All Forum Posts by: Vonetta Booker

 THIS.^^ 

I just saw this thread so I know I'm chiming in a little late, lol--but it is definitely overpriced here in CT (I searched this topic to see if other investors were having the same issues, actually). We've been finding that with the listing price, needed repairs & ARV factored in, the numbers are routinely leaving us around a $20k profit, if that. I refuse to get caught up in a bidding war, though--the numbers are the numbers; we offer the MAO & that's it. Understandably, we get outbid all the time but hey, next! But with the competitive market, we are concentrating more & more on off-market.

@Matthew Olszak See, that's MY thing, Matthew. I had a couple of dings to my credit in the past year & I've been working hard to get things back into fighting shape. So I'm not having any more dips than I need to--and that includes getting prequalified AGAIN even though I'm already...I can't be just passing out hard credit pulls to any & everyone, lol.  That is very shady indeed, to require a preapproval and THEN state said preapproval's not applicable. Out here playing with folks' credit & whatnot.  Thanks for your feedback. :-)

Thanks @Jeremy P., that's an interesting perspective that I didn't consider. :-)

On the MLS in my area of CT, I've seen several REO listings that state that in order to make an offer, the buyer must get prequalified through Caliber Home Loans. We already have a prequal letter from another lender, but the seller/bank insists on the Caliber prequal.

Has anyone ever heard of this type of thing with REO offers (or with Caliber in particular)? I just find it a bit strange that they'd insist on that--if one has a valid prequal letter or POF, what should it matter, right? I'm just trying to have as little hard pulls on my credit as possible.

Hi, everyone--if anyone can refer a good, reliable contractor for the Union County, NJ area, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! 

Thanks, Patrisha--I'll look him up & reach out. ☺

My fiance & I are looking an investor-friendly agent to assist us w/for some investment properties (interested in flips and buy/holds) in his native Union County, NJ (i.e. Elizabeth, Hillside, Union, Springfield, etc.) 

I'm licensed myself, but in CT. Seeking someone who can provide accurate listings/showings for that area & make offers on our behalf. Thx!

@Mj Mckinley, not sure what your job situation/income is like, but would it let you prequalify for a FHA/203 loan? If so, perhaps you could use that to purchase a house, live in it (or "house hack," as Brandon Turner would say) for about a year or so, fix it up during that time using the 203 rehab loan--then rent it out while doing the same thing w/ the next house. Also you can pull any equity out to use as skin in the game for the next project.

All the other suggestions are good, as well. In the meantime you can do what you can to work under a more seasoned investor, etc. There are many different paths to REI success. :-)

Hi guys, hope all's well. My fiance & are looking at a possible SF purchase for a buy/hold. It's a 3/2, 1046 sf, $73k, at 33 DOM. Based on the area, we figured rent could go for 1650-1700 after fixing up, and the ARV's around $150k. The rental rehab budget would be around 20k.

The cosmetic issues aren't horrible, but the layout's weird: Only 2 brs upstairs (one very small), the "3rd" is in the basement, along w/ the 2nd bath. The other bathroom is on the 1st floor, right off the kitchen. In your experience, would quality renters mind having to go all the way downstairs/off the kitchen or the basement to use the bathroom? Based on the above info & your landlord experience, do you think this might be a decent rental? Thx!