All Forum Posts by: Joe Foss

The fact that a building of that size made it to the MLS is interesting....does the listing broker specialize in commercial properties? If not, I'd be extra cautious as they're likely out of their element. Be careful when reviewing any financials...I'd want to know the ACTUAL cost of:

Taxes, Insurance, Gas, Water, Electric, Scavenger, and any cap ex that has been done. You can underwrite your own repairs, reserves, and management costs the way you would underwrite them for this particular building.

We only list buildings on the MLS or Loopnet once we've exhausted our extensive investor database that we maintain here in Chicago.

This is the property http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/20197481/2910-3002-...

It's currently owned by Amos Financial LLC (which happens to be located in Chicago). I think the reason why it made it onto loopnet is because rent prices have significantly dropped in Williston, ND. This is a direct result of lower oil prices (Williston is an Oil Boom Town), and overbuilding - several new apartment complexes have been built in the last few years.

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I'm interested in purchasing a 48-unit (2 24-unit) apartment complex. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

-Joe

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Thank you. Excellent read.

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Not my blog... just a blog post I read about Real Estate and the Housing Market. I'm wondering what bp members think about the price of home values in relation to the blog. There are some good graphs.

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awww, Minot is losing Josh! And if I get the job I want they will be losing two of the best employees in the city!

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Originally posted by @Jon Klaus:

Originally posted by @Joe Foss:

3.5% of U.S. households are millionaires - 80% are first generation. I plan to be one of them.

Makes me wonder what percentage of BP members have joined the club.

Probably a disproportionately high percentage since 97% are landowners. Source.

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3.5% of U.S. households are millionaires - 80% are first generation. I plan to be one of them.

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Originally posted by @Troy Fisher:

Here's my thought, who are you trying to build a reputation with? A homeowner? The likeliness of them selling you another house, or one of their friends selling you their house is on the low end. You don't need to worry about that reputation as much.

A Flipper? Well then that's a different story. You want them to know you can close; quickly, efficiently, and with integrity.

An Agent? They want to know how easy it is to deal with you. And that you aren't wasting their time. Close. Often. I bought three properties with one Realtor, and sold one with him, in 18 months. You can bet if I called him up and asked him to pull comps, put in an offer, or just drive a neighborhood with me, he would.

I want to begin with rental property. Once I have 2 - 3 houses in my name then I would move on to rehab / flipping; while still collecting rent money. That said, I want to always keep my options open.

Originally posted by @Ryan Steele:

So I offered more. That is my criteria, can I live with myself. Do I feel I did right by the other person.

I firmly believe in Karma. In the short term, I have seen others con people and they get away with it, but over time, I guarantee the Karma train runs them over. I have seen it for years in this industry.

So, investing style is a matter of belief and personality to some extend? This makes sense. I would be interested in reading a blog about different investing personalities if anyone has written one / knows one that they can link me to.

Originally posted by @Sharad M.:

For FSBO deals, you usually get better deals because you add value by making the seller's life easy. They just sign the contract and everything else is taken care of for them. They don't have to go through a RE agent and there's a price for that value add.

In essence, you are selling your experience and expertise to the seller before you are selling the property to a buyer. Yes?

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Originally posted by @Karen Margrave:

Before making an offer on a property, you should have done your homework, have comps, establish a value before repairs, know what work needs to be done, and all the costs involved. Then, make an offer based on that..

I have some sales experience, but no real estate experience...yet ;-) This strategy of "doing your homework" and "know what work needs to be done" before quoting a price has worked very well for me in sales. It looks like it would work in real estate as well. Thanks Karen!

I really like this approach! Mind if I use it?!??

Originally posted by @Martin Zawarski:

At times I wondered if I should have offered less on several properties I bought where they accepted the initial offer without a counter. I stay up at night wondering how much less I could have gone that would have made them still sign. But like is mentioned above @Ned Carey , I bought the properties at what made sense to me. And then again maybe someone may have bid higher.

indeed.

Originally posted by @K. Marie Poe:

Originally posted by @Ned Carey:

How you make your offer is as important as how much you offer. I often say to sellers, "This is what works for me. If you have a better offer take it."

I tell sellers all the time to take the best offer they've received. Sometimes they really have one, sometimes not. Many will call days, months later when the better offer didn't follow through. There's nothing wrong with telling people "Your asking price is fair but it doesn't work for my purposes." Sometimes they want to know more details, sometimes not. Sometimes they understand, sometimes not. But a lot of them call later to ask if the offer is still good.

This helps confirm my earlier suspicion that this is a good approach to real estate. It presents oneself with integrity and still makes a profit (if there is one to be made).

Good to know! I don't want to be seen as a yucky new wholesaler investor!

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All Forum Posts by: Joe Foss

Joe Foss has started 3 posts and replied 13 times.

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