All Forum Posts by: Rusty Thompson

@James A. 

If you haven't read the Beginners Guide or Listened to the Pod Cast, then I would strongly recommend you do it. 

As for as 0 down investing without credit check. The people who are experts in all aspects of the field agree that it can be done, but it is like looking for a needle in the hay stack. That being said. You don't need 100K dollars. The two main kind of REI that can be pursued with little to no money Are Whole Saling and Owner financed properties. But if you will either have to invest money in marketing, or "drive for dollars".

I kind of think of REI as the " Triangle". Where you have Time, Skill & Cost. Success being divided between the three sides. If you have very little of one, you are going to need a lot of either or both of the other two to be successful.

@Matt Overbee is correct about the one sided contracts. They also make you escrow a pretty large EMD. Mine was ~2500 on a 80K property. The only difference between my experience and Matts is that it was reduced every auction.

@Matt Pieper 

Just bought a property of hubzu. 

From what I understand. The houses go through the auction process over & over again. The lower the reserve price every time it goes to auction. The problem there is no rhyme or reason on how much they are reducing it. But it is lower every time it goes through. I think it is all automated based on some metric they use. I think the offer email is also automated. I don't think anyone really knows if you are interested or not until a offer is accepted.

I think bidding on it is going to depend on how soon you want to acquire it. If you want it sooner than later I would not bid on it. It slows the process down. I personally was looking to push mine out so I bid every time.

One thing I recommend is to wait until ~16minutes before end of auction to bid. If you bid with less than 15 minutes on the clock it tacks on another 15 minutes.

I'n pretty sure that my agent got paid 3%. If you don't have a agent the seller keeps that portion. I made that mistake on the first auction property I bought and left money on the table.

You stated that Job security was a concern of yours. Are you looking to get into REI to quit your day job, supplement you income or to create a healthy retirement. What assets do you have that will help you get there? What skills can you leverage? Do you have a wife/girl friend? Will she be on board? What sacrifices are you willing to make to get there? Do you have a history of follow through? If not what will you do to keep focused? These are are just a few of the big questions that you will have to answer for yourself to create a workable plan for yourself.

Once you have broken down your life and determined if you are in a position to be successful in REI. Then you can take those answers to determine what system of investing you want to pursue. What you choose will depend on what your local market looks like. For instance I see you are close to Seattle. From what I understand, buying and holding in your local market doesn't make a lot of sense up there. So if you want to buy and hold then it will have to be long distance. Maybe your not comfortable with that so you decide you would rather flip. Do you have the time and experience to do that? If not then maybe wholesaling is something you can do. Do you like talking with people & have negotiation skills. Maybe none of those appeal to you. So you could pursue Tax liens or note buying.

Once you have decided on a system, learn everything you can about it. So you will be prepared.

Then set some goals,. Like " I plan on buying enough cash flowing properties in my area in 5 years to replace my W-2 income so I can quit my job. To do that I will have to buy (x) houses every year. To purchase them I will buy them using ( conventional financing, private investors, hard money...) To do that I will have to...."

Your bushiness model will be a very personal self examination. Only you can decide on what is best for you, in you life at anytime. 

That was a lot longer than I expected and I feel I only touched the tip of the iceberg. I would recommend you read Bigger Pockets Ultimate Beginners Guide & Listen to all of the Podcasts, There is so much knowledge combined resources.

I don't know the specific laws in your area, but how is the lease structured? Are they both on it. If they are I would make them figure it out. I have been in the same situation lately & told the tenants its not my business. Though if they make it my problem I will evict them both. It usually gets the point across that it is a loose/loose if they insist on fighting over it. If one decides to stay & the other decides to move then have the them give you a notice to vacate and then sign the lease with the new tenant.

Welcome to the board, always nice to see more Pacific Northwest members. Its always best to define you goals first, then choose a strategy to help you meet them.

I'm curious about the young professionals that are renting it during the week. Why are the only looking for a 5 day a week place to live?

A deck using composite lumber. Not quite a patio, but def. not going to hold the chill like stone products.

Ive run the numbers. Doesn't really work for 4 beds. In my area in those situations the landlord to pay the utilities.  When all is said and done your your making  the same for more headache.

the company I work for has built them before.  What would you like to know?