All Forum Posts by: Ward Conville

@Eric Peters We have a lot of section 8 and really like the program. With the exception of some disabled Vets nearly all are single moms with kids. we have found that there are not risks or downsides that are exclusive to section 8 tenants. Just so a decent job screening. One potential plus is that they stay longer than most non section 8. There are some good books on section 8 landlording that I read a few years ago, I think they were called the section 8 bible I recall they had a lot of solid advise but they were much tougher oN tenants and inspectors than we are. We have found it to be good practice to get to know the local inspectors and know what each one in particular looks for.

Here is a list that includes some business books, some personal development, and some non fiction and history:  All are with a read:

Seven Habits

Cash Flow Quadrant

Profit First

Man's Search for Meaning

Snowball (Buffett Biography)

Millionaire Next Door

David Brooks "Road to Character"

Parker Palmer "Let your Life Speak"

The Glory and the Dream:  A Narrative History of America, 1932-1972

Invest In Debt, by Napier

All Malcom Gladwell books.  

Yes, you can likely find a bank that makes loans for sub 50k.  Look for local or small regional banks and inquire with all of them.  One way to find one is to go to look through your county land records and look through the mortgage records and see if you find a bank that is already making small loans.  

Second option, they may be willing to give you a signature loan for that amount even if they will not do a real estate loan.

Third option, find another 35k property and take it to the bank as a 70 loan.

Fourth option, find a private lender that wants to make above market returns on their cash.  

We had a similar situation a few years ago, walls were tobacco colored, My maintenance guys used 3 coats of think primer before painting an thoroughly cleaned out the duct work and that seemed to get rid of the smoke smell. We thought for a while we were going to have to tear out all of the sheetrock.

Does anyone know if the government shutdown will delay monthly Section 8 payments?

@Maurice D. I agree with Maurice. I have bought several properties with long term section 8 tenants in place where they had never requested a rental rate increase and were far below market rent. In my experience this can be an opportunity if the property will cash flow from day one. As soon as possible request an increase from the housing authority and your cash flow improves. in these situations i have never had a rate increase rejected, it is only a matter of hom much they will approve.

To do the strategy I mentioned above you need private money in first position and owner finance in second.  

Another option without bringing in equity partners would be to see if the seller would owner finance a portion of the sale price in second position, say 30% and then get a first mortgage for 80%, so that you are effectively borrowing 10% more than the costs. Use this excess proceeds to fund your rehab expense. I did this a few years ago and left closing with 100k plus for rehab. My first lender was a private lender so they did not care that I was not putting anything down. This may not work with a bank that may require some skin in the game.

@Lauren J Gilliam Agree with Lauren completely. I am an investor and attorney who deals with foreclosures all the time. Attorney who handles the sale is required to notice the IRS of the pending foreclosure sale at least 25 days prior to the sale. This does not bar the IRS’s redemption rights but I have never seen the IRS actually redeem a property.

Good afternoon,

Our buy and hold business has reach over 130 units and we have purchased a small warehouse.  I was seeing that my maintenance head was spending 5  plus hours a week at Home Depot, Lowe's and other vendors, mostly picking up the same items.  Our plan in to stock the warehouse with items that we use routinely, from appliances, plumbing fixtures, paint, toilets, toilet flappers, etc.  Does anyone have any experience with buying these items in bulk?  Would like anyone's thoughts on bulk buying of appliances, flooring, plumbing fixtures, etc.  Thank you,