All Forum Posts by: William C.

@Aaron Hunt I disagree with your premise the buyer pays the fees because he brings the money. In 90% of all my deals the lender brings the money to the table. So are lenders now paying commissions? It comes out of the sellers proceeds, it is not another closing cost added to the buyers side of the sheet. I understand the thought process, but t misses the mark.

@Cal C. You should go with the last option you say you have, and Call his Mom. She should know what her family is up to....

Unfortunately you had a deal in hand and let it slip over a few points. Lesson learned, I doubt you’ll let it happen again. Curious how you knew the seller would sell?

This thread has so much momentum for a few days there is was hard to keep up with all the responses, and now it’s crickets. Maybe it has become a case of TL;DR. Maybe it’s that the OPs question, in the abstract is just impossible to answer given the countless variables everyone faces not only deal to deal in their own market, but how wide of a spectrum our experiences seem to be as we try to compare what is happening in one market compared to another. Or maybe just about every active member on this site with an opinion on this thread, has already given it. Whatever the case may be, this topic and method of investing resonates with a lot of people and I’m posting in hopes to keep the discussion atop the “trending”list and alive and well.

@Jim Macedon I appreciate the points you made and agree with most of what you say. Just curious how one is to achieve option A, own X number of homes free and clear, by starting with limited resources and using the BRRRR method to build a portfolio.

@Mandi Martinez according to my bad math, he is about 4 weeks past the due date?? In my experience, I’d consider that to be a little, compared to A LOT past due. Now don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying this is OK, or should be the situation you are in, but I have had at least 3 projects take 6 months rather than the 3 that was estimated. Projects typically take longer than expected, for countless reasons. The was we avoided going over on time frames was finding a contractor that was not only good at estimating costs, but also timelines. It al comes down to experience.

Others have mentioned that a more detailed description of the “plumbing issues” as well as why you need a new electrical box should help to bring some truth and clarity to the situation. It is not uncommon to open up walls and floors to find plumbing issues that need to be taken care of that could not be seen before they started. Needed a new box all of the sudden seems VERY odd to me. The electrical box should be one of the first places a contractor looks. After all he’s going to need electricity to work, so there is that. But also with most renovations, new kitchens mean more amps needed, which means bigger boxes. So until we have more detail about the exact reasons you need these items, everyone is simply guessing what the real reason might be. I hope for your sake that he is just running into issues as they peel back the onion, rather than simply being an inexperienced contractor flying by the seat of his pants and figuring things out as he goes. Iv certainly been a victim of the latter early in my flipping days. Those cheap cheap Reno prices were good to resist, but in the end they were also too good to be true...

So with all that said, delays are to be expected, I wouldn’t let that cause any panic attacks. Get some concrete details from the contractor and report back. Don’t let him be vague. Why do I need a new panel? Why are we finding out now, isn’t that something we could have planned for from start? Do I have options other than replacing the panel, like a sub panel?

@James Wise you should reach out via direct message and tell them how impressed you are by their actions. Make it seem like you want to try it as well. See if they’ll share any personal info with you like ask “wow, is it a nice rental, where do you live”. Maybe a name or phone number to “talk more”. Then out there a**. I’d also be curious to know who the landlord is. Does someone really just let tenants live rent free for 14 year? Why not just get rid of it rather than paying taxes on a property with no income?

@Ryan Daigle you are talking to the wrong lenders. Myself and my clients have worked with lenders that use current rental income as a qualifier, as well as expected income on a new purchase. If you still have not had any luck finding the right lender, I’d be happy to help.

Great discussion so far. I'm curious to know what kind or areas you are all talking about for these STR. I live about 50 minutes from Philadelphia, which in my opinion is the closest STR market I can think of. Am I wrong? Do people book short term rental outside of tourist areas? I'd like to venture into the space, albeit slowly, and try a unit or 2 to see how it goes. Like I said, the type of areas that are good, at least in my naive opinion, are where people are visiting, near attractions, or some sort of vacation destination. I've searched the areas near me, and outside of Philadelphia for other STR and while there are a few listings, when I try to schedule a stay, it appears to me their calendars are empty, leading me to believe they have a lot of vacancy. Any insight would be great.

@Ralph Dixon you need to get an estimate from YOUR contractor. Simple as that. I wouldn’t trust anything the wholesaler is telling you. He may not trying to be misleading you, but his goal is to make this look like a good deal on your end, whether it is or not in the end is not his problem, it’s yours.

 It depends on your local transfer taxes, title fees, and other market specific expenses.  But 3% is a closer estimate than the 7% you had.  There is never anything wrong with being conservative with your numbers, but especially in this market, I'm finding it pays to get as close to actual as you can as to not price yourself out of deals.  Then again, if 10k moves the needle one way or another, the deal might be too tight anyway.  Best of luck.

 oops.  I made it clear I appreciate what true wholesalers bring to the marketplace, in fact I wish I had a few good wholesalers to turn to in my market right now.

Quite frankly I hope we hear how this story ends, since there is a real person on the other end of this deal facing a foreclosure in 4 weeks, meanwhile 100s of investors are salivating to hand her the cash she needs to avoid it.  The seller deserves to get the truth one way or another and get out from under this house she has apparently agreed to sell at a discount.  I'd just hate to see everyone sit on their hands because it's listed with an agent making it impossible to take advantage of her dire situation.  I tried to write a similar post last night and BP deleted it without explanation.  It might have been because I may or may not have offered to fund the deal for OP if that's what it would take to help the seller avoid foreclosure??   Is that not allowed?   Either way @Kendall Morgan please do keep everyone posted on any updates.  Is the agent still not returning phone calls?