All Forum Posts by: Bill Goodland

Eric, congrats man because that's a great problem to have. You have a ton of options, but I think the most important is realizing that you should shift that equity to start working for you whether it be through sale, refi, HELOC or other creative strategies. I think if you ran analysis on the return you're currently getting and the return that equity could get you elsewhere, a sale would make the most sense, although I do completely understand the hesitation to sell given the location of the property and low interest rate you currently have. You could theoretically use that low interest rate to your advantage and even owner financing the place to a retail buyer given your low interest and even sell off the note if you need cash now as opposed to refinancing at a higher rate but I would personally use a HELOC. A lot of banks have introductory rates for HELOCs that they use as a loss leader for the branch and you can shop around for the lowest rate or any bonuses they have because its the cheapest money you can borrow.

Once you have that line of credit, rather than utilizing it as collateral for downpayments on leveraged properties, I would use it to leverage the strength of cash offers on distressed properties ideally to motivated sellers that allow you better access to good deals compared to those with financing contingencies. By making cash offers using your HELOC you can usually get steep discounts that would allow you to implement the BRRRR strategy by buying cash with the HELOC, building some equity with a rehab and/or buying below market then refinance out and expand your portfolio. This way, you can let the same money work for you over and over again to aquire more assets, build equity and cash flow while never having to sell this gold mine of a property you have with so much equity in it.

A word of caution with HELOCs though, I hear a lot of them may have introductory rate for the first year and then shoot up after that so it may benefit you to have one for a year, then shop around to another bank for another low introductory rate and so on. Keep us posted and good luck! 

@Marisa Rowe I plan to stop working full time when I achieve 10k a month but doubt I will ever stop working on what I want to work on. Just don’t like the idea of someone else owning my time.

@Mark Trebor do you furnish the homes for the students? And if not, have you considered it?

I always felt like if you made the upfront investment, especially with craigslist and Facebook marketplace having such cheap furniture, that students may pay a premium for off campus housing that doesn’t require them to buy furniture but don’t know if you think it’d be more trouble than it’s worth.

Lol I’m not suggesting I would ever do this or that anyone else should do the same. Im sure if we were placed in the position of that landlord, we would fantasize about doing the same. Just because it’s not in good taste doesn’t mean it’s not worth a share and a laugh

Great advice, thank you. No issues using an FHA loan when contacting sellers directly? I know you were an agent can someone thats not an agent contact sellers directly, negotiate a sale and still get FHA financing on it to your knowledge?

 Gotcha, thanks for the reply. That's great your area has that. I know certain things are public record, but I have tried doing similar searches in my area and know that some people are buying lists and then paying again to skip trace the owners addresses.

I would wait out and educate yourself for a lot longer before waiting for a "dip". Best deals aren't made by waiting for a market to correct, and depending on where you're investing, the markets you're investing in may not take the big price tumbles that the ones on the coasts that make the news are. Good deals can either be bought like the once in a lifetime opportunity 10 years ago off the MLS, or they can be found or made. Networking and marketing can be one of the ways they can be found and finding strategies to add value through rehabs or different business models such as short term rentals may be ways to turn an okay deal into a great deal.

As far as what to buy, I would take more time to research the pros and cons of SFRs vs. small multis, consider your strategy, and the inventory in the market you're considering and go from there.

@Jeff Brower congrats Jeff, looks like you did an awesome job hustling to get the property and operating it well. I'm curious though, what criteria did you use to form your list form your county website? Was it simply 2-4 unit properties? Or were they tax deliquent, in pre-forclosure, or another metric for seller motivation?

Also, did you just mail to the property addresses you were considering? Or skip trace to find the name and current addresses of the property owners you were trying to reach?

This has probably been asked 100 times on the forums. In general, the south and mid-west seem to be the best cash flow plays. Rural markets often have strong rent to value ratios, but not a ton of buyers like a city. So if your plan is to refi out, ARVs can be tough to estimate not to mention finding qualified people to manage and complete contractor work on your properties.

Some cities, on the other hand, may have strong rent to value, but there is usually a reason the properties are cheap. Usually due to high crime. Best thing is to find a solid balance, invest in what you're comfortable with and ideally find boots on the ground of these markets with people you can trust.

Check out some of the podcasts on investing out of state and specifically @David Greene 's book on Long Distance Real Estate investing. He talks about some of the markets he invests in and more importantly the systems put in place to make your investing a success. Best of luck.