All Forum Posts by: Scott Lundgren

@Jordan Naeem 

Welcome to BP, I think you will find there are many great connections you can create here.   Learning from those that have already been down the road you are headed is always a great decision.  I know I've avoided many pitfalls by networking with the right people. Cleveland is a great place to start, many great opportunities there. 

Brian,

We completely understand your frustrations in the permitting process with the ample amount of delays the city has encountered. Unfortunately, that is something that is outside of everyone's control with how quickly the permitting office will approve the permit. This is still within the realm of normal expected timelines that we are currently seeing across the board with all builders in our network. It is important to know that we do encourage you to be in direct communication with your builder to get specific updates along with viewing the publicly available information from the city on permit status. We have shared those resources with you. We appreciate you taking the time to reach out to our CEO today to talk more about general expectations & how to track progress. We are all living in unprecedented times in construction today that have many variables and delays in the overall process. The good news is that once the home is completed you will be in an excellent equity and cash flow position well beyond what any of us anticipated due to the demand for housing in this area. We encourage you to reach out to us directly at any point in time for any guidance or assistance in obtaining the information you need along with being in direct communication with your building team you hired to build the homes as they are the ones that will provide specific updates. We work with multiple building teams in SWFL along with different areas throughout the US, and each one is somewhat unique in terms of their process. Unfortunately, there are not many updates to provide throughout the permitting process as it's really a long waiting game for everyone. We are also happy to put you in touch with other investors that are in the process of building, or that have completed builds in this area to gain a better understanding of what to expect throughout the process & to hear about their experience. We are here to do whatever we can to set you up for success & answer questions along the way.

This is always going to be a debate, we have all been young and just starting out.  That doesn't determine the risk, credit scores and background checks are all still necessary of course, I wouldn't rent to anybody that doesn't meet the minimum requirements.  So let's assume that she has passed those.  You are going to take a risk on a tenant no matter if they are young or old, single or married.  Just about every question you asked applies to all categories, if you have a couple that both work what if one of them gets sick, fired, ect.  Same results right? So the judgement has to be based on your goals.  Once you have a clear understanding of your focus then this question answers itself.  An investor that is by the numbers will already have an age, income, credit score, range they are ok with.  If the applicant meets them then it's a yes, if not a no.  Zero emotion involved, just follow the criteria and this is solved. An investor that isn't as focused on the numbers will bend the rules and go outside of the range because they want to give someone a chance to rebuild who just got divorced, or was unemployed for a while and just got a good job.  Some of my best tenants were people like this.   But that is because I'm more like the 2nd type of investor in this example.   Having said that I've also had some tenants take advantage of that and I had to evict them.  I look at that risk and feel it's acceptable to me, it may not be to you.  My point is you should evaluate who you are, once you know your goals the debate is over.

We have several options, call or email me directly and I can help you find the right lender.   Because private lenders are not the same as conventional it's important that I understand your strategy so we can connect you with the right one.

There are many alternative loans to conventional 30yr fixed. You can look into ARM loans, Interest only, and a massive amount of private loans with all sorts of benefits depending on your investment strategy. Short term rentals have some restrictions on lending but there are still a lot of options out there that can reduce your 20% typical down to 10% if the situation is right.

I found the best way is to convert your favorite rental calculator to a google sheet.   These are easy to pull up on your phone, even can be saved to your phone so you don't have to rely on cell service for it to work.   I can't tell you how many times I was deep in a basement or in a bad coverage area where an online option would not work.   

Referrals are the best way to vet out private or hard money lenders.  We work with a lot of these types of lenders that are honest and reputable, but there is no magic question or questions that can determine this, the scammers already know what you are going to ask and have coined responses ready to go. 

Several posts on this thread have pointed out that the upfront costs and fee's will also be a way you can flush out the bad eggs.  After you get a few quotes you will see a pattern on costs and fees, any that stick out you will want to be very careful.

We have been working with Renters Warehouse https://www.renterswarehouse.c...

They have a great setup for out of state owners, and our investors are consistently providing positive feedback on their service.

Remember when dealing with a PM team that they can be good for different reasons.  Some have lower fees but don't provide the additional support you may want from out of state.  We feel this team has a nice balance between cost and support.

This is a fake post from a fake account. This person has never had any communication with RTR, nor done business with RTR to any capacity. This account was created moments prior to making this post. We are taking steps with BP to investigate this.

The question of 1 year vs 2 years is the wrong question.   There are advantages to both it's a decision you should make long before you are discussing with a tenant.   The issue here is fear, and it's a real issue that nobody has brought up yet so I'll be the one to bring it up.   If you have taken the time to figure out what kind of tenant you want, meaning credit score, income level, renal history, lease terms, ect.  Then you need to hold yourself to those standards and don't make compromises.  When someone asks you to change your lease terms, or rental amount you have to ask yourself why would you change your parameters?  You are a smart person, a savvy investor, and have no knowledge of this individuals true motives.  You did a ton of research before deciding to get into RE, and before you decided to self manage, why go against all of that for a tenant request?

And the only answer is fear, it might be a fear that you won't find a better tenant and you don't want to loose the one asking for changes.  I promise there are better tenants that will fit your criteria.   Maybe its a fear that your property will stay vacant longer to find the right tenant, I promise that compromising will cost you more than waiting for the right tenant.  Or it could be another fear, we could go on and on here.  But the advise I'm trying to give is to be true to yourself, believe in your research and decisions you made and stay in those parameters and you will do great.

You never know why they are asking, from what I read it looks like they are just trying to get a deal.  If you like their profile, and want them to be your renter then you can give them a similar discount w/ a one or two year lease, the length of the lease doesn't change anything.   When I get a request like this from a tenant my decision is about me and my family, not the tenant.  I look at the amount and ask myself if I give this tenant a 100/mo discount, thats 24 months or 2400 I'm literally giving away.  What would that same 2400 mean to my family, is that a vacation I'm giving up? or what would I have to sacrifice to give the discount?  Only you can determine the value to you and your family.