All Forum Posts by: Sonia Spangenberg

I think a good rule of thumb is to always use your agent as they have your best interests and represent you.  If you have a good agent and a good relationship with them, don't risk creating a misunderstanding by leaving them out of a step.  As has been previously mentioned, there are a set of rules and ethics for agents and brokers that should always be maintained if you want to be respected by your team, and as a professional in the investing world. 

I would have this discussion with your agent.  Let your agent express their feelings and concerns.  If you think your offer might be a lowball, and you don't trust your agent's  advice on whether it's worth the try, then evaluate your objectiveness or get a new agent.

There are so many potential problems that can arise if you talk to listing agent or sellers agent prior to speaking to your agent.  Your offer will look more legitimate and be more seriously considered if you have a buyers representative interacting for you anyway. 

With our agent we trust and respect her input on appropriate offer ranges. She has helped us many times with factors we may have not been aware of or have forgotten. She has additional info from the MLS like agent notes, and In regard to price, location, jurisdictional issues, market conditions etc.... The only time we consider making a direct offer is with a home seller who responded directly to our marketing and doesn't have a listing agent. All the best.

I am initiating a short sale offer on a property with a reverse mortgage with Financial Freedom.  Has anyone had past experience working with this lender on short sales?  If so, how do they compare to other lenders with which you have worked short sales?  Suggestions?

I think that's a great idea. My business partner is female also. I will make a suggestion of a great book. The author attended my REIA for a while and I really enjoyed talking with her as a newbie starting up because she was so encouraging. The book is "Sun Tzu for Women: The Art of War for Winning in Business" by Becky Sheetz-Runkle. On Amazon. I found it really enlightening as it points out how the problem is often inside your head to begin with and affects how you present yourself to others. Chapter 5 on "Respect from the inside" is very helpful. I work on this on a daily basis. Yes maybe initially others may start out thinking your are "just a woman" but be patient with them and show them how your handle yourself with integrity and industry. You don't have to know everything but show that you know how to ask good questions and find answers. Just be patient while others overcome their false assumptions....they are the ones with a problem. Or if they don't, they will begin to look stupid to others who see your growing contributions and value. Anyway, a great read. I go back and re-read sections when I need a boost.

Beautifully renovated home near Hollins University.  Make an appointment to check out this spacious 3000+ sq. feet of family living before someone else snatches it up!  New gourmet kitchen with all new appliances, desk or eat in area and walk out to deck.  Enjoy entertaining in a large living room with wood burning fireplace and adjacent Dining room. There is a  new master suite with spa shower, soaking tub with view's out the window to mountains, and a custom walk-in closet.  Two additional spacious bedrooms with large closets on main level, Newly finished hardwood floors on entire main level.   New light fixtures/ceiling fans as well.  Walk down to spacious basement with two additional entertaining areas, a fireplace and sun-room area with new french doors and freshly poured cement patio, a large theater room in another area and an additional bedroom with built in granite topped desk for use as an office, teen suite or in-law suite.  This bedroom also has a walk in closet.  Across the hall from basement bedroom is a newly renovated bath. There is a laundry/mud room with exterior door for busy family.  A spacious back entrance garage has a large workshop area.  Large fenced back yard is perfect for play and entertaining.  

Jon, thanks for your guidance. I also found the BP questionnaire for evaluating property managers and used that for each of the three I interviewed. They ended up being 20 and 30 minute conversations. Two of the three were great and one was really not good. One of the two good ones really rose to the top as he volunteered to go out and look at the property/location where we had just purchased a SF, to advise me on the level of rehab we should pursue. We know we bought in an area of rising values but his expertise on the timeline for a more expensive rehab based on rental rate potential was valuable. The fact that he volunteered to go do that before we engaged his services was impressive. The other good company told me that I was asking really good questions and that I sounded like an experienced investor, because he indicated they were particular about which investors they would take on to property manage. I was proud to have had the resources to help me as a new investor. Just wanted to say thanks to you and to BP's. BTW, we chose not to pursue the larger portfolio opportunity as there were too many unverifiables as far as operating costs and Cap expenditures. We decided to build our own portfolio rather than take on the risks of someone else's mismanaged portfolio. The suggestions of the group of respondents to my question was very helpful in making that clear quickly.  Thanks all.

P.S. Am I disclosing too much on this one?

There are several community banks investing in revitalization of the area as well as some government funds, and I got names from two unrelated sources of the banks involved. One has spent their own funds on a community center among other things.  We've been inside investor rehabbed properties on the market and see this occurring with multiple homes on a number of streets. We purchased a property on the edge of the revitalized area and will keep it as a rental for now and rehab it for resale later as higher prices come our way. (two blocks away now)  We saw evidence of downtown revitalization with higher end units, geared toward younger tenants.  We plan to drive to each of the 30 properties but coordination with tenants will be difficult to see the insides of all of them.  We will see how it all rolls out but I will certainly take your word of caution.  I will push for that but we have some time limitations ourselves as out of town investors.  Thanks.  

Steve, Howard, Ben and Jon, thanks guys so much for your contributions, and the skepticism I sense from everyone is one I already had hence my question.   Each of your comments are helping me to make a list of answers I need to obtain.  We did do an online meeting with the seller's agent Mon. to go over the spreadsheet details of the deal.  The back story for the seller is he was someone who had acquired over 100 properties but had run afoul of the city code enforcement.  It sounds like a combination of poor tenant screening/training and a bad attitude with code enforcement.  The whole portfolio is for sale.  There were 3 or 4 lenders on the properties.  About half have been sold.  One of the banks is offering 100% financing on the properties it is holding ( about 30) rather than foreclosing.  The seller agent is negotiating to have the bank take care of neglected cap expenditures, back taxes and rental certificates prior to the buyer taking over the properties which are offered at a price 80 to 85 % of appraised value.  The values do seem to match up with our research in the area over the past month, as we have a contract on a single property in the area and have an offer on another.  What do you guys think about the plausibility of the back story on the investor/seller?

Thanks Howard, So how are we defining operating expenses? Utilities, HOA fees, proerty mgmt fees?

Jon I am still in the process of learning about this deal.  I have a meeting scheduled Monday to learn more.  I'm not sure about the seller's story.  I did intend to ask more about why selling, then let the answers prompt more questions.  I am getting good hints about needing to flesh out details on all the answers to the questions.  Thanks.  I will have my partner and husband in on the meeting so hopefully we will have synergistic hearing answers and  with forming questions.  I am wanting to prep as much as I can since this is my first look at multiple units.  Thanks all.