All Forum Posts by: Steven Andrews

Have you looked in Chambersburg and surrounding area? Also outskirts of Shipp University area.

Instead of working with 1 realtor, try calling the listing agents and working with them directly. You dont need an agent if your putting in lowball offers, just contact the listing agent directly and make the offer. 

@Anthony Heyward yup, it was pretty tough dealing with them, we kept everything in e-mail and be sure to include the "CE" number in your subject line or else it won't get routed to the right people in India. We used Premium Title to close and they did ok; missed a few things but we followed up everyday to keep them on track. 

@Alan SalgadoMike Accardo with Stearns Lending

To the original question- if your a "store it under your mattress" kind of investor then yes, having several rentals is probably too risky for you. But, if your like most of the people here on BP, and you are looking to generate positive return in excess of the stock market, then rental properties is the best way. With rentals you control the asset, you can use leverage and its much easier than the stock market to find assets below their fair market value. Risk depends on the person and your view, but for me by owning rentals I am lowering my risk in case of a full market crash as rentals don't crash like stocks and I have control of the asset so IMO I can generate returns greater than the stock market with risk that is the same or lower than more stocks. 

1. erentpayment

2. snail mail to P.O. Box

That's it; I don't ever plan on picking up a rent payment unless i am already at the house doing some sort of maintenance

@Steve Wilson... awesome post! Same process for me; wife and I closed on a Hubzu duplex about a month ago. Only difference from your experience was we financed the property which made it a little more difficult, but we used a lender who knew Hubzu and was used to working with them. Lots of posts out there about how terrrrrrible Hubzu is but as far as I can tell most, if not all, of those posts are people who never closed. 

Closed on a Hubzu property last month; it was not occupied so we could do all the necessary inspections which made it easier. Also, we financed the property and chose a lender who had experience with Hubzu which made all the difference. The lender didn't need to do anything special, he just needed t o follow up with them on a daily basis to make sure the process was moving along the way it should. The employees at OCWEN were good people, easy to work with but sometimes lacked the necessary communication skills which made it a little harder. Overall, good process but ensure your lender (if you have one) knows what they are getting themselves into. Same as above, the seller paid for title insurance and closing costs except the portion we had to pay for our loan and the $299 technology fee. 

@Jeff Zenko Welcome to BP! Wife and I currently live in conshy in a duplex with 2 other buy and holds so PM me if any questions or looking for recommendations. Or, would love to meet at Feine coffee, always a good spot for a chat. I'll add my wife who is the market expert @Lauren Andrews

@Simon Cox, agreed that we cant count on them to get along and that helped us with our final decision to add a w/d hookup upstairs and leave 1st floor with only access to basement. Thanks for the reply

@Darlena Jones, thanks for the reply. I think that's pretty much what I have settled on. I found a stackable W/D that will fit perfectly in the upstairs bathroom; just need to figure out the install. Also, this will allow us to only give access to the basement to the 1st floor tenant, averting any shared space issues that may come up.