All Forum Posts by: Wayne Smith

@Rhondalette W.

Yes the property in Dallas (actually its in Quinlan, about an hour east of Dallas) is on MLS, but it is currently under contract.

I spent countless hours pouring over MLS, looking at rents, houses for sale, and foreclosures. I educated myself as much as possible about the immediate area around me and became somewhat of an expert. I knew what areas i wanted to invest in, how much rents were, and neighborhoods, etc. I found my properties through MLS, foreclosures, owner finance, and through word of mouth. I had a lot of people tell me about houses for sale, friends selling, etc asking if i was interested in buying. I went in with the attitude that if the house was a good deal and i got it great, otherwise, there are 50,000 more in the Houston area. I was not going to "HAVE" to buy a house. In my opinion that is when you overpay or ignore signs of serious problems. I bought several foreclosures @ 50% of their value, but then again, this was 10 + years ago. The market has definitely changed, and I haven't bought anything in 6 years. I had too many properties and could not get financed through banks.

I decided last year to pay every thing I own off, including my rentals.   I sold a newer model truck and my motorcycle and bought an older truck i paid cash for.  I listen to Dave Ramsey and follow his snowball principal to pay off debts (start from smallest pay it off then got to next one, etc)  I was in a fairly good position to begin with because I began buying properties to set myself up in retirement, and not take any income from my rentals for personal expenses.  I still work a full time job.  I had an owner finance that I purchased for 175,000 and it had income of 2500/month.  I set that up on a 15 year note and started paying 300 extra every month to pay it off in 9 years.   I am set to pay that off next month and plan to build a 6 plex on it by then end of next year, if not sooner.   I will be paying cash for that as well, and I have 4 mobile homes on the property that I will sell and rent just the spaces out (so I won't be liable for any repairs to the mobiles).    While I have done well with the mobile homes,  the mobile homes are more upkeep and maintenance than I want to put into them.  This should increase income on this property to 5-6000 depending on the mix for the 6 plex.   I currently have 11 rentals, and have mortgages on 7 of them.  When the sale on the Dallas properties closes I will pay off 2 properties then refi the remaining 5 to lower interest and payments.   Then i will throw all the money i can at paying this off, hopefully in 2 years.  

Also, perosnally i currently only owe on my personal residence and my wife and I make good income so we will be working on paying that mortgage off separately in the next 2 years

@Rob Randle

I had the same goal when I started investing 13 years ago.   I attained that goal and then realized it didn't matter as much to me about what the total value was, I became more interested in my monthly income.  I sold a few houses,  in lower end neighborhoods that were farther away than I wanted to manage them.   currently my rentals are within 15  minutes of where I live with 2 exceptions.   One is 4 hours away in Dallas and I am currently selling it, and the other has a tenant in there that's been there for 14 years, and takes care of everything (I haven't been to the house in 2 years but do drive by occasionally).   Currently I am working to pay everything off and then I will think about getting into multifamily, maybe before I retire early, maybe after.   I only bought properties that were below appraisal and had positive cash flow.

I ran into an issues trying to get financed and the banker wanted me to wait until after this years tax return, but I will update when I get more info.

@Travis Beehler

I have only discussed this with the banker 3 times, but from what I understand I can take all the loans and put them under one loan (blanket loan).  I am not sure how this would show up on your credit report, I have been told it will show up as one loan, and also that it could show up as 10 loans (if you have 10 properties under it)   I only have 5 houses that I owe money on, so I would just put those 5 into a blanket loan, not really sure how many they would do or if there is a limit on the amount.   My main reason is to get the lower interest rate.  I am currently trying to pay everything off, and figure I could pay them off before the balloon note.

I am 48 and bought my first house when I was 37.  I turned that into a rental and started buying more.  I had 14 at my highest point, and now own 11.   As far as 15 or 30 year notes, it is a personal choice.  I am looking to pay all my properties off, so I don't take profit from them to fund my personal spending.  I use the money to pay down the debt.   I will be paying off 3 houses next month and looking to pay everything I own off in 3 years.  two years ago I sold a newer model truck and a motorcycle I owned so I could pay off  my debt quicker and "retire" from my day job and work on flipping houses.  Good luck with your investing and its all about what works for you and what your goals are.  

Well this is the first time I have done anything like this, but from what I am told I can combine all my loans into one loan called a blanket loan.   It is structured on a 30 year amortization with a balloon in 10 years.  I only have 4 properties that have loans on them so I will be putting these into the blanket.   Some blanket loans list it as one loan, others list it as 4 loans (in my case where I have 4 properties under the blanket loan).   Again, this is all new to me, so if anyone else has any info on blanket loans, please share! 

I have 2 Section 8 tenants, and my frustrating part with them is the inspection.  First is takes 1-2 months to get the initial inspection and approved, then the inspector (there is only one in my area) is VERY moody.  Sometimes he is in a good mood and just tells me to correct one or two small items and passes me, other times he is a tyrant and is EXTREMELY pick about every little thing.  For instance I have a tenant that has been with me for 5 years on Section 8 and takes good care of the property.  Last year the inspector came in and wanted me to put a blind up in the window in the hall.   It hasn't had one since  she moved in.  She even told him she didn't want one but he still wrote it in his report.   Good  thing is you always get that check on the first of the month, and you can use the threat of eviction to get some things done with the tenants  (they don't want to be evicted and get tossed out of the program)

I am working with a banker now that is offering me a blanket loan for my properties @ around 4%.   I have talked to some credit unions that don't care how many properties you have, they can only hold 5 at a time, but these are local credit unions and they will only go 15 years.  Good luck

Wayne

Curious Jared, you say in the Cleveland area, but under your name it says Houston.  I am on the south side of Houston (Deer Park area) and was just curious if you are doing long distance flips?