All Forum Posts by: Ronald Allen Barney

I'll get even more specific.  List of 1,000 names from a list source, filtered on years in residence and equity in the home.  $850 for the list.  $56 for the envelopes.  $115 for the stamps.  Three weeks to hand write the "golden letters", with content that came directly from one of the "gurus" at our market center.  So writer's cramp, 3 weeks of time, and $1,021 invested.  Zero responses.

One of us is trying to give investors an unrealistic expectation of what a similar effort will net them, and that one isn't me.

It's never over until it's over.  Pending is just that, and sometimes the other buyer agents have moved on so there's always the possibility of getting lucky.  On the primary residence side of the business it's an emotional roller coaster so I try not to get hopes up, highlight how unlikely it is the opportunity springs back up, and on the investment side where it's more sanguine and numbers-based, I say hey, you never know, I'll give it a daily check just in case.

To clarify though, that it's not a daily call to the listing agent, rather a daily check of status in the MLS. We get a code if the accepted offer didn't make it to closing.

Research your city ordinances for bandit signs.  There are no legal issues with direct mail marketing although it's also not particularly effective.

The value of a deal for investment is its potential for cash flow.  Because rental prices go up along generally along with sale prices (with spotty exceptions here and there), timing the market for "low and high" pricing isn't especially useful.  The real impact of a highly priced market is that those prices might knock deals out of the range of your cash position.  Any that are still within that range, there's no timing reason not to go for it.  Appreciation is an icing on the cake bonus, and depreciation is a temporary setback the market will fix for you sooner or later.

Put yourself into the shoes of the seller.  You have an offer of $50k over asking, and then get another offer of $5k over asking.  Which offer would you pick?

The agent is trying to make the deal happen, which it won't if you come in under the other offers.  Simple as that.

A simple reminder what your price range and cash position are should get the buyer agent back on track, with a supplemental reminder that the price range is offer price, not asking price.  If the buyer agent continually tries to up-sell you above your price range, fire her and let her team leader/broker know why.

Cash flow is the name of the game. If there is no scenario where the existing house will cash-flow I would sell altogether. Or if a refi strategy can make it cash flow use that. In your next SFR evaluate it like you would a rental investment deal, which will hopefully make it more attractive as a hold and rent next time you move.

Specialist contractors are not as swamped.  I know a foundation contractor who not only has schedule capacity but came by at our brokerage stakeholder meeting to pass out flyers and business cards, as an example.

Where I'm at the licensed GCs are so swamped they basically don't pick up the phone and if approached in person will walk the other way.  There is another tier to the market, the unlicensed "handy men", who have proliferated to fill the need gap in the market, and competition with each other has motivated them to be better than their previous reputations for showing up on time, giving reasonably accurate estimates, and getting quality work done on time.  The ones who live up to those standards get repeat business and word of mouth gigs because demand is insatiable, so one way to get a idea of how good they are is their level of organization, staffing, tools, and equipment.  If they look like a GC in all but paperwork, it may be worth giving them a try if those GCs are still hiding away from customers.

Here in Jacksonville if the STR is rented out > 50% of the year you lose homestead exemption on taxes and the property has to get an STR Certificate from the city. The least trivial part of the Certificate is a Fire Marshall inspection and most of the rest is paperwork like business tax receipt, articles of incorporation for your LLC, copy of the lease, etc. Various fees will total up to about $350.

AirDNA's STR ratings show the Gulf Panhandle areas around Destin, and St Augustine to have the greatest investment worthiness.

SFH versus MFH is probably not as important as location: convenience to activities, vacation supplies, attractions, beaches, boat docks, and of course the view from a given STR can significantly boost its marketability. Sellers know that though so don't expect the high value locations to be cheap.

A woman I know has a beach condo in St Augustine and she shoots for 49% occupancy in order to keep homestead on taxes and get out of the Certificate requirement.  When people come to rent her place she heads out in an RV, sticking close to places with WiFi as she has a remote work job.

In the expensive DC area 40k isn't going to be a down payment for a rental investment mortgage.  Best case scenario you get 20% of appraised value down, and then in addition to that you'll have to bid war with someone above appraised value, and by then you're already out of your cash range before even considering closing costs.  Nothing says you can't pull the trigger midway into your house sitting for the conventional investment deal if your cash position hits the right level or a good discount comes your way on price.  After you're done with the house sitting prices may have corrected a bit so by then it's possible you'll be ready for your second deal, cash-wise.