover the $3000-5000 earnest money?  I would not be the fondest to utilize my retirement funds and prefer to rely on other reliable sources? 

Granted, not all distressed homes are alluring or promising deals yet, as I have to evaluate the cost of repair and look for comps to make sure high ARVs are in play. Any suggestions for the financing? so it doesn't come out of my pocket? I know I heard about FHA loans, traditional lender loan.

Thanks for the input everyone! Now I have some ideas but truly need guidance more so on the proposition of buying a house or a mobile home! for that matter, so that I can rent it out to tenants and create a viable stream of income. Of course it's not going to be easy. That's why it has taken me 13 months researching all about finding that home to invest on, or other nuances of profiting. Would it be advantageous for me to pursue an FHA loan? I have decent credit and a sizable retirement account which I could use for down payment. It sounds like a great place to start is finding a house below market to not owe so much to the loan officer while I can profit from monthly income from tenants paying up, thoughts???

Terri, what do you mean by PITI $850/mo? is that an acronym for something I am not aware of? Definitely interested in purchasing it and rent it out to tenants. What would be the next step besides talking to my private lender?

Robert

William, that sounds interesting about buying property with an IRS approved tax-advantaged retirement fund. What does that entail? I have an IRA (used to be a 401k from another previous employer several years ago) which I use with an Edward Jones retirement strategist to help it grow over the next 20+ years. However, I realize I may have to use it for a money down payment on a property, which I preferably want to purchase it and rent it out to tenants. Thoughts?

Robert

Okay, I have put in the sacrifice of counseling addictions treatment for over a decade and honestly am not fond of subjecting to this slavery any longer.  Tired of working for a boss who may have other agendas. I have been researching and attended real estate club meetups for the 13 months.  Have a decent credit history, have 37k in retirement fund, and have connections to end buyers thanks to another peer of mine.  Having spoken to another real estate agent, he suggested I consider buying a property, live in it for a time, and rent it out to tenants to build a stream of income.  However, wouldn't that stream of income go towards a private lender (bank) since I would have to put 20% money down payment and the 80% give or take would originate from a lender?  Would I still profit in the long run, if I were to rent that house to tenants??   Suggestions? 

Rob

RE investor at Denver, CO

p.s. very well aware of the scarcity of house inventory in Colorado market, read at 5280 magazine, among other sources.  A seller's market for now.

Again, I shouldn't have to put up with Bill making assumptions about my standard of living.  For him to suggest I get a second job or insinuating that I can't afford to drive was ill-informed. Or telling me the chances of getting a wholesale deal as 0.1% and that sounds tacky, even though that may be true.  The fact is none of you know me very well and all of you are making assumption that I cannot take feedback well.   

There is a difference between getting constructive input on the nuances of looking for deals, whatever it takes to wholesale  versus making speculative comments about my chances of making it in wholesaling, or how 'poor' I come across and needing 2nd job.  That's insinuating that I have poor fiscal discipline, not being able to budget or manage finances responsibly, which is not the case here - especially when I have budgeted smart for over a decade in anticipation of pondering a career change such as this one.  

You are not talking to an immature like you think you know here. If I was immature I would have not ventured out to BP threads such as this and absorb.  I am sure Bill has his own reputation for what he is done. I don't doubt he's successful with this realm, but no one is immune from making off color assumptions such as 'my standard of living being poor'.   At any rate, there is a lot to learn about wholesaling.   That's why I'm spending time reading the blogs, articles and multiple sources, going out to the county tax assessors office - researching about properties on foreclosure, etc. etc....  

The point is not rely on one source (the mentor you guys are throwing mud at me about), but absorb from several peers in this real estate realm.  That's why we have here in Denver reputable real estate clubs (through meetups) and talking to multiple investors who are already savvy about what it takes to survive the Denver market and surrounding areas.  Speaking of which I'm attending my 2nd monthly meeting tonight.  You can search on bing "DAREI events" (Denver Association of real estate investors).  

and no, the mentor did not tell me to simply focus on properties on the MLS with the help of real estate agents. Of course there are better possibilities finding properties outside of the MLS. Overall, I realize there is so much to learn for the next 12 months minimum and that wholesaling is a cut throat competition - especially on MLS offers, based on my 1st offers made - 70% of ARV, etc.. I am here to digest input for the next year or more, not going anywhere.

I have a situation and need to go the best way to proceed on this?  An 60 year old investor, Anthony, who lives in Tennessee had a family member/friend post a bandit sign near University of Denver campus "need to obtain a house pronto" for his sister in law, who resides in Colorado.  Fortunately, I got a hold of him and he is open to me helping him find houses, and eventually get his sister-in-law to select the house of her choice.  

My goal is negotiate with a seller who agrees to sell a house and ultimately, assign a contract so I can obtain my first wholesale deal. I understand I'm better off search houses marketed on Craigslist (of course those without real estate agent involved), or properties off the MLS, which I may find under county websites - i.e. properties on foreclosure, auction, etc.

Will I be able to still assign a contract for a house on say, for instance, foreclosure (or under probate, other off market scenarios, etc) and still be able to arrange seller financing? 

How do I make sure I still get my $5000 profit for wholesaling it.  Would I need a real estate attorney to expedite this assign of the contract, closing costs, etc.? 

thanks for any input