All Forum Posts by: Amy Kendall

@Samantha Soto I was looking at purchasing a property in Indianapolis just last summer and ended up not closing the deal because I got cold feet and wasn't sure about the area and the investment. I think a service like this would absolutely be in demand for out of state investors. If it had been an option for me to get a third party verification of the area and price from someone who knew the local market, I may have purchased there rather than my market where I feel most comfortable. You should also consider creating a third party pro forma for investors that they could compare to the turnkey company's pro forma. With access to the MLS, you could include tax information as well. I had a client that bought an out of state investment and the tax estimate on the pro forma was half of the actual amount, which ended up eating up a lot of her cash flow. I can't speak to the legality of this, but I don't really see where there is a conflict of interest since you are not representing the party as an agent. I would think that investors probably wouldn't want to pay as much as they do for a home inspection, but $150-200 would sound reasonable to me.

@Jathan Bingham Exactly what @Account Closed said!  You definitely want to have a solid plan before you begin.  I would recommend talking with other local investors that are doing whichever path in real estate you decide and see what has made them successful.  It is also a good idea to start analyzing deals now so that you will know a good deal when you come across one.

The 28th would work for me.  If you do switch it to the evening, could we do the early evening?  Like 4ish?

@Brian Pulaski The latest one was a current listing that I have on the market that needs some fixing up.  I got the bids to show potential buyers the bid and a realistic cost of improvements to the home.  I don't do wholesaling but this is sort of the same situation, and I had no problem getting free bids.  However, I do see that contractors could get sick of this if they saw no increased business and I had them bid a job a week.  I do have my own rentals and manage a few for other investors, so I do provide a lot of business to contractors throughout the year.  But I still have no problems getting free estimates from contractors I have never used in the past.  I would say to get free estimates in the beginning and pay attention to the amounts and scope of work.  After a few times, you will get familiar with the amount of work and money that needs to go into the job and will become confident in making your own estimates.  Then, you will only need to get estimates on situations that you haven't come across before.  

@Michelle Jarreau  Welcome to the forums!  I too started in investing by renting out my first home without really knowing what I was doing.  That home was on a 15 year mortgage and only cash flowed about $100/month.  It wasn't the greatest rental, but it allowed me to later tap into the equity and purchase other investments that have cash flowed very well.  I still have that property and it now cash flows $500/month and it will probably be my first 1031 into a larger multi family property.  Hopefully your accidental investments will help springboard you into early retirement!  Good luck!

It might depend on the are you live in, but here in Utah I don't have a hard time getting bids on projects for free.  I often get several free bids on a project before I move forward with one.  On one of my current listing, I just had a few contractors give bids on fixing up the kitchen and nobody charged me for that either.  You could even ask them for several business cards and tell them you will distribute them to potential buyers.  That's free advertising!

It is definitely a seller's market!  A lot of the potential sellers I meet with lately are very unreasonable about their asking price vs the reality of the condition of the property.  Good luck!  Just keep making offers and eventually one will stick.

@Stephen Paunovski any lender is going to want to see all your pertinent financial documents.  Whatever lender you go with will probably give you a list of what they want, but the list is usually very similar.  This usually includes your last three years of tax returns and bank statements.  When I first started, I created a 3 ring binder that included these things plus all the leases on my rentals and whatever else I thought they would need.  I had a few of these binders and when I applied for a loan, I would just simply bring it into them.  I had it well organized with tabs, and I think it was helpful because it showed them that I was organized.  Now I usually just do everything electronically.  Just be prepared, because no matter how much you provide in the beginning, they will always ask for more at some point.

@Account Closed Welcome to the forums! I think your plan sounds amazing, and if I could go back in time I would have got started with house hacking. It has so many advantages. I'm not sure why you are getting the run around from lenders, but another very important factor that you didn't mention is your current income. That will determine how much you will be able to qualify for. Have any of these lenders done a pull on your credit yet? Perhaps those lenders don't work with investors frequently. I have a few lenders I could recommend to you that I have personally used on some of my properties if you are interested. It sounds like you are putting yourself in a good position with your down payment and could still work on your DTI by the time you are looking to purchase in September. Good luck and let me know if I can be of help!

@Dante Foreman It sounds like they think you might be able to solve a problem for them and make their property more profitable, which might end up being a bad thing for you if they then think the property is more valuable.  If the amount they are willing to pay you for your services is worth it to you, then give it a shot.  But it would definitely be a good idea to draw up a contract beforehand.  This is an unusual situation because usually a property that isn't performing well is purchased at a discount and then improved by the new owner.  It sounds like this isn't possible in your situation, but maybe by helping them out you can create a win-win situation for the both of you.  Just make sure you are compensated fairly for your time just in case the deal does not go through.