All Forum Posts by: Andy M.

I give a strong 2nd to James on Dropbox. It is amazing. I can access all my info from my phone, iPad, or computer all the time and you can share selected folders with people if you want (I have different partners on deals that I share folders with, spreadsheets, etc).

Sharon, don't get me wrong, I've been stuck for thousands over the years by bad tenants. This time it just worked out in my favor. I currently have a lot of judgements that are not worth the paper they are printed on. Depends how much of a deadbeat your renter turns out to be. I rented to a lot of section 8 in the past and even though the income is good and steady from the government once they lose their housing or trash your place then you are stuck chasing them.

Not sure about GA but I just sucessfully collected every dime owed to me on a judgement I obtained from a tenant earlier this year. 30 days after I obtained the judgement I filed a garnishment and I received a check every time she did. If you know where they work then it's an easy process. That is why it is good to rent to a tenant with a stable employment history (she has been there 17 years).

Michael, thanks for the response. Lots of good points. I was wondering if in today's market they would work as well as years past. I have definitely noticed that the calls from motivated sellers with equity have gone down A LOT. Probably because most people don't have equity any more. I have had good success lately with targeting a specific market to get a message to, I just wanted to broaden my horizons.

I met with an account rep today about billboards. Anyone have any experience here? There is currently only one guy in my market doing this and I'm not sure if it is worth the money. To be effective it looks like I would need to spend 10k a month for at least three months. I can do a lot of other advertising for that money but I don't want to think small if others have had success with this medium.

Thoughts?

Nate- I did the same thing.. I have been reading stuff on BP for months and just decided to sign up and participate about a month ago. What type of Real estate do you do?

It's true, there are quite a few investors who use land trusts to do deals. People also use them to put a REO under contract and sell the contract to other investors because banks won't let you assign an REO. I have used trusts in the past and it works but haven't used them recently as I just use other methods to accomplish my needs. As for buying sub 2, trusts can work as described, but I just use an all inclusive trust deed and I have only had a loaned called due once. Lenders don't pull up title often.

Brian has a good point, option would work, love it more if you do it in your Roth SDIRA. If the sellers get weird about it then I wouldn't hesitate to just close with 70k cash. If your worst case scenario is that you need to wait till you have been on title 90 days before you sell then just be happy while you wait. I'll take that problem every day of the week.

I had this situation happen to me earlier this year... An investor closed on a house through an escrow officer I use frequently. After closing the investor asked the escrow officer if they knew anyone who would be interested in buying the property he just closed on. My name was passed along, he called me and I bought the property. I also paid the escrow officer a referral fee. Gladly. ;)

Cheryl, interesting topic. I'm curious to see what responses you get. As for me I flip and wholesale for most my money and then invest in Hard money loans and rentals for a return. I also thing owning physical precious metals is a good investment long term. I used to mess with the markets but I don't any more. I understand real estate and feel I don't have much risk loaning against a property that I wouldn't mind owning. There is a lot less risk and more control when your eggs are in one basket that you understand really well and you know how to guard.