All Forum Posts by: Steve Dove

I'm listed on VRBO for both, and that does quite well for me during the summer. Golfing is huge in our area and I plan to get out to the Expos to promote each lake house. Snowmobiling is also huge in our area. I have a couple of repeats each year, must it's typically a weekend sport and has been hit or miss. I should probably hit the snowmobile swap meets when they are held. One thing that I had not thought of was striking a deal with land owners and offering a package to hunters. Hell, it might be more cost effective to buy 25 acres and leverage the use of my own land. I'm going to look into that. Thanks.

I'm looking for some advice on how to increase the occupancy rate of my vacation rentals. During the summer, they are booked solid, but I need to figure out a way to attract guests in the fall / winter. The properties are in northern Michigan.

Thoughts?

Be prepared to wait, even after the offer has been submitted. as the investor, I waited for over 3 months for the bank to assign an asset manager to the property. I eventually withdrew my offer and moved on to a deal that closed much quicker. Good luck.

I couldn't agree more. I started by reading books, some of which were from the RDPD series. I didn't learn much from his books, but his "success stories" were motivating in themselves. I began picking up books that were relative to real estate investing, and not fluffed up stories about someone else's success. I learned about establishing an LLC, creative financing, and tax law. Some of this was very dry, but taught me a ton of useful information.
I took the plunge on my first deal after discovering that a co-worker of mine had already been operating a vacation rental. I think that because I now knew someone who was doing what I wanted to do, it made it easier. Little did he know, he was now my mentor. :) In less than three years, I now have two vacation rentals, and four residential rental properties.
Educate yourself. Find good people to converse with, and take it slow. As you learn from each deal, you will be that much more successful on the next. That't not to say that it will all be very easy, but learning the hard way is still learning in my book.

As far as the remodel would go, I'd have to base it on numbers. A few thousand into updating this place could go a long way and attract the right person. My theories on my rental properties are simple. I buy them cheap enough so that upgrades do not put me upside down on value. And even though you are dealing with renters, you'll most likely be dealing with a buyer at some point. These places need to be ready for sale at any moment. Especially if you get into financial trouble. At that point, you won't have any money to update it and make it sale-able. I guess I hate the term "slumlord", and like to keep my places nice. Also, make sure the contract holds them responsible for damage as well as any repairs under $300. -My two cents.

That depends. Are your plans to rent or flip? From the looks of the kitchen in the photo, it appears to be fully functional. So, if renting - I wouldn't do anything to it. If selling, I would check the comps in the area and see what kind of kitchen this property demands.

Thanks for the feedback. I decided that hard money was not the way to go. Eddie is right about it being risky in these financial times. I've since moved off of that particular deal after being mislead about the sale. The selling agent stated that there was already an asset manager assigned to the short sale, but was wrong. After three months, still no asset manager. Now, I need to find someone to give me a commercial construction loan instead. :) I picked up an amazing lakefront property that needs some rehab. Should triple my investment on this one!!

I'm looking for some advice on financing a property that I am scheduled to close on in less than three weeks. I initially had bank approval for a conventional mortgage, but because I have too many mortgaged properties, they've changed their mind. Two of my properties do not have enough rental history, although they are currently rented under 12-month leases. I'm told, by the banks, that once I can show at least two years of rental history, I'll be able to obtain mortgages with out issue. This situation is also prohibiting me from obtaining equity loans as well. The bottom line is that I need to obtain financing quickly and be able to hold for at least two years until I can re-fi. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Steve

Mike,
Where do I begin? I want to learn as much as possible about real estate investing, and eventually move into other areas such as, commercial property management, wholesaling, creative financing, and also tax law. Right now, my biggest obstacle is financing. I've got too many houses, and the banks will not give me any more mortgages - including equity lines of credit. If I can explore many of the different financing options that may be available to me, I am confident that I can make any investment work. Would you have any idea as to which way I should attempt to finance my next residential property? I'm scheduled to close on the 21st of this month, but found out after my offer had been accepted, my bank changed their mind. Apparently they weren't listening when I told them how many properties I already have. My FICO score is around 800, and have some cash to work with. I've done some reading on blanket loans to combine al of the mortgages, but because of the current economic crisis, I am not sure if this is still an option or not. This will be my last residential property for awhile. I want to focus on obtaining an apartment building next.

Hello - I am new to this site and am hoping to meet successful individuals who can help guide me down the road to wealth from investing in real estate. I am already investing, and have acquired 5 properties in the last 2 1/2 years. With that said, I too have been attracted to the "warm" feeling most people receive from reading the Rich Dad series of books. By themselves, they are, indeed motivating. However, I've been hard-pressed to ever take any factual information from any of the books or CD's that I've read/heard by RDPD. I don't feel as if I am progressing at the rate that I would like to be, with my investing, so I decided to attend the 3-day RDPD seminar. Well, I am here to hopefully shed some light on the course material of the 3-day seminar, and save many of you thousands of dollars.

While, the individual topics of the seminar are intriguing - there is not much factual information to take from them. Especially, because you are not permitted to ask questions. You have to save them for your 12 minute bathroom break, and hope that 1 of the 4 "instructors" are available to answer them. Good luck getting a straight answer. You should expect to receive, "I cannot answer that, because it is a tax question, and I am not an accountant." Or - "I cannot answer that, because I am not a lawyer."

Here's what really killed the deal for me. - When the instructor told everyone to turn to page "whatever" in our training books, he proceeded to read us through a script to use when calling our credit card companies. Why would we be calling our credit companies, you ask? Because he wanted us to beg for limit increases, and lower our interest rates. He explained that we needed to call on every credit card we owned, and do the same. He even stated that it was "imperative" (they use that word alot) that we ask where the customer support person was located. If they were not located within the US, that we should hang-up and call back until we got a US customer service rep. They apparently, are the only ones that have the ability to raise your credit limits based on a soft-credit check. And to add to this, he actually made everyone write down an "800" number to AMEX and request a "Blue" card. Apparently, they are offering a 0% APR right now.

All of this was for good reason. So that on the day of the major sales pitch, you would have the ability to pay for Advanced Training with your new available credit limits. By the way, your "today only" prices ranged from $16k to $65k. Please people, have faith in yourselves, and find the right people to help you build your dreams. Do not spend your money on these courses, or let them fill your head with false hopes. I'm planning to join a local REIA club and learn through networking and self-education. I look forward to sharing my experiences with you, as well as learning from actual successful investors.