All Forum Posts by: Steve French

@Patrick Miller apologies, that was a bit rushed.  I suppose it was a bit of a 'first deal' post, a bit of a request if other investors wanted to get together, maybe I can fill a hole, maybe you have something to fill one of mine.  Finally, if anyone was investing out of state for things ITP, I could do a drive-by or check a neighborhood out while I'm there.  To be clear, I'm not charging anything for this, just making connections :)

Hello folks:

Off the sidelines (researched/read/convinced myself for two years) and off to the races!

From ATL, lived in Seattle for 10 years, now investing in, and considering relocating back to, ATL.

Bought 5 full rehabs through multiple deals in multiple locations inside 285.  Some of my money, some financing, father is the GC (which makes the full-gut across the continent not as scary a risk as it sounds).

Spent two months wondering why no one would take our money for a house, once we figured out what worked, we suddenly realized we needed to think a little bigger (was doing it all my cash, now I'm good with some leverage).

I've got a nice w2 that I'd love to dump for half the salary, if I could generate it, but I'm thinking that might be many years from now.

Anyways, I'm heading to Atlanta Wednesday morning through Sunday morning.  If anyone wants to meet up and compare notes or could use a quick scan of something while I'm out there, just let me know.

@Pete M. I've read and heard mixed things about the utility of the experience gained via dealing with 4 or less units in regards to experience with commercial multifamily deals, so I'm moving forward with what I know can work at this moment, but that's always subject to change :)

There are not nearly as many MFR units back home near downtown. There are large swaths of once forgotten neighborhoods in various stages of gentrification, and there's density backfill with condos and luxury apartments, the SFHs are going to be increasingly rare and prized. I figure we've got a year or two in the targeted areas and then we'll have to find another vein to tap.

Having a father as a GC makes rehabilitating these kinds of properties especially appealing to us, either as a flip or a B(some number of R's, I forget).

Are you actively investing?  We're hot on our first deal, lots of offers, and finally finding what it takes to win where we are looking.

Nice to meet ya!

Steve

Hiya BP peeps.  

I've got some HELOC money, though we're planning on moving across the country within the next two years, at which point the HELOC should be paid back (housing crash in Seattle nonwithstanding).

Are those funds considered valid from a downpayment perspective for a commercial apartment deal?

I'm wondering if it is worth it to spend time on that now or wait until we have a few more SFH transactions (and cash) under our belt. If it's not a valid source of funds for a commercial deal then I know what else I should be focusing on.

@Wayne Brooks that's how I feel about it.  I'm paying cash, I don't feel like I'm losing too much by showing an overwhelming ability to financially close the deal.  At the end of the day, I want the seller to say 'yes' but it's up to us to decide where the value exceeds our own 'yes' threshold.

Howdy!  I've made a few posts in the ATL subforums, but now I'm wondering if there is anyone near where I live (Issaquah, work in SLU in Seattle) that also invests in Georgia?  Especially SFHs (which we are putting offers in for now) and apartment complexes (where I'd really want to be but being new I'd need sponsorship).

Willing to do darn near anything to get the experience I need.

Day job is writing web service apis, so if there's a needed tech angle someone might find that valuable (though most folks in SEA doing this are software folk, too).

So . . . anyone else to GA real estate from here and want to compare notes?

We're hitting up a span between Mechanicsville and English Avenue at the moment and could talk a good bit about those areas.

Also, spent most of my life there and went to uni at GaTech (right next to these areas) and visit several times a year.

@Bill F. yeah, initially we naively put the just purchase price (minus earnest money) in an account specifically for that purpose, thinking 'cash offer' means 'hard, unencumbered, cash.'

Our (buyer's) agent asked for no such thing, this is the seller request for proof of funds for a cash purchase.

I'll see if HELOC balance is possible, seems like there should be no issue around that, and then pull the money when we are actually going to buy a property.

Yeah, we didn't want to show our hand at all but it sounded like the last seller didn't like seeing just the sales amount, but my wife/partner didn't want to show a big chunk of our warchest either.

Thanks much!

This journey is never boring.  Once you've figured out an immediate problem, you get a little further on and discover another one you didn't anticipate.

This is one of those times :)

So we've got some cash, and some HELOC money, though more HELOC than straight cash at the moment.

I have read around the forums that a 'buffer' value beyond the asking price is what sellers really want to see in SOME account.  

For the ATL market, especially things near downtown in developing areas, as a cash sale, should I have asking price plus some percentage beyond that to demonstrate proof of funds?

For proof of funds, is it basically a checking account balance? I'm asking because it would, of course, be cheaper to keep that HELOC money IN the HELOC until we are sure we're going to make a (likely all cash) purchase. Likely we'll be doing some flipping or BRRR so keeping in the HELOC until the day it's needed keeps the holding costs of the money down.

Here's an example:

If I wanted to buy a dollhouse that costs $0.50, and I have $0.40 in a cash account, several dollars in a 401k, and a few dollars in a HELOC, could I show the HELOC or 401 as proof of funds? Should I show $0.50 available? Or would $0.75 look better? $1.00?

So now that we're past the learning stage and have jumped into the action, it became very clear that getting earnest money checks out there quickly, when completely originated from the other side of the country, is either slow or expensive (fedex overnight for each offer).

There are options we've considered, but I'm wondering what the good folks of the Bigger Pockets community that do OOS deals prefer?

We can send a stack of blank checks to our RE agent, whom we do trust (and have relationships with him and his family outside this venture), but still, feels kinda wrong to send a stack of blank checks.  

We've got some family back in GA, but for various reasons spanning trust and convenience, none of those seem viable.

Wiring money?

Paypal?

Apple Pay?

I dunno, this is something we could have anticipated, I suppose, but we didn't and it doesn't seem a one off check or checks, multiple times a week, via fedex, is a pretty high capital expense.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

@Jason Sylka welcome!  I too lurked for a long time before I started posting.

Nice follow through on the project!

I'm a SWE as well.  Every time I start a RE-themed project I find out someone else has done it, monetized it, and I facepalm AGAIN.

So now I've decided spare time projects just automate what my partner does, and there's enough business development opportunities, once we really got the ball rolling, that the software takes a back seat.

I wanted to be the 'man behind the curtain' but I've found the nontechnical aspects far more interesting and fulfilling than I would have thought possible.

I've seen a good many podcasts on here, but not all of them.  I look forward to using your search the next time I'm in need of a podcast!