All Forum Posts by: Samuel Garrett

@Thomas Rutkowski what lending institution do you use?

Thanks

Interesting in seeing who has any experience with glamping and development of camp sites.

What were some of biggest takeaways and lessons learned?

Thank you

Cheers.

Has anyone use their permanent life insurance policy in order to either borrow against it, or have a lender offer a loan against a forecasted cash value?

Any lender recommendations that is open to this type of lending?

Thanks.

@Justin Knighten there are a great number of companies that you can hire to be a co-host for your listings (for a nominal fee) and they can handle virtually every aspect of your business, minus access to the funds. Since you have YourPorter, it may make the transition easier as most use a multi channel similar to that one. Typically the fee can range from 20-40%. So you will have to see if that is worth freeing up your time. I am knowledgeable of one company, with a reputable standing, that charges in the 12% range and they are totally virtual. They do the heavy lifting of finding, interviewing, hiring cleaners, maintenance team etc. 

Hope this helps.

Happy investing!

@Gorden Lopes thanks for the add. i hope all is well with you. we definitely need to catch up and schedule a call to discuss some amazing opportunities.

@Chase Burkett feel free to send me a message with your questions and I will do my best to answer them, or get you connected with people that know the answers.

Happy Investing!

What tools are investors using to improve on their management of their STR? Also, what tools are you using for performance metrics?

Hi Whitney. This was with a closing agent and I spoke with several real estate attorneys. All of them stated that they wouldn't get involved with this matter due to the nature of their current and continuing relationships with the broker, but brokers in general. 

I was a bit puzzled by this type of response. But at the end of the day, I should have taken the liberty to validate the claim by the agent to secure my own equities. I will do so in the future. So i see it as a great (not so costly) lesson learned.

Full disclosure, I closed on another deal with the same agent....and i jokingly asked if there were any lots associated with this deal...as it was a foreclosure as well. 

So I can make light of it now that it is all in the past.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Decatur.

Purchase price: $45,500
Cash invested: $55,000

A foreclosure with a detached garage and a misguided offering of a vacant lot. Property sits on a corner lot on a semi main street close to downtown and the newly built Mazda Toyota plant.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Because it was a foreclosure, the location and that it had a detached garage. Going in, we knew we were going to try to make this our first AirBnB. There was an adjacent lot with a 40' semi trailer parked. The Agent "mistakenly" stated that the lot was part of the foreclosure. 1st thought was I had a 3 for 1 deal in my hands.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

I was looking at another property and reached out to the listing Agent. I was informed it was already under contract however, there was another listing that was a foreclosure and had been on the market for awhile. There was no negotiation as it was a foreclosure but there was one other bid submitted. I decided to go a little over asking and was the successful bidder.

How did you finance this deal?

Cash was used to acquire and renovate this deal.

How did you add value to the deal?

Total renovation where we replaced the windows and all major components. the biggest value was to convert the garage into a Mother-in-Law Suite.

What was the outcome?

The house appraised for $127k, $30k more than what we initially expected. Currently part of a portfolio of 4 properties being refinanced. The property was advertised as an AirBnB and before we completed the rehab, we had 3 confirmed AirBnB guests.
There is also a potential to purchase the adjacent lot and built more properties, maybe tiny homes in containers, to offer as short term rentals.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Do your DD. The agent made an "honest" mistake in stating that the vacant lot was part of the deal. After cutting the locks and removing items, we received a call a week later from the owner. After further discussion, we agreed on a $5k price to remediate the incident.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

My lender and CPA are not only my lender and CPA but also my mentors and coaches. Guiding me through process, running scenarios, offering me different perspectives to assist with growing my business efficiently and soundly.

A SFH foreclosure that an Agent offered to me after another deal didn't go through. When we visited, the agent mistakenly informed me that the adjacent lot was part of the deal. There was a 40' semi truck trailer on the lot. Immediately I was excited about getting a 3 for 1 deal. On the day of closing, we cut the locks and saw there was a great number of items in there. Later on, my team removed items that was identified as "junk" and kept the other items. A week later, I received a call from the owner stating that was still their property and wasn't part of the foreclosure. After DD, i realized they were correct. We negotiated terms of settlement and decided $5k would be sufficient to close this case.

In addition, we discussed the possibility of purchasing the lot and successfully came to an agreement on that as well. So in the end I didn't loose the lot but paid more than I originally planned. But the biggest lesson learned is to properly do your DD and don't let anyone, too include a Real Estate "PROFESSIONAL" tell (sell) you anything without doing your property research.

@Lane Kawaoka thanks for the great articles. I have been following your growth in this area as well and it is quite impressive. One of my inspirations. It is funny because I believe you can see my house in the picture of the Mazda and Toyota article, Jk...but I am close by. 

It was interesting to see Decatur in the 19th spot of the best cities. A lot of upside if you ask me!

To all, yes, prices are going up, competition is increasing, and it is very challenging to find deals. However, they are out there. I just negotiated on another deal this morning FSBO and I went $10k over what my numbers would have been, however, NO WORK is needed on the home and my exit strategy is Buy/Hold and make it an AirBnB and cater towards the market of Mazda Toyota workers that are still coming here (see Lane's second article).

I will offer, think outside the box, don't just settle for your basic rental strategy, but consider maybe short term rental (Corporate living, Travel nursing, AirBnB etc). Great ROI in those niches.

I stood up my first AirBnb and had 3 reservations totaling 37 days occupancy which equates to a dollar amount of $1800+. The price of entry was $45k (foreclosure), Rehab= $55k (included converting detached garage to make as a separate AirBnb which isn't even on the market yet) and the ARV (Appraisal) was $127k.

So MAKE the DEALs happen!!!

Happy Investing!