All Forum Posts by: Alex Deacon

@Amia Jackson @Paul Defngin Amia I agree with Paul. I am an agent in the PGH market the other side of the sate from you. The fees are all in line and you may be able to negotiate some of the bank fees but for the most part the other fees are pretty much set in stone and cant be negotiated. Such as taxes, title insurance, PMI premium.

@Bruce Clark always check with your accountant to see how this will work out come tax time. also are you creating an LLC for this one deal.

To be devils advocate if I were the investor putting 20% down i would want paid back my investment with interest over time. say 5 years at 4% interest. meaning the property would have a 1st and a 2nd mortgage. As far as you getting paid to manage I think 10% a little steep especially for one higher end rental and  with your limited management knowledge. (unless of course you have a lot of knowledge I am just assuming this).

Regardless if you get a good CPA he will keep you in check. i work with lots of different partners and have formed countless LLCs and its super important to keep the books clean. You will be sorry if you dont and the IRS audits your return. Its not fun but my books are clean due to my CPA and the audit went without a hitch.

good Luck.

@Cameron C. also try a good mortgage broker. I have one that has come through big time by shopping around my scenario to a bank that was a good fit for my particular financial situation and needs, PM me for his name and number.

@Jerome Foster On all of my flips it can vary. If the home has a rich older look then stay with the wood and six panel. Most of the properties I see today and ones that we do we are painting the trim white including the doors and the walls a satin shade of gray or beige. 

@Jonathan Thinh Couldnt agree with you more.  Change equals opportunity. solving a problem equals opportunity. There will always be both.

@Evan Aaronson It will depend on the area. In general a home with a garage is worth more in rental value than without. Thats obvious. But in some of the areas that I invest in there are few garages and as long as the numbers make sense and the rents are there without a garage then I move forward with the purchase. I wouldn't let the fact that a home doesn't have a garage keep you from buying. Do your rental research of similar properties and what they rent and sell for with and without a garage and adjust your calculations accordingly.

Hope this is helpful. 

@Joe Xie I do like the way you are thinking and I ask you to consider this.

Paying cash and having a HELOC ready for your next purchase. This way you eliminate paying interest and bank fees etc.. until you need it to purchase another investment.

Thats what i teach my students and partners to do here in Pittsburgh and I am buying 3-5 properties a month using the same strategy. 

@DaJour Washington I would have found a trusty mentor. It would have saved me more money and I would have suffered much less stress. 25 years later I am a mentor to others. I am in PGH. Look me up sometime soon or send me a PM. One more thing. If it sounds too good to be true it usually is. Take your time especially when starting out. You will gradually be able to pick up the pace as your experience level and Real estate IQ increase. 

@Taylor Johnson They are very cumbersome and are riddled with paperwork and extra steps. But if thats the only way you have to finance your project then so be it. FHA used to have this program for Investors and they still may but you may want to check with your local expert if thats the case or if as @Christopher Phillips commented it may be for owner occupant properties only. There are other lenders that will do similar Conventional financing if you look around with repairs built into the loan. Another option is getting a hard money lender first, then fix up the property and then refinance with conventional banks. You want to be sure you are credit worthy so get your self a good mortgage broker to hep you through this process.

@Preston Ellis Biggs Preston one thing to learn from this is never trust the old owner. You can ask for a copy of the lease and see financials but what would that do if the tenant doesnt pay rent. One way to prevent that is to get an estoppel certificate. Make it part of the agreement of sale. It makes the owner get his tenants to sign and notarize that they are current with their rent. i believe that you can have the owner sign one also but regardless thats one way to help alleviate this problem in the future.