All Forum Posts by: Sawyer Nyquist

Hello John,

I used RL Riders for a renovation around 50K about 6 months ago. Cameron Smith is the owner and was great to work with. 

He is at least worth a call and get a quote from him.

Sawyer 

Need some help here.

Just showed a property to prospective tenant who just moved here from Western Europe. She seems very interested and will probably apply. 

Problem is, I don't think anything will come up on her background check or her credit score. She has lived in the states twice, but only for short periods of time. I asked her to apply through Cozy.co. 

Do you guys have any ideas for how I could screen her well? 

I don't want to reject her just because she doesn't have an American credit score. 

She has easily verified employment at a large university near by. Upon meeting her, she is a very kind and conscientious person - the exact kind of person I want to rent to. 

Help?

@Bart H. She does have a child, but not sure about the child support. I will make sure to look into that. 

If they are just separated right now, but divorce is coming down the road, how quickly can someones financial situation change in a divorce? 

Wondering if this situation is a time bomb. 

@Account Closed I am using Cozy.co which I believe does give the Experian report. 

Thanks!

Hello BP,

I am taking applicants for my first rental property. The most interested and promising applicant so far (after only a week) is a middle aged woman who's husband just left her (not sure if they are divorced or just separated). After being married for 20+ years her husband left and she is having to sell their house. 

I haven't got results from her background check or credit score yet. Assume those both come back solid, is there anything else I should be concerned about? I don't have personal experience with divorce, but I know it can often be financial complicated. 

Any thoughts? 

Hello BP,

We are just finishing renovating one side of our duplex and I am about to begin marketing the property. 

This is my first rental, so trying to be extra diligent about screening tenants and showing the unit. 

Question: The unit has radiant electric heat in the ceilings. While the heating is effective (it keeps the place warm) it is not very efficient. 

We live on the other side and our winter heating bill has been $150+ each month and we have a wood stove that we run all the time (which the other unit does not have). 

How much should I disclose to the interested tenants about the potential costs of heating the unit? I don't want to scare people off by telling them they will have $200 electric bill. Or have someone move in only to freak out a month later when they get their first bill. Especially because I think there are ways they can manage the situation and keep things reasonable. Should I share with them what our utilities are? 

Thanks for your help BP.

Hi Matt,

Welcome to BP and the real estate investing world. 

I am also in the Lansing area, just south of you in Holt. I closed my first deal about a month ago. We bought a duplex, renovating it, and then living on one half while renting out the other side. Hoping this move will help us save more money to put towards our next deal.

I am still fairly new to this, but let me take a swing at your questions.

1. It depends a lot on what exactly your first deal is going to look like. Are you hoping to use other people's money to finance your first deal (i.e. private money, hard money, etc)? I haven't taken that route yet so I can't speak to the order of progression. 

My first deal is owner occupied to is allowed me to put much less down up front. I got in the door for under 3K, which means i just used my own cash. If you are buying a pure investment property/flip (i.e. you aren't going to live in it) you will need to put down much more up front (25% usually). You need to determine if you have enough cash to make that happen on your own.

2. Having a house under contract means you put an offer in, it was accepted by the seller. Typically there is between that point and closing (when you actually own the property) there are several weeks or months for due diligence and for financing to get lined up.  You due diligence is usually related to any contingencies you put in your offer (inspection or otherwise). If you are financing then your lender will typically need some time to review the deal, your suitability as a borrower before lending the money. 

3. I worked with a great agent for my first deal that I would happily recommend to others. I plan to work with her again on my next deal. PM and I can give you her name. 

4. Once I just into this game I was surprised about how many people in my circles were involved in REI in some way or another. Until I bough my first property and started asking questions, I had no idea! Be open about what you want to do with your friends and family and see who pops up. Turns out my grandpa, uncles' girlfriend, an old family friend, good friend's parents, my in-laws next door neighbor, and another good friend of my mom are all in real estate in one way or another. I just started having conversations with them and have been learning a lot. None of them are particularly mentors, but they are helpful connections.

PM if you want to connect sometime. 

Sawyer Nyquist

Hi Chris,

I speak as someone with no experience doing this, however, I have been brainstorming ways to approach this as well. Would it be possible to approach the conversation as "I am a local real estate investor, and I drove by your property the other day. Would you ever be interested in selling?" Maybe just up front leave out your knowledge of there foreclosure situation. Perhaps its possible to present it in a way so as not to be deceptive, but also not bring up such a road block in the first sentence. 

Just an idea. Interested to hear if anyone has experience doing this. 

Ah, thats good to hear Greg. Thanks for the note. I didn't realize these were existing tenants. I will be starting fresh with my duplex and screening my own tenant. Hope that mitigates most of the issues I could face. 

Hello David,

Great to meet you. I am just up the road from you in Holt, Mi. I am a newbie who is just stepping into the field and I am closing on my first duplex in a couple weeks. 

Similarly to you, I am looking to step away from my full-time employment and move more fully into real estate work. Although my timeline is more like 15-18 months. 

Cheering for you as work towards going full-time in March! 

Let me know if I can ever be helpful. Hopefully we can connect sometime. I would enjoying hearing about your perspective on mid-Michigan and (out of curiosity) how things are different from Australia. 

Sawyer