All Forum Posts by: Christopher B.

Welcome to BP and REI. As Dustin and Troy mentioned the local REIA is a good place to start networking and get to know local investors. The chapter president, Victor Jernigan is around here on BP so reach-out to him. There are other smaller investor groups in Knoxville outside of the reia as well, free ones. As your network and experience grows you'll find your way into those. Good luck and don't hesitate to reach-out to people in this business, that what it's all about relationships.

Two very different neighborhood's. Sequoyah Hills is considered one of, if not the most prestigious neighborhood in the city. West Hills is a nice, 50's built suburb of mostly ranches. The price points and rehabs will be completely different. 

Daria is on the money. This business is all about knowing the numbers and frank's book is a great, no fluff read.

 I wish our local reia was like this. It's good in that they don't have a lot of sale pitch, typical none in general meetings but ccasionally they bring in people with programs. They do a good job of screening and vetting those people out though. My only complaint, and the president is a member here so I don't want him to think I'm dogging the reia, is that the annual fee, which is around $700 now I believe, is too expensive so I don't attend it anymore. 

Should understand the basics of calculating the numbers on a potential deal before casting your line into the water first. It's good to take action, kudos for having the courage to get out there but you need to make sure you personally bring some value to the table before sitting down. If you truly have leads contact another investor locally, someone you feel is honest and trustworthy, tell them you've found some leads and will take a bird dog fee if they buy and show you how to analyze the deal. Maybe you only make $500 on a house but the knowledge gained from the investor in how to analyze a property will prove valuable next time a deal comes along. You've also just added a name to the top of your buyers list. 

umbrella liability policy. $1M in liability. Get it to cover personal and business. Should help you sleep better at night 

welcome to BP Paul. The east TN community on BP has steadily grown of late I've noticed. As Dustin mentioned the local REIA has become quite popular as well and I've meet solid people there. Congrats on your first success, the first step is always the hardest.

I've never seen a home inspector that would take on any from of liability because they checked polarizations of plugs and flushed a couple of toilets. In TN you need $100 and a high school diploma to be a home inspector though so it's probably different in other areas. In our society I find the probability of a home inspector saying "hey, if you find anything I missed within 90 days call me and we'll cover the costs" to be very unlikely. I'd say the insurance is in case a wall falls down on someone's head. It's just basic business, "we're not responsible for anything and if anything happens you shouldn't have listened to us." Everyone passes the liability baton off to someone else.

Just my experience

I agree with J, most of the time I try to keep something I either regret it or end-up replacing it. Bite the bullet and budget to replace it upfront, most of the time that's your solution.

You need to decide what kind of rehabber you want to be. Are you the guy who's going to save every dollar, do the minimal rehab or the opposite? There's not necessarily a wrong way. The minimalist rehabber spends less money on rehabs, which exposes him to less risk in theory but must understand he will then likely sell less for less than the guy who takes the larger rehab and goes for the higher price. Those are some broad assumptions and generalizations there and can be argued to death both ways but I hope it helps get the point across. Determine what your style is and then those questions are more easily answered.

Yes to all. To state the obvious, the easiest way is to find a private lender,  a really good private money lender that is easy to work with and has the capital to really back you. Not the "I've got $10k I'd like to invest" types, but the real money is harder to find. Performance and network which takes time.

Until then you're going to need to use your personal credit and guarantee to get some money from the small banks. If you have a rental that's paid for in cash then you could just use it as collateral for a loan. I met a guy the other day that keeps a large savings account with a local bank and they in turn loan him money for his rehabs by using his cash in the bank and the equity in the houses as collateral for the loan.