All Forum Posts by: Trevor Schmitt

Are you pre-approved? This may be the biggest reason why a real estate agent is hesitant to working with you. As an agent, you do not get paid until you the buyer, closes on a property. Without a pre-approval letter from a financial institution then can be reluctant to spend time working with you. 

A realtor that is good at what they do should be coaching you through each phase, introducing you to lenders, giving you updates on the market, showing you different strategies, among a lot of other things. 

If you have a pre-approval in hand, and you are willing to sign an exclusive representation agreement, you will have no problem finding a realtor to work diligently for you. 

I would say skip the real estate license if the objective is to learn more about the industry. There are more efficient/effective ways to gain knowledge... having a license, and the process of obtaining a license is not essential for investing knowledge. Your time and money would be better spent elsewhere. 

If you plan to represent buyers/sellers and earn an income with your license, go for it! 

Get quotes from a minimum of three, aim for five, of the top-rated contractors in the area. After doing so it will become clear to you if this is feasible for your current situation. 

Use Google to find a vet local companies. 

You could also tag the location in this post and hope to attract local investors who could give you more specific advice or recommendation for contractors. 

Do you have the property under contract? Is the property contingent on inspection? 

If that is the case, I would recommend extending the inspection contingency period to allow for ample time to get quotes from the contractors. These are not minor issues, and I would not "guesstimate" these rehab costs. This could be the difference in making or breaking your deal in the long run. 

Talk to the builder right away. It is assuredly something that would be under warranty and they would have to correct either way, cosmetic or structural. 

Hard to say without knowing what the scope of work is. However, the $750 charge from a structural engineer is normal, but that should include an actual draft including specifics on what needs to be done. Not just a quote of how much it will be to do the work. 

For example, I had to install some reinforcements in the basement of an older two-story home after opening up the main floor and installing a header (removing wall between kitchen and dining room.) Per city code, I had to have a structural engineer come out and give specifics on what type and how many boards were needed to fully support the altered structure. The cost for that I believe was exactly $750... but it wasn't a quote, it was for a service that was performed. Then I had my contractor complete the plans that the structural engineer gave me. 

I would suggest speaking with your lender, they may need something from a structural engineer anyway, or better answer your question. 

This is not something that I would not be concerned with. It can be a slippery slope if you start to babysit your tenants. If there are no issues, I would let it be. 

Also, you could risk looking quite silly if you bring this up and they are just having family in town for a while, to maybe help them move, or anything else. 

The risk of compromising the potential trust and respect between you are your tenant is not worth it at this point. 

You will need to provide a letter from Lender A saying that they are unable to finance the purchase. 

Is the rental demand high? Or are owners having to compete at a high level to obtain tenants? 

If you are worried about potentially not being able to rent it out right away, I would offer it as a "perk". If there is no concern in finding a tenant, I would have the tenant obtain their own WiFi. It is totally normal for that to be the case. 

I have a furnished MTR that I rent out to a family, and they set up and pay for their own WiFi still. 

Hi Lincoln, 

I may be misunderstanding, but maybe what the insurance agent is referring to is recommending that your tenants obtain renters insurance... the lender will require property insurance. These are two different things. I would suggest asking your mortgage lender for a recommendation on insurance if you are having difficulties finding an agent that it doing what needs to be done. Unfortunately, you may have spoken with agents with little experience... I would suggest continuing to speak with agent until you find one that guides you through the process. 

Do you have the property under contract? Is it currently vacant?