All Forum Posts by: Sheldon James

@Christy McLemore

Sorry for the late reply, no I haven’t had any problems from the city so far

What's up BP members, I am a young investor in Hattiesburg MS. I own one STR, I have flipped one house, wholesaled one house, and am under contract to purchase another STR. I really want to get into the multifamily game through syndication. I've got more time and drive than money right now and want to learn from someone experienced in multi family and syndication. I am willing to do any kind of grunt work or undesirable jobs of multi family investing. What I really want to do to get started is find an off market apartment deal to bring to an experienced syndicator/multi-family operator, partner with said investor for a very small percentage of the GP. For example instead of a 50-50 split like a 95-5 split just so I can have my name on a deal and gain the experience. What do you all think about that? Are there any better ways to get into large multi-family? BTW I might know an owner of a 40 unit building in Mississippi who wants to sell if anyone would be interested.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence wholesale investment in Hattiesburg.

Purchase price: $60,000
Sale price: $66,000

This was my first wholesale deal, second total real estate deal

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

I wanted a way to make money in real estate without needing to invest a lot of money upfront.

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

I found it driving for dollars and negotiated directly with the home owner

How did you finance this deal?

no need to finance it, wholesale deal

How did you add value to the deal?

I added value by closing on the cash deal for the home owner and also bringing a good investment to a seasoned rental investor

What was the outcome?

We closed on the deal and everything went well. The home owner got her money and sold the house without having to deal with the extensive repairs. The end buyer got a great deal that worked as both a rental or a flip if he wanted. I made a profit of almost $5,000.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I learned a lot of patience in dealing with the home owners requests and needs.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Hattiesburg.

Purchase price: $62,000
Cash invested: $7,000

Short term rental (Airbnb)

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

Found on the MLS as soon as it was listed. Made a full price cash offer before anyone else and set to expire at the end of that same day.

How did you finance this deal?

Private money loan

How did you add value to the deal?

Did a heavy renovation, furnished the property, and self manage as a short term rental for more cashflow

What was the outcome?

This property has been a great cash flowing rental in an area that is appreciating quickly. Looking to hold on to it for many years

Lessons learned? Challenges?

This deal got me started on my real estate investing journey. This deal alone will not make me financially independent but I will reach financial independence because of this deal.

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

I worked with an expert Realtor to advise me on the purchase.

I have a house that I've been fixing up and plan to list on Airbnb. But I don't know what I need in order to do that. Do I need an LLC? Right now the house is in my name. Do I need to get more insurance above the regular rental property insurance? Is there anything else I'm missing?

I am under contract on a house that would be a good flip or a great rental property. The only problem is my financing has fallen through after my co-signer was unable to qualify. Instead of asking "can I do this?" I am asking "how can I do this?" I am trying to figure out how to network with local investors in my area who would want to partner on this deal. I know the forums are not the place to advertise the deal but I can't figure out how to post on the marketplace or if it is even used for something like this. Any advice would help, thanks. 

@Chris Levarek thanks for the feedback. Now that both of you have said that, I will check with a local lender in town that I know. If I were to pitch this deal to a family member or local investor with cash, what kind of terms do y'all think would be appropriate? Say I borrow the purchase price + cost of repairs on a 15 year loan (or maybe 30), maybe 9-10% interest and maybe a balloon payment on year 5?

@Greg Scott Hey Greg, thanks for the reply. I would be thrilled if I could qualify on my own but unfortunately I don't think that's possible for me right now. I am a 21 year old college student with no credit, I work part time so I don't have a "real job". I haven't checked with a mortgage broker to qualify because I just figured there would be no way without having any credit. But you are right I think the deal is good enough to be self collateralizing. If I could find an investor with enough cash to fund the whole thing it would make it way more beneficial for the both of us being able to cut out the bank.

What's up BP, I need some advice from some of you experienced investors. I am working on my second deal, I have a single family home under contract and I have 6 weeks to find financing. My plan is to find a co-signer on a conventional loan from a bank for a 15% down, 3.8% interest, over 15 years, my monthly mortgage payment would be less than $400. Even after maintenance, capEx, taxes, insurance, and vacancy reserves, this property will cash flow due to the rent in the area being around $850. My question is what should I offer to a passive investor that has good credit for it to be worth it to them to co-sign with me? Should I offer equity? a percentage of the profits? interest? If someone pitched a deal like this to you, what would you want and think is fair in return to make it worth your risk? I'd love to get feedback from the community on this. Also, how would I go about finding someone on BP that would be interested in this sort of thing for me to pitch to? 

Whats up BP nation, my name is Sheldon James, I'm a junior in college, I live in Hattiesburg Mississippi, and Im ready to start investing in real estate. I have been learning about real estate investing for about 2 years now. I have listened to hundreds of BiggerPockets RealEstate podcasts, read tons of articles on BP, and watched lots of youtube videos about real estate from BP and others. I have been especially fascinated with wholesaling. I have been wanting to get into it for some time now but my analysis paralysis has held me back as I'm sure some of you have experienced. However lately I have come across several success stories of people killing it doing real estate wholesaling who are even younger than me and it has inspired me to dive in right now even though I'm young, and don't have everything figured out. I want to wholesale in my hometown of Hattiesburg MS. I know a lot about wholesaling from my research but I just need some direction. How should I start? Should I go to Home Depot and grab a bunch of bandit signs? Buy a direct mailing list and start sending out letters? Buy a cold calling list and start calling? or should I do all of the above? I have other more detailed questions about contracts too that are hard to find answers for online. Any help/advice y'all can give would be much appreciated and help me out a lot.