All Forum Posts by: Scott Ficek

You may want to check with your broker for further information. Also, check with your MLS or assocation to see what the rules are for taking a property temporarily off the market.

Unfortunately, I have seen that if the bank knows it was recently for sale, they will not lend any money. Now that your seller has tipped his hand, he may have spoiled that bank.

We had a listing that we took off the market because it did not sell after 3 months. The sellers decided to refiance about 2 months after it was off the market and were declined because the bank said that the house was not worth what they wanted as the market would not pay that amount.

I am not familiar with the term pocket listings. Can you elaborate?

This post is not meant as self-promotional so go with it....

Hopefully you have checked out all that the BiggerPockets website has to offer beyond just the forums. One area is the "Meet the Investor" section: http://biggerpockets.com/meet-the-investor.html.

I offered to be interviewed for that section at the end of July and have been simply amazed at the "legs" that article has. My website visitors have increased dramatically. I have backlinks on sites that I would have never gotten on. And best of all (putting my Realtor hat on), I have had people approach me asking for my help.

Thank you to Josh for the opportunity. Your passion, input, and helpfulness is what makes BiggerPockets great!

Sorry to hear about your situation. I would talk to the attorney that did your divorce first to see if s/he has any thoughts on the situation (ie: is your husband on the hook for anything).

I agree about renting it out provided the numbers work out and you are prepared to become a landlord.

Then I would consult a real estate attorney. I am sure you hate to spend the money, but it is probably worth the attorneys fees so you know what you are getting into up front.

You may also want to find a good realtor in the area to see if the house could be sold (and for what price and how fast).

One last thought, are you settled where you are living? A foreclosure on your record is going to make it tougher to secure either another house or even an apartment.

Hope that helps.

Before you buy, make sure you get copies of the leases (if there are any). They will get you started in figuring it out. If there are no leases in place, typically (in Minnesota), you need to give 60 days notice to change lease terms-check with your municipality. Also, if there are no leases in place, then I would highly advise getting everyone under a lease.

I have bought properties with low rents and no leases. I prefer to secure the property with leases as soon as legally possible with only a small rent increase. Then get to know the tenants and hit them harder the following year. You want to be careful not to scare off all the tenants and have 4 units vacant immediately after purchase (or maybe you do :wink: ).

Also, keep in mind that if the tenants have lived with that landlord for any length of time, they may consider him/her family (in such a small building). If the old owner/landlord has other properties, the tenants may already be making plans to move.

I can speak from experience on this question. When I first was trying to get started in flipping and investing, I would meet Realtors much like you are. I would go through the same discussion each time with them:
[list]Here is what I am looking for (flips, rentals in this neighborhood, etc)
When you call, I can drop everything and meet you at the property
I have money in the bank and I am pre-qualified with a compentent mortgage banker
I will make a decision within 5 minutes of seeing the property
[/list:u]
I should have been the ideal buyer, but typically the agent never called me again or would send me deals that were completely opposite of what I was looking for.

I finally met a Realtor that only worked with investment buyers. He had never listed a house and had no desire to. He spent time with me to learn what I wanted and then when out and found it. I think that was the only way I could have started. I used him as a resource to learn the investment business. He benefited as I bought about $4 million worth of property from him!

Now as a Realtor myself, I use the same process. I relate it to being a detective or big-game hunter. Tell me what you are looking for and I will find it. A listing agent is only going to see what he has listed. As a buyer's agent, I see everything on the market and can use my tools and expertise to find exactly what my customer wants.

Long message, but I hope it makes the point.

Mac77
Just my experience, but I really don't spend a lot of time looking at their credit info. I am just concerned if they have a lot of stuff in collections. I am more concerned about evictions and any criminal activity. That is why I use a service that gives me credit, criminal, and rental history.

Depending upon your clientele, those may not be a concern for you.

All great questions.

Ask around to see what other landlords are charging. In Minneapolis it is very common to pay $35 as a prospective tenant to apply. That might be outrageous in your area, but cheap in New York City.

Generally, if you are charging market rate and the tenant wants the place, they will pay the app fee without hesitation.

As for which services are best. Start with the ones that just charge the fee and try different ones with different tenants and see what you like. Also, check with your local REI club and see if they have an affiliations or preferred vendors.

What City/State are you in? Maybe someone on this forum could recommend a company.

I never got into using classes. It was more work for minimal value (in my opinion). Disclaimer: I am not an accountant (nor do I play one on television). This is just how I was taught and learned to do it. :roll:

Here is how I enter the initial purchase.
1005 19th Ave Asset:land Debit $26,600
1005 19th Ave Asset:bldg Debit $239,400
Closing Costs:1005 19th Debit $7638

1005 19th Liabilities:1st Mort Credit $212,800
1005 19th Liabilities:2nd Mort Credit $26,600
Owners Equity [earnest $] Credit $34,238

I think it makes sense as you mentioned to expense most repair items and capitalize the improvement. You should have another asset account marked as improvements for the property as those will depreciate differently (potentially) than the building & land. If you are capitalizing appliances, those also should be broken out as a seperate asset as those also have a much faster depreciation schedule than the building.

One word of caution...Quickbooks can be a bear to back out entries, so with these fundemental starting entries, you should consult a qualified accountant.

japutt-
One thought came to mind....Not sure what exact business you are in, but if you are working with buyers and/or sellers, you may want to consider going to a template real estate agent hosting site.

Although they are more expensive, they have many canned features (articles, contact forms, blogs, etc) out of the box.