All Forum Posts by: Robert Leonard

Exellent post @Rip Rittell!  A lot of new and aspiring investors can learn from the way you clearly defined your niche and your long term goals!  Well done!

Hello @Chris Clark, there are several threads on this topic.  Search for "flooded properties baton rouge" in the search box on the upper right hand side of this page and you will see lots of discussion and comments on the topic.

Welcome to BP @Matthew Kurtz!  Lookup "the RING" on meetup.com to connect with active local investors in the BR market!  Meetings happen on the second Tuesday of the month and they are packed with investors and live deals to analyze or buy.  See you soon!

Welcome to BP @Zed LaCour! Look forward to working with you. See you around town and around here on BP!

 Hello @Candace Fontenot, and welcome to BP.  If I can make a recommendation that will help you get more out of your engagement here on BP, you should fill out your profile.  I know a lot of Fontenot's already, yas!

What will you do if it takes 90 days to get your refinance? Will the numbers still work? What if it takes you 6 months? Will the deal support paying HML rates for that long if things don't go as well as planned? There are usually a lot more unknowns when buying at auctions that equal more risk. That risk is spread when you have a portfolio of properties or you have deep enough pockets to absorb the occasional cement filled plumbing lines and missing copper that you might find in an auction property. If you are looking to use an HML and you don't have those means of spreading your risk, this is a very risky choice of investment to start with.

Have you received an approval from an HML to do this? Usually, they expect to lend based on an appraised value and there's not enough time to do one from the time you become the winning bidder in most auction scenarios.

Hello and welcome to BP!  Generally @Cathy Gribble, you want to consider tax consequences of any investment you make.  Based on our income and assets, we all have different things to consider when making investment decisions and a good CPA is worth consulting on all tax related matters.

What is it about Louisiana that makes you want to invest here?  What city(ies) are you looking to invest in and why?

I have private market flood insurance on one of my properties, but it did not flood in what many are referring to as "The Great Flood of 2016." I switched from a FEMA policy because the rate was nearly 50% less than FEMA's annual rate. I am curious to hear what others' experiences were with private market flood insurance? If you or anyone you know had private market flood insurance, how have the private insurers been to work with? Have they paid claims competitively with FEMA in regard to timeliness of payment and reasonable amounts paid for damages? What is the "word on the street" about whether or not it's a good idea to have private market flood insurance in our market after this recent event?

It depends.  The first question to answer is 'was proper notification completed.'  The operative term is "proper" because there will often be a green card (the kind signed for certified mail) in the file for the property.  But if it's signed by anyone other than the party that has/had an ownership interest in the property, proper notification hasn't happened and the clock on the redemptive period doesn't start until "proper" notification happens.

The more heirs, the more complicated this gets.  The more parties involved who ALL have to be given notice, the more time and effort that will add to the cost of the process.  Some attorneys won't even start the process without an upfront fee, because it gets costly quickly and many times the investor seeking to quiet the title will abandon the effort because the cost will  make the property unprofitable.   Many times, when you start finding heirs, they don't have any ability to pay back taxes, but they want to get paid to sign away any rights to the property - adding more cost to the process.

Call around to a few title company's or real estate attorneys and see what they say.

Hello and welcome to BP @Juan Najar! Lookup "the RING"/Baton Rouge REIA on Meetup.com and join there to find the meeting schedule and start making local connections. I'm a member and I highly recommend the group.