All Forum Posts by: Mark Freeman

@Ryan Taft

From the title I thought you lost $60k on your first flip! Instead, you put a $60k rehab into your first buy and hold. 🤷‍♂️

If you had $100k to spend to make $10k per year, it would be much more feasible. 🤪

@Jennifer Katherine De Loughy

It sounds like you have a great background for real estate investing! (Search the forums for awhile and you’ll find lots of people trying to figure out how to get your kind of experience/education). You’ve seen so much of it done and now it’s your turn to take the wheel.  Congratulations on getting the  education, now it’s time to put it to work!

@CJ B.

I had a renter blame me for her roaches - that we treated multiple times and she brought from her previous residence. When push came to shove I told her that the cleanest tenant we had ever had in the house lived there before her. (Which was true).  (There wasn’t anyway the roaches were there when she came. The house was move in ready when the previous tenant moved).

I told her she brought the roaches with her and she would take them to her next place too. (I couldn’t handle her blaming us for her roaches). They left and it took a month to get rid of the roaches! We would have to knock a couple roaches off of the walls during showings and hope that no one noticed. This is a nice house in a good B neighborhood that we rented to a C minus tenant. These people have to move pretty often because the roaches get overwhelming - they can’t change their bad habits to get rid of them!

DON’T rent to them! You’ll have a quick turnover and a big headache!

@Tariq B.

I would keep the deposit, if your state allows it, and move on. At least he made it 10 months. Stay on good terms - so he doesn’t trash the place on the way out.

The alternative: take him to small claims court in the new state and hope to win a judgment. Then realize 80% of small claims court judgements are never collected and how much effort this would take. Not worth it!

@Austen Sweeten

I would sell. You can make good money tax free! Then start saving for a rental if you like. (I would sell anyway for tax reasons, but I think your stretching too thin going the other way).

My counter offer was accepted today on a house I’m flipping. My win is that it’s $30k higher than an offer I almost accepted last week!

@Casey W.

Nice story. I don’t agree with Aaron, at all, on your situation. I’m sure you could have rented out that mobile home for some good cash flow if you couldn’t sell it.  The other investments were well calculated as well. 

 It seems like you are good at finding the next opportunity.  (Obviously your options are more limited without using financing).  I think flips are part of your future. Even if you want to buy and hold - you need to generate a lot of cash to make that work.

I say keep looking for the right opportunity.  I think your gifted at it - not lucky.  Just keep looking with your eyes wide open.  Continue to think a little bit different than the next guy and opportunities will show up.

@Steve DellaPelle

20-20 Hindsight here but ........ it was a HUGE mistake to leave that hazardous waste (metal barrel with oil) in the back yard!

@Bill Hinshaw

@Nick C. Nick gave great advice above. Take a conventional offer over FHA when possible, the appraisals seem to come in easier.

 Because of these kinds of situations, my agent started meeting the appraiser at the property with comps. to justify the price. (It is so much better to get it to come in at or above the sale price, than to try and fix it later). She tries to do it every time now and it really makes a difference. (She is great at building relationships and comes off as just trying to help, and most  appraisers appreciate it).