Skip to content
×
Pro Members Get
Full Access!
Get off the sidelines and take action in real estate investing with BiggerPockets Pro. Our comprehensive suite of tools and resources minimize mistakes, support informed decisions, and propel you to success.
Advanced networking features
Market and Deal Finder tools
Property analysis calculators
Landlord Command Center
ANNUAL Save 16%
$32.50 /mo
$390 billed annualy
MONTHLY
$39 /mo
billed monthly
7 day free trial. Cancel anytime
×
Try Pro Features for Free
Start your 7 day free trial. Pick markets, find deals, analyze and manage properties.
All Forum Categories
All Forum Categories
Followed Discussions
Followed Categories
Followed People
Followed Locations
Market News & Data
General Info
Real Estate Strategies
Landlording & Rental Properties
Real Estate Professionals
Financial, Tax, & Legal
Real Estate Classifieds
Reviews & Feedback

All Forum Posts by: Mark S.

Mark S. has started 157 posts and replied 1278 times.

Post: Grandma’s house - seeking advice

Mark S.
Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Kentucky
  • Posts 1,311
  • Votes 528

I agree with @Jared McClellan  I don’t know you or all the intricacies of the situation, but it seems like you feel like this is an easy target to get your hands on a few dollars and you’re looking for a way to spin it so that you look like a hero while you get yourself some easy seed money.  

I think it’d be a little different if you were asking how to best use the funds for grandma and you just want to gain experience for your future real estate career.  But looking for a 25% cut, which it seems like you know is all you really care about, seems slimy.  

I could be way off, but that’s how these posts present themselves: more about what’s in it for you and much less about what grandma might need financially.  

Post: Portfolio Loans on Residential Rentals?

Mark S.
Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Kentucky
  • Posts 1,311
  • Votes 528

Check out Conventus.  We’ve had issues but all have been resolved, even one major issue post closing that they were pivotal in helping me resolve with the servicer.  They were high initially, but willing to negotiate.  

Post: Anyone strictly turnkey?

Mark S.
Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Kentucky
  • Posts 1,311
  • Votes 528
Quote from @Travis Hagan:

 Yes.  Turnkey and passive syndications. 

Post: Experience doing TK w/Freedom Real Estate Group?

Mark S.
Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Kentucky
  • Posts 1,311
  • Votes 528

@Orlando Osuna 

Freedom Real Estate Group - YouTube

If you have any doubts, just watch these two clowns and you'll RUN away.  What a joke.

Post: Memphis turnkey providers

Mark S.
Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Kentucky
  • Posts 1,311
  • Votes 528

@Robert Yapp, I’ve worked with MSHB.  PM if you’d like details.  Short answer is I would generally recommend MSHB.  

Post: Huge losses with Freedom real estate group (Dayton)

Mark S.
Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Kentucky
  • Posts 1,311
  • Votes 528

@Sachin Amin, I visited them several years ago.  Although the gentleman we met with at that time for property tours was extremely nice (he is no longer there, by choice according to what I was told, due at least in part to how the company was operating their business), we were not impressed with this group’s operations.  We met at their office, took a tour with him, then went back to their office to chat.  The office personnel were extremely nice, but I was not at all impressed with one of the owners who appeared to be aware we were there taking a tour and potentially becoming new clients, but he couldn’t take 30 seconds to pop his head in the conference room and say hello.  The properties we toured were very old and in different stages of rehab, but I wasn’t particularly impressed by the rehab work, the contractors smoking indoors, or some of the uneven floors that they just decided to throw carpet over, hoping no one would notice.  I gave them my criteria and never heard a word or received an email from them since.  I did hear them a while later on Keith’s GRE podcast and reached out to their new contact about property that was supposedly available right away (probably thinking/hoping they changed their ways and might actually somehow have some “good” properties available) only for the new contact to tell me they don’t have any available.  Maybe I’m a PITA, who knows, but again not impressed with them.  I do remember that they pay hefty referral fees for referring other investors (supposedly), and I would guess that’s a big part of why he is recommending them.  As much as I love Keith (met him in person twice on investor trips), I think he has made a change to trying to monetize everything and collect referral fees wherever possible.  The podcast used to have great, original content.  Now, it seems to have gone downhill and the relatively new YouTube channel is just another way to say the same things and monetize.  Nothing wrong with making money, but when you associate with groups where investors repeatedly have bad experiences (Freedom, Maverick, Real Estate Cowboys/Larson, etc.), something just isn’t right.  I understand there are outlier experiences, and while on the surface yours appears to be one of them, it may not be as uncommon as you think.  With all that said, there are also guests on the show that seem to have good investor experiences (Mid South Home Buyers, AgroNosotros, etc.).  Moral of the story to all of us is that we always need to do our own due diligence and be cognizant of who is on the other side of the transaction and their possible motives - usually $.

Post: Best Books on Managing Your Personal Finances

Mark S.
Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Kentucky
  • Posts 1,311
  • Votes 528

@Nick Brimmerq, I don’t think these two necessarily do weekly budgeting, but Set for Life by Scott Trench  is a great foundational outline.  I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi is a little more granular and practical. I think both books would definitely add value, especially when getting started.  

Post: Turn key rental properties under 100k

Mark S.
Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Kentucky
  • Posts 1,311
  • Votes 528

Crestcore in Memphis, TN does a great couple episode podcast series evaluating and describing different zipcodes in Memphis.  Definitely worth a listen (and recommend taking notes).  

Post: Conventional to DSCR Loan: Am I Crazy?

Mark S.
Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Kentucky
  • Posts 1,311
  • Votes 528

@Kerry Baird, yes, I did. 3.75% fixed for 30-years at 70% LTV. Pulled 100%+ of my cash out.

Post: Memphis Property Management Agreements - a comparison, options?

Mark S.
Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Kentucky
  • Posts 1,311
  • Votes 528

They all sound pretty bad to me.  I work with two PMs in Memphis and both contracts are better than these from what I remember.

One is a turnkey outfit and the other has gone through change of ownership, so I believe some of their terms have changed but I’m “grandfathered” in to the “old” contract.