All Forum Posts by: Rob Gillespie

@Kelly Conrad

Local corner bars!

LOL! ( I am making a joke, but it is a super serious way to find trades)

@Andrew Taylor

I have been on since the beginning and I think it is great!

Everything on line has bugs, but overall it does what is supposed to do... connect investors with answers and each other.

@Ryan Johnston

It is YOUR job to know the numbers. If wholesalers had the experience you do, they would be the investor.

It is the same cost in using a wholesaler or using direct mail. Either way you will be paying for your leads.

When buying off of MLS, you are paying through mass exposure and bidding wars.

Bottom line is whatever method you use, you need to be on your game with your own due diligence.

Good luck!

Sorry if I sound harsh. Texting does that sometimes, lol

@Lawrence Harris

Out of all of the most successful real estate investors that I know, including myself, take some quick courses I’m being a loan officer and go work at a mortgage company for a year.

My son is 19 and in college, he has already owned eight houses and he is a business and economics major. I already told him the exact same thing to get licensed as a loan originator in Ohio and work part time for a couple of years writing loans.

This will teach you more than a finance degree ever well about the real estate investment business.

Hopefully that helps! Good luck!

@Kuriakos Mellos

If you were buying an FHA, once you refinance it probably would not be another FHA loan.

I think you're asking if you can buy an FHA and then rent the property out.

If you plan on buying FHA you must INTEND On occupying the property personally. However if circumstances change and you have a reason that you would have to move you can most certainly rent the FHA financed property out.

Keep in mind you can only have one FHA loan out at a time, and you're going to have PMI for the life of the loan so it might not be the best solution.

In the Cleveland market I provide financing for a lot of people without PMI and I can do multiple investment properties for someone, but the more you borrow and the less skin you have in the game the less cash flow you're going to enjoy.

Hope that helps!

@Mark Perea

I would look less at the score and more at the depth of the credit. Does your tenant have 12 months of payment history with canceled checks at the last place?

I would not worry a bit for somebody that is pre-paying for an entire year.

I look very little at the score and more at the big picture because a credit score can be easily manipulated to be as high as they need it to be.

I’ve dealt with plenty of people that have bad scores that were amazing, and plenty of people with good scores that were a pain in the butt.

Hope that helps! Good luck!

@Neil Polehn

Keep your emotions out of it!

It does not matter what someone else is willing to pay and it does not matter what they’re asking, it only matters what number works for you as the investor/buyer.

As a seller I love when people get emotional about a property because that means I’m going to have a great payday, but I leave my emotions at home when I’m buying.

Sorry that it’s not so profound,But that’s the best advice I can give.

Good luck!

@Raj Kaushal

That is a great question.

For over 23 years I’ve been buying properties and have developed into more of a virtual program especially with the pandemic.

I spend a lot of time between Ohio and Florida but Cleveland Ohio is my main market and I am able to purchase and sell homes that I have never set foot on the property.

I would have someone with boots on the ground to take a list of pictures that are necessary for a buying decision and if you’re still not comfortable paying a few hundred dollars for a home inspection goes a long way.

Step one would be to Google the address and look at any previous pictures from the property being listed.

Step two Would be to have someone that you trust walk the property and do a video. Include pictures of the furnace, the water tank, electrical panel, outside electric meter, kitchen, bathroom, front of the house including the neighbors houses, the rear of the house, garage or outbuildings. Anything that stands out good about the property and anything that stands out bad about the property.

With that select group of pictures along with comparable data and title report one can make an educated decision from anywhere in the world.

Hope that helps, good luck!

@Randy Bates

Hey Randy, things are definitely different now with the pandemic. With that said, we have not had any problems collecting from existing tenants. It is definitely a time that you need to communicate more than ever with your occupants and let them know that you’re on the same team.

As far as screening new tenants, that is all done virtually, you can do background checks and have them send pictures of drivers license and if you market on Facebook to rent the property it is great to look at their profile to see what type of people they are.

Don’t let anything slow you down, find ways around every obstacle including this pandemic! 2020 was a great year and I’m really looking forward to a booming 2021!

@Ruby Ruiz

I love working with wholesalers! I find them very effective to work with because I take all of my marketing dollars that I would have spent in direct mail and give it to the wholesaler. I split deals all of the time, because they have relationships with the sellers that I do not have and I have the cash to close the deal and the knowledge to structure it, so it is definitely a win-win situation.

If any wholesalers are reading this the best advice that I can give you is to Bring as much data to the table as you can so your buyer can make an informed decision quickly.