All Forum Posts by: Zane McLaughlin

Let me first say: WOW, that's an enormous amount of work. If you are able to do all of that yourself, you would probably spend ALL of your time doing it.

I recently looked into direct mail, and thought if I could do it myself, it would save some money. My estimates to send to 400 people every month would cost around $80 when all said and done. But then I went to Vistaprrint.com and they can do 400 custom cards for $40. They can do this cheaper than I can because they can get discounts of buying stamps in bulk (2million at a time), and I do not have the resources to do that on that large of a scale. Not only does it save me money, but it also saves me a boat load of work as well.

If you're still hell bent on doing it yourself, I would suggest post cards. No folding or stuffing. You can even buy postcards that go right into your printer to save your hands from hand-jamming them yourself.

I hope this helps

Hey thank you so much! This really helps!

I have heard a few times on the BP podcasts and other books I've read that people find leads through paying for a list of out of state owners. Even though I know about these lists, I have no idea where to even find them.

Anyone have any ideas where I can find these?  

The way I do it is both. Do the Lease agreement AND the Option to buy.

I just closed on a house where we did this. We are more than likely just going to lease the property out, and not look for a tenant buyer, but having the option to buy gives us more options later if we decide to change our minds.

Now as far as making the offer, you can also do a "letter of intent". This is a much shorter purchase agreement (usually one page) that's basically says "I will buy your house from you for $100K, on 19 July 2016, here is $1.00 now, this is my option to buy your house" (the exchange of money makes the contract binding and keeps the seller from shopping around).

Hope this helps

Hello Jason,

If you are wanting to do business in an area that will yield a lot of profit then go for it.

Study the area, and make sure then numbers work before you make the move though. I personally don't like doing business in high crime areas because I know that if I have a property in these areas, I am going to have to go there to check on the property and do maintenance type things. But that's just me personally. I think there can be a whole lot of money to be made out of buying in places with high crime rates. For 1: there are a lot of investors like me that don't like these places and stay clear of them, so that opens the door for you. For 2: If you own property in these areas, and then start a petition, or a neighborhood campaign to get the city counsel to clean up the crime in these areas-- and it works, that will improve the value of your properties, and you be able to get more out of rent or sell your properties for more money.

Don't let anyone talk you out of it because they don't like areas like that. If the numbers work, and you don't mind the crime, I say go for it.

Okay so I closed on a single family home 3 bd 2 bath, and we are looking at renting out each room to unrelated tenants for around $250 a month (perhaps more for the master bedroom). I was thinking of just charging each tenant a little more each month for utilities and paying the bill myself.

I'm sure other people are doing what I am doing.

Please let me know if there is a better way to do this without spending money for different meter boxes. (or spending money at all)

Hey what's going on Biggerpockets?

I've actually been on BP for a while now, but haven't introduced myself. So, with that said, here it is:

I am a 26yr old ambitious Military man who fell in love with real estate investing (yes HGTV got me). I have been reading every book I can get my hands on, listening to BP Podcasts and talking with different people about REI.

After all the reading books and what not, I finally closed on my first house using Sandwich Lease Option. Currently I am stationed in Germany, and I closed the deal in North Carolina, so that was a bit difficult, but I made it work. Soon I will be getting out of the Army and moving back to Fayetteville, NC to do more deals more efficiently. I am finding creative ways to track down leads from a distance, so if anyone has some good ideas on how to do this over the internet and phone, please let me know.

I'm looking to do some business with some wholesalers, so if you do business in Fayetteville, North Carolina, let me know and we can work out details.

Ryan D. Thanks for this impute. Good stuff

To be honest though, I was hopping on here to get the answer without having to pay an arm and a leg for all the contracts and legal advice. There are lots of people out there that have already done this, and share this information with small timers like myself. I guess that's why this site was started. 

The thing I was looking for however was which contracts I would need to close on this, and some advice as to what I should look out for.

I found the information myself through other investors though. Thanks!

So I have this deal on the table with a motivated seller. He outright owns his house, but no longer lives in it, but lives 10 hours drive away from it now. He has had a management company running it to put renters in it, but the managment company  has only put one renter in the house for the entire 2 years he's been with them and those renters left after 2 months of living in it from defaulting on the lease. 

Long story short, he's tired of the house and wants to do a lease option deal with me. I talked with him about homeowner financing, and though he doesn't think it's a bad idea, it doesn't fit his future goals. 

I intend to get the house under contract, put renters in it, and finalize the closing. 

Even though I know "what" I need to do, I don't know "how" to do it. What are all the forms I need to make this legit? What should be the first step? Please help!!

Hello,

I need some advice from an experienced flipper for a newbie.

I am looking at starting a real estate partnership with my brother in law. He has a small rental/lease operation going currently, and is looking to grow his business and maybe do some fix and flips. I am a craftsman by nature, I am skilled with my hands and learn things really quickly. I have worked a bit in construction (mostly demo and painting), but have spent most of my time on hobby type builds and lending a hand to simple DIY projects that friends have had. I want to upgrade, and utilize my skills to fix up a property and turn it for a profit. I want to put myself into the projects to save on construction costs, plus I love doing the work. My goal is to eventually oversee a rehab crew.

I feel as though the partnership that me and my brother in law have is well balanced. He knows a lot more about real estate than I do (though I am learning all that I can), and has done a few deals himself, but has no interest in swinging a hammer or getting messy. I on the other hand, I love working with my hands, don't mind getting messy, and love fixing things. He has never done a flip before, and I have never done a single real estate deal in my life.

I suppose the advice that I am looking for is: am I going to be taking on more than I can chew trying to tackle the rehab myself? Is this going to be worth it in the end?

I know its going to be a lot of work to start out, but am I going to be spinning my wheels in and working myself to death in the end?