All Forum Posts by: Shanti S.

The liver is evil and must be punished - W.C. Fields

I thought of that while riding my bike - Einstein, on the theory of relativity

Turbo lag is that brief moment when the other car thinks it is winning - Unknown

Something of a chilly response, folks! Well, I'd be interested in a Feb timeframe, about 7 days perhaps. Emphasis on the vacation with some real estate exploration mixed in.

We are getting started though, I'd be interested in the lower-end of things most likely. If I come back excited about any possibilities, may be able to bring in some other investors.

Hi Eryk welcome to the site, I'm pretty new myself - live in Western MA but drive by Woosta every day. I'll send you a colleague request if you want to talk anything local, I'm doing a rehab in Westboro right now. Great site, enjoy...

D'oh neglected to pay attention to what sub forum I was in :-) What a nice group, nobody made fun of me!

I'd see Subject To primarily as a way to build a portfolio of leveraged properties while flying under the radar of the lenders - they won't show up as mortgages in your name to scare away future lenders, and your credit rating does not matter. It's much more involved than Wholesaling, and for Subject To I'd be planning on keeping them for cash flow. Often Subject To will require some cash on your part, to catch up a delinquent loan and make some initial repairs or improvements.

In the future, I can see Subject To turning into an awesome tool for acquiring properties previously financed at low fixed rates, when inflation has driven rates sky high again. The loans at low fixed rates that you can take over S/T will be an incredible asset for an investor as they are able to pay them back at an accelerated pace with their tenants deflated dollars of the future.

Wholesaling is very simple and requires almost no cash or credit - just get the property under contract and then assign the contract. No risk on your part. Great way to start.

LLC is very popular but it must be set up properly and maintained properly in order to provide the liability protection it's intended for. I believe many people have LLC's but if they were sued, they would not get any benefit from their LLC because they neglected something in setup or maintenance. First thing the court would do would be to throw away the LLC protection ("pierce the corporate veil")

For just one or two properties, an insurance umbrella policy should cover you - you can probably get upwards of a million dollars coverage for a reasonable price. Plus no maintenance required, plus should anything happen the insurance company will be fighting for you (actually fighting to avoid a big payout, but in this case the same thing)

flip camera for the flip video - makes too much sense :-)

I think I'm just gonna spring for one of those flips.

Cool tip - get a 1/4" threaded bolt at a hardware store, a washer, and about 6' of strong string. Tie the hardware at each end of the string. Thread the bolt into the tripod socket of the camera. Drop the washer to the ground and step on it. Now pull the camera up to shooting level, stretching the string taut - presto, you've eliminated most of your vertical shaking - it's a reverse monopod you can carry in your pocket and make for pennies.

Not as good as a tripod but a lot better than handheld shooting.

Welcome to the site, Isham. Where in the states are you originally from?

I'm curious in your opinion what it would take to get started with an entry-level investment in Costa Rica - if you wanted to fix something up or buy land and build from scratch, investing some sweat equity?

Fuel my dreams of an extended working vacation with my lady :-)

The fact that you're the only currently interested party puts you in a position of negotiating strength but also should be a red flag for you....if it's such a good deal, why?

You're on the right track - when you get the P&L statements and other financials you can base your offer on those - structuring it such that, as an investor, it makes sense for you because you can make $ based on the the past couple years' performance and the financing you can get.

Once that offer is acceptable to the owner, or negotiated, make sure you get the actual tax records filed before you go to closing. I wouldn't be at all suprised if these are much less optimistic than the owner's provided P&L - which puts you in an even stronger position - because your currently accepted offer must now be reduced accordingly - after all, it's based on owner's own records and it appears they were less than forthcoming with you - why shouldn't you just walk away, what else are they hiding?

The more time they invest in romancing you the more they may be willing to work with you on an actual bargain price.

It's good that are you working your way through your due diligence and at this point you certainly know more about this property and the local area than I do.

Chide me for being emotional, but nothing appeals to me about Ohio. I am all for diversified areas and long distance investing, but when I do it it will be in areas that I have an interest in visiting or possibly living in - then I can take tax deductible trips to them etc.

First and foremost I'll look at the numbers and what's going on in the local economy, but further down in the decision tree will always be a factor of - do I like the property / area? Would I want to be there?

Florida and Texas have some appeal to me - nicer weather and a friendlier climate for investors and landlords than my home state. People are retiring and moving to those places.

No offense to any Ohio residents I hope :-) And best of luck in your research and investing Uwe