All Forum Posts by: Dave W.

does anyone know of a good landlord in the Rapid City, SD area? a friend of mine is looking for a 3-bdrm house to rent.

I have a friend in Rapid City, SD, who is looking for a decent 3 bdr house to rent. She's a single mom in her early 40's, & would be an excellent tennant. When I asked her what she's looking for, here was her reply: "I need at least 3 bdrms for me and the kids, and I can't give up my kitties!"
Any GOOD landlords in Rapid City that I can refer her to?

Yes, I'd be happy to update you.
First, as far as using credit cards to purchase the homes, a cash advance would be taken out & used for the down pymt, then the house would immediately be re-fi'd & the amount of the down pymt would be included in the new mortgage, so you'd cash out to pay the credit card off immediately. (that's the way understood it when he explained it). I've played phone tag w/ him a couple times--he's a bit hard to get ahold of, & I haven't been trying too hard to get together with him at this point. For one, I've been busy w/ "life", & 2, his first instructions were to get some credit built up, & then we'd take the next step. I've only applied for one credit card so far, & am not ready for that next step yet. I don't want to chase him to work with him, as well, so I may call him back in a month or two, & if he returns my call & wants to work with me, great. If not, no big deal. There are others who can mentor me, who actually want to, that I can find thru rei clubs.
That brings up another "potential mentor" question for this forum, one I think will be much better received, & I'd appreciate any feedback. I just came across this website: http://www.ownlodi.com. It's run by a local realtor who's office was voted "Best in Lodi 2008", & he hosts an rei club that meets once a month. From the looks of it, he is interested in helping people become investors. If you put in your contact info, you'll receive his "7 Steps For Investing in Lodi" via autoresponder to your email. The first step, for example, is to write down your specific goals for the next 5-10 yrs of where you want to be w/ investing. The 2nd step is to get pre-qualified, etc. I'd like any feedback on those steps by any of you who would be willing to get the steps sent to you. (He won't call you to follow up.). Any feedback/impressions?
So....that's where I'm at right now. I just need to make the time to attend one of the rei club meetings & meet the people firsthand.

How can a new/inexperienced investor be of value to experienced/successful investors? In order for it to be give-give, what can we, as newbies, give?

I do think it's a good offer--it's definitely better than what we have now. I'm kindof thinking out loud here--even if we take the offer, we still owe a lot more on the house than it's worth, & my guess it won't get back to a value equal to what we owe on it for another 7-10 yrs. If they don't reduce the mortgage amount, & all these foreclosed houses around us are selling for $150-200K less than ours is, we won't be able to sell our house for what we owe. From strictly a financial standpoint, why shouldn't we walk away from it, rent for a couple years until the banks will allow us to purchase another home, & then buy something else for the current market value? Then, it 7-10 yrs, we'll have a home that we bought for, say $200K, that's worth $250-300K, instead of still paying a mortgage of $400K for a home that's worth $300-350K? With all of the people in foreclosure, I highly doubt landlords wouldn't rent to us. I don't buy your line that "lots of landlords aren't interested in renting to people who foreclosed", especially in todays climate, where the landlords understand the situation, & imo, are benefitting from it!
To answer your question, we bought the house to get into Lodi. We didn't buy it to live in it long-term. And I heard on the news the other day (I'd need to check w/ our tax preparer) is that they have suspended the tax law stating you have to pay the "ghost income" tax of the diff between what you owe & what the house is worth if you foreclose.

I can't seem to find anything on Mr. Mortgage about any Wachovia re-fi offers. If anyone can find it, will you please send me the link? Thanks!

Thanks, Mike! I've heard the line "Is that the best you can do" before, & have actually used it successfully, but I also like the "We're getting closer" line. I'll try it out!
Thanks for that info, Kurt. I'll look for that info on the Mr. Mortgage website.
I also heard on GMA this am that the feds are NOT considering write-offs, or advantages from a re-fi as taxable, or "ghost income" at this time, which is good news.

Thanks for that, Dave. The more I'm on this site, the more I learn!

Thanks for that advice, AI. I will definitely do that.

How quickly/slowly will the mortgage rates fall following the Fed's reducing the federal funds rate to 0-.25%? Any idea of how far they'll go down? Our bank has offered us a re-fi, & I'm wondering if I should jump on it now, or wait a month or two.
Dave.