All Forum Posts by: Allen Lucas

My first and only property to date is a $0 down. Problem with that tho was that i found out later(way after appraisal and inspection) that the house would be condemned if I didn't fix the structural integrity of the house. You came out a lot better than me because I was pretty much left in the dirt. I was a young man with money and good credit so that's great prey for shady mentors. The loan I got for the house was the same as the asking price which was non negotiable. It somehow appraised for $50,000 more than what I purchased it for so I, being as green and driven as I was at the time, thought it was a great deal.  It came with a tenant in place already. They were paying me $1500 a month and my mortgage was $980. So I felt like I was in a good position to start...until my tenant stopped paying. Then 3 tenants later, almost losing my house to foreclosure. Meanwhile the so called mentor watched as it all happened while enjoying the nice $40,000 check he got out the deal, not bothering to lift a finger to help. And a lot of times was unavailable to even talk to. Luckily I was able to get my mortgage adjusted and I have a good job that has enabled me to renovate the house up to par to sell. But I've come a long way and spent a lot of out of pocket money. When I get the money out of this house I will invest a portion of it in my next property so that I could be in more control. 

 My first property and only property to date is a $0 down. Problem with it tho is that the asking price was non negotiable, it was "as is" later to find(after appraisal and inspections) that the house would be condemned if I didn't fix the structural integrity of the house. The loan I got was the same as the asking price and this is what I did as a first time green homebuyer with a shady mentor. It came with a tenant in place already paying $1500 and my mortgage was $980. So I felt like I was in a good position to start until my tenant stopped paying. Then 3 tenants later, almost losing my house to foreclosure. You seem to have come out a lot better than I because I was left in the dirt with this one. Luckily I was able to get my mortgage adjusted and have a good job that has helped me renovate the house up to par to be able to sell. But I definitely plan on being in more control of my next investment property. So I will be investing the portion of the money I get out of this house.

I would personally need a little more positive cash flow in my pocket a month. But congratulations on your 2nd property. 

Thank u guys for the insightful responses. 

Then I don't know what to do because I certainly don't have $10k to fix the roof myself. Can it not be a contingency expense on the cost of the house?

Sounds like a guy I met in DC a couple years back who sold me the house I have now. His initials are N.C.  If it's him, stay far away!!

I own one house in a regrowing market in MD. I have owned this property for 4 years and started living here almost 2 years ago. I bought the house with about $50,000 in equity but since then I have had tenant issues and almost lost my house to foreclosure but ended up working things out with the bank and remodifying my loan. Since then I have done a ton of work in here and although the market is going up, my contractor is telling me that I need to fix the roof(which is in fair condition) before I sell the house. But I'm ready to put it up now "as is." I bought the house for $125k. Back then it appraised for $170k. I have gotten a few rough estimates and the house is now valued approximately at $220k but the modification bumped my loan up to $136k.i have already spent about $25k in home improvements. Should I fix the roof? Would not fixing it be a huge blow to the profit?

I've been reading a lot of posts about REIA and really don't know where to look to find out if one is in my area or not.If I could attend I would love to go and learn all I can.