All Forum Posts by: Sam C.

So 80% of the time agents are basically working for you without pay?

Your attorneys and accountants get paid no matter what you buy or don't buy. 

Any good agent with any real RE skills would not even answer your call.

I've been in your position  (city tree though). Not pleasant and costly. I carry high deductibles so insurance help was minimal. Chalked it up to cost of doing business.

I hope you get paid. Makes me want to stay away from deeded sales where I am the lien holder.  Did you have legal representation when you "sold" the property? If not who represented you at the settlement? 

@Joe C. Are you finding anything in the 30K range?Seems to me that entry #''s are 50-75 per unit. And even more for 2-3 units! 

Looks like a good acquisition. However Water and sewer will come back to bite you when the tenants have a leak and they "forget " to tell you about it. 

10% is the standard. But what does a number in theory mean in practical terms  The effects of a vacancy rate depends on how leveraged you are and how long you can carry empty unit(s). I used to treat any vacancy as intolerable. Now i don't really even use it except to evaluate an acquisition. (I still mentally treat a vacancy as giving good money away.)  Do whatever it takes to keep them occupied continously for as long as possible. The consequences of a bad tenant choice is in the process of qualifying the application. And letting a tenant in arrears go more than 2 months usually means they will never catch up and will look to move without paying the current landlord. And two months can easily turn into 4-5 months even if you get them out in 2. Pick them as right as possible and vacancy rates won't matter much (since yours will be minimal).

@Basit Siddiqi Good luck and I'll get you info on the house I spoke of. 

@Joe C I will do that

Is this a 1 bedroom house? 900 sf feet is more like a decent sized apartment. I can get 15-2K sf houses in Allentown in alleys for 750-1000 per month. You will have a lot of turnover. Find out how many tenants in the last 5 years. The appraisal is what it is and the seller will most likely be stuck with it. You can a[peal the appraisal but in my opinion the house is probably not worth more than 30-35K at best. So 36K is actually a good number. If your purchase is contingent on financing, then you can walk away. If not, then take the hit on the earnest money and walk away. If they bought for higher than that, best that they keep it and pay down the principle. IF THEY HAVE TO SELL then they will have to deal with the appraisal. You could try seller financing  if you really want  a 900sf house in a row in downtown Allentown. 5K down, 20 yr amort with  a five year balloon. Give them a 4-5% interest rate and they'll can get closer to the 47k price off the interest made and you get time to work the property and get financing at the end of the balloon. 

FYI, i have a 4 BR newly rehabbed row (near Sacred Heart Hospital) coming to market in about 2/3 weeks. Asking price will be 49,000. Move in ready and fully rehabbed. If you want more information, message me. 

1. More often than not, the best deals never make it to the MLS. You should be highly engaged in finding deals on your own and utilize a realtor to help get it to closing.

2. A realtors stock in trade is knowledge and time. None that I know will work for free. Either you pay them a fee to put in offers or close on a few a year with the same agent. The second option is best because it builds loyalty and trust.

3. No one I know successful in buy, hold or flip makes "offers every week for properties in every state, and see who bites." No realtor sees that as a serious investor and would be violating his/her fiduciary responsibility by making offers and managing sales in a state they are not licensed or knowledgeable.  If you have agents working on your behalf in states/areas you do not live at least within a 2-3 hours is problematic at best and at worse financially dangerous. A smart agent will cater to his local pool of investors and "outsiders" are not a priority because when word gets out that the great deals you are getting are being done by an agent for someone not local, the agent will want for work and income in a short period of time. 

4. Investors that I know with your type of goals, either gets a license and support their own team to build a portfolio or brings enough business and income to one or maybe two agents IN THEIR AREA that bonds them to the investor.