All Forum Posts by: Robert Leonard

If I were in your shoes, I would buy with cash only at a price below 80% of ARV and refi to get all of my cash back to do it again. It requires good credit to do it, but you can repeat it and never run out of money like you will if you use 20% as a DP on every purchase.

Hello @Brandon Clark, all of the above is true ... and there's more!

I'll second a couple of those recommended lenders.  I haven't done any business with Iberia Bank, but man I've heard a lot of positive comments from other investors about them.  The most recent deal I did with bank financing was with Gulf Coast Bank & Trust and I was highly impressed with everything about them.  I got a 20 year term, below 5% and they have fast processes.

Whether or not you get a residential loan or a commercial loan is very different in the following ways. A residential loan usually offers 30 year fixed terms at owner occupant like rates that are the best rates you see advertised (subject to credit). Those are subject to the 10 mortgage limit rule and other consumer regulations.That's a loan in your name, not an LLC.

Commercial loans are commonly 15-20 years max, with the rare exception of a 30 year offering. They almost always have a 3-5 year balloon (or adjustment of the interest rate) that takes some of the interest rate risk out of the underwriting equation. A commercial loan will be to an LLC, but it will still require a personal guarantee. Your credit and experience matter a whole lot when you first start before you establish credit for your business. Many lenders will require a personal guarantee even if you have years of experience. When you visit a smaller bank, you want to ask to speak to a commercial lender, not a mortgage loan officer. These are not subject to a number of mortgage limit or the same consumer regulations.

When you read or hear people talk about "portfolio lenders," they are talking about banks that keep their loans and do not sell the mortgages on what is called the secondary market.  Because they hold the loans in the bank's portfolio, they are not bound by the same regulations that apply to loans that can be sold on the secondary markets.  That's why those lenders have a niche market because they have greater flexibility in being able to lend on properties and to investors that don't meet regulatory guidelines.

There are some pretty significant differences between commercial and residential loans.  Any time somebody says you have one or two options, it means they haven't been to very many banks.  Keep looking and you will keep finding more and more possibilities.  They all have their own sets of guidelines and you have to shop around until you find what best fits your needs/objectives.

Doh (as I smack myself in the forehead)!  I was kind of dozing off when I replied earlier and my response missed a big part of what you wrote.  (I've read that sleep deprivation causes similar effects to intoxication.  So if my response earlier seemed a little goofy, that explains it.)  There's a mismatch in the question in your title of this post and the line where you say: 

"I believe it is best to buy in a seller's market, and sell in a buyer's market."  <<<--- that is backwards, IMO.

The best way I can think of to simplify the concept is to add the word advantage in the middle.  (Ex. buyer's advantage market or sellers advantage market, if that helps?)

If you are suggesting that, as an investor, it's better to buy or sell when the other party has the advantage, I'm not following that logic.

Yes or no to that?  Its a definite NO for me.

That makes perfect sense in a retail world. As an investor, I dwell in a place connected to that world, the discounted space.  My acquisitions only happen at the deep end of that discounted space. 

It's always a good time to buy when you buy right.  The glitz glamor and drama of the retail world are where decisions are made on fads and a pool of sappy emotions - none of which are factors in my buying criteria.

Call your lawyer first, but you should probably go straight to the police.

Good thing it's not below "C level" those insurance rates are a killer!

jk :-) I couldn't help myself.  It irks me when people use those made up alphabet classifications of properties like that, so I might as well find ways to laugh at it and lighten up my reaction to it.

Good luck trying to evict someone who paid their rent.  You need to ask a Louisiana lawyer what's your best course of action.

(The following and what will be discussed at our meeting pertains to the state of Louisiana.)

Can you buy a house, just by paying the taxes? Is it safe to buy a property from someone who bought the property through the tax sale process? What happens to the mortgage on a property sold at a tax sale?

Get the answer to those questions and more at the next BP Acadiana meetup that's happening at the South Regional Library in just a couple of weeks.

Bring your wholesale deals, bring a notepad and bring a friend!  RSVP and get all of the details at meetup.com/bpacadiana 

Welcome to BP @Joey Meaux!  My recommendation is to be an opportunist.  Buy wherever opportunity presents itself.  You know the Lafayette market well enough to know about what's a good deal or not.   Plus you have a ground team of local contacts to work with.  If you study the market, before long you'll know the Denver market well enough to know a good deal when you see one.

Glad to see you join the conversation here @Tara Simms!

For great advice on the subject of solo 401ks you can rely on @Dmitriy Fomichenko here on BP!

NOTE: I'm editing my post just because I think I was typing at the same time as @brian eastman and I didn't mean to discredit his advice.

Welcome to BP @Ross Doran!  HMLs are much like banks, a lot of them do similar things but not exactly the same.  They always seem to offer their own unique blend of terms and options.  Usually, if you haven't found what you are looking for, you just need to talk to more of them until you find something close to what you are looking for.

What terms they offer often depends on your level of experience at doing whatever you are looking to do with their money?

I highly recommend listening to the podcasts to get smart on a lot of strategies and things that will open your eyes to what's possible.

I also recommend you lookup the Baton Rouge REIA/The RING that you can find on meetup.com to start learning along side of some investors that are good to know. It will accelerate your learning and grow your local real estate investing network.