All Forum Posts by: Robert Mack

Do you manage your own rentals?

I had an open permit for a pool that was from 2001. At first I went to the building department and they couldn't even find the file but gave me a bunch of paperwork to fill out and said to come back in a week with the filled out paperwork and they will by then hopefully find the file and get the process started...
I had a pool contractor that was doing some work for me and decided to have him help me close this permit. He was going to charge me $1,400 to get the pool up to safety code.. - long story short he flaked on me and I started researching on the building departments website and found detailed information eventually on the permit.

There were four inspections that were needed for this pool and all but one had been passed in 2001. I called the building department and explained to them my situation and got transferred to the actual inspector. He told me that all I needed was to get that one inspection done and he will come by in 2 days to do it. I didn't have to fill out any of the paperwork that the employee at the building department gave me and I didn't have to pay for any permit which the employee said I would have to. I also had to be up to 2001 safety code not 2010, not what I was told by the contractor and at the building department employee when I went the first time.

Point is, try digging into the building departments website and try talking to a few different people as some of the employees might have different information/data for you. Every counties website is going to be different, maybe try finding an investor or realtor who's pretty familiar with yours and ask them for help.

I was looking into my counties properties going up for auction and saw a huge spike in properties being auctioned off in April compared to any other months. There are 510 properties scheduled to be auctioned off when usually there are under 100 properties being auctioned off.
I'm trying to understand the reasoning behind this. Is it just coincidence of the timing of peoples defaults and when their properties are going to auction or is this the banks shadow inventory that they are strategically putting up for auction in April...?

Heres a link to the numbers, you'll see the small graph "number of scheduled auctions"

http://www.bergenjerseyforeclosures.com/

Originally posted by Steve Babiak:

Originally posted by Robert Mack:

A great way to find out is to go out and try it yourself. Are your offers cash with no contingencies beside a short inspection period?

The cleaner the offer the stronger it is

cash is king.

Remember that if you say you are making an "all cash" offer, then the banks will expect that you can put up a small chunk of that cash as your EMD. So either you have it ("all cash"), or you don't.

That's correct, I should of mentioned that when I make offers on REO's I am putting down a fairly large EMD HOWEVER I am only showing them a copy of a check as Jon pointed out. I don't transfer any money until my offer is accepted.
You'll also need a POF letter. If you're trying to use transactional funding you may need to see if the lenders can put up the EMD too or you just may need some of your own cash in the game.

If you don't have the cash for an EMD right now, maybe try bird dogging for some investors and then when you have enough cash to play with go out and do it - you'll have more experience also.

If there is a competition for REO's in your area, like there is in mine, the cleaner your offer is (cash, no contingencies, quick close) the better chance there is of your offer getting accepted. I also put down a decent size EMD.

Steph Davis wholesales REO's try seeking her out on here maybe.

A great way to find out is to go out and try it yourself. Are your offers cash with no contingencies beside a short inspection period?

The cleaner the offer the stronger it is

cash is king.

Originally posted by Misia Snyder:

But when ready, can have income of 50,000. (Talked to other busienesses in the area, that would be an avg rent for units that size)

the building costs 30 + lets say 50K in repairs, so would pay for itself in 2 years
Thank you!!!

I think you're forgetting to account for expenses. The $50k in income per year is not going to be close to $50k after all expenses are accounted for. Vacancy in your case is going to be a big issue also - how long financially can you go without having a tenant?

If you are new to real estate and investing I would personally not start with a commercial property - especially one that has the potential to sit empty for a while

If you are persistent and work hard you'll have plenty more "good' deals" come across you.

I think having an understanding of investing is a good start - by reading biggerpockets and trying to learn as much as you can on your own, so that when you ask questions they are a little deeper and more thought out than, "how do I become rich" or "what is flipping" etc...

Also I think having a business plan and a goal in mind will help people see you actually put time into this and didn't just wake up one day and say I'm going to be an investor help me!

That is what I tried and try to do at least...

Welcome to BP. Read the rehabing forum here, start all the way from the beginning, it's better than buying any course from a guru. Also there are some people on here who have blogs about flipping such as Jscott and Matt kearny.

If you don't have the funds to do this on your own maybe you can partner with someone who does. If you have the time and knowledge you can partner with someone who's got the funds but no time/knowledge...

Read up on here and ask questions and you'll get some of that knowledge.

rehabbers will look to make a certain percentage profit usually so the higher property value the more profit they make.
15% profit on 300k = $45k 15% on 100k = $15k.

The same would probably apply to wholesaling, the higher priced properties can be charged a higher wholesale fee. Try looking at numbers as a percentage. If you looked at the numbers above as $$ you would assume the $45k deal is a better deal, but the ROI is the same.
Also remember to offer the property in the price range your buyers will want to buy. Your wholesale profit also largely depends on the price you can negotiate with the seller.

Below is a link where you can find the new building permits issued for your town. It's the Census Bureau website

http://censtats.census.gov/bldg/bldgprmt.shtml