All Forum Posts by: Alex Craig

I am always shocked when someone ask how much I make on a deal. What difference does it make? If it is a good deal for the buyer, then why should he care. If he does not like how much I make, then he can do it myself is my thought. I have made great $ on some deals and lost $ on deals. The deals that I make great $ is usually b/c I of a relationship that I have with the bank to get the property or marketing efforts to acquire a property from a homeowner. Each of which cost $. I don't think it is any of their business. I didn't ask the Nissan dealership how much money they made on the Maxima I just bought. It seems like it almost taboo to make too much these days. O well, I just keep truckin' along.

Go to the market and find out for yourself. I think REALTORS are a great source of information, that is if you find a good one. There are more bad REALTORS then good ones. Personally classes, coaches, seminars for the most part are a HUGE waste of money. The best way to learn is to do all the due diligence about the market and property you want to invest, talk to other investors in a local REIA and most of all, "just do it". You will learn more when you do it and you have skin in the game.

Every state is different, but in my state (TN), the worst they can do is file a judgement against you. Which is no doubt very bad for your credit, but it cost about $500 to move forward after court cost and attorney fees. Even after that, it is very rare to every collect a penny form the person you pass judgement. More then likely that cost outweighs just letting you do what you need to do. It could be the landlord is just scaring you with threats. As a Property Manager, we do not like tenants moving out early and we would never allow a tenant to find another tenant. But at the end of the day, you have to take care of yourself----no one else is, unless you do not want to work---then Obama will help you. Had to throw that in.

Kyle--I agree. It will always cost more then you think. What a lot of individuals leave out is the holding cost and cost to close. I budget 10% to close (6% Realtor, 4% concessions). Buyers will know the house is vacant and typically use that as leverage in negotiations. For a typical flip that I do in the Memphis market, it cost me on average $300 a month utilities and $350 taxes and insurance, not counting the cost of money. Insurance is very expensive for a vacant house policy. This is a tough time to flip headed into the holidays. I like to purchase in November, close in December and be rehabbed and ready to list Jan. 2.

You would think Obama would have more of a clue being from Chicago that the problem does not lie in education, but individuals being on the government nipple and not wanting to better themselves and passing down that from generation to generation. The sad thing is there is a cure for many diseases, but there is no cure for stupid.

I did not see Memphis on the list.

Tom--I have no idea how the rest of your Memphis properties are doing, but your Merryville property pays like clockwork. We now have roughly 57 properties under mgmt---I think I have found a formula that works here in Memphis for tenant placement. If you are curious, send me a email...................

The days of the people being represented are done until term limits are happen. I am not very optimistic that will happen.

Even though no one asked, here is my education plan:

They need to give high school kids the option of learning a trade (plumbing, electrical, automotive, welding, etc.) so that they have immediate hope out of school to make a living. Knowing the atomic weight of boron or 17th century English... history is not helping these kids too much. This program would be broken out in 3 parts during the day 1) Learning a Trade 2) Business skills 3) Math, English, American History and Health. There you go, problem solved. But instead we will dump billions into some bull crap program that does nothing for kids in the inner city whose parents suck.

Looking to promote my hard money loan business. Notes are on 90 day terms. 2 catches.

1. The property must be in Memphis, TN
2. You must be pre-approved through one of our lenders

Hi--I am looking for individuals who are willing to loan our business private money to purchase rental properties in Memphis, TN on a 5 year note. We plan on being in the house around .50 - .55 on the dollar after renovation. We are ok with putting down 30% per property. Our bank will only let us do so many at a time, so we want to use the private money properties to pay down the bank loans. This is perfect for someone who has a self directed IRA. We have great looking financials; this is really a great opportunity for a individual to do some private loans where the borrower has a large cash stake in the property. Obviously the private lender will have a lien on the property. We are tentatively looking at raising $ 150,000.

Jimmy, it has worked for me. However, when I use my HELOC, I make sure it is for short term use only and that I am very confident that I am either getting my money back within a short period of time (3 months) or that I am going to be refinancing. I agree with Curt, you do not want to be into a investment property long term with your HELOC, simply b/c I would not want my personal home tied to a investment property. Counting on a investment to pay back a debt is probably not wise; there is no such thing as a sure deal. HELOC are great cheap money--but one day that note is going to be due, investment properties are not liquid and you would not be able to get immediately get your money back to repay the debt. That being said, if you are financially stable and are confident that you can repay the HELOC without the income from a investment property, then go for it.