All Forum Posts by: Andy Collins

Sam, what does your lease say,, normally it would be a loss of the deposit (or try to hold them to the full year), but it really depends on what your lease says

I would go to a real estate meeting in your area, and make sure everyone you talk to knows what happened, if someone weren't in as good of financial situation as you, they would be in trouble right now.

As stated above, the bridges are burned, and he is the one that burned them.

Let others beware of him

there are certain cost for any loan, an appraisal cost $X if its a $30k house or a $200k house, same with paperwork charges, filing fees etc.

When a loan amount gets too low, the cost become a higher percentage of the loan, and the loans are a problem for the bank (predatory lending).

Yes, go find a small bank that is local, they will help you with it, especially if you move some cash over to them

Anthony, yes, read Dave Ramseys books, if you can't afford to buy them go to the free learning institution with free books for use in your town (called a library).

You have been on these boards for years (I think you went by Tony on another RE board), always the same.

The first thing you have to realize is the one common denominator in all your problems is you (this is true for all of us), if you keep having financial problems, YOU have a financial problem,,,its not caused by bad job interviews, people that aren't serious about buying something on craigslist etc.

If you can't do anything else go spend 30 hours or so a week picking up scrap metal and recycling it,,you can do that anytime and it won't interfere with your schedule at your regular job.

Make a plan financially and LIVE BY IT,,you don't need internet service, go sit outside starbucks and use that internet service,,between the three of you does anyone have a cell phone,,then use that as your primary phone,, I have hit bad times in my life, most of us have,,,but we decide that's not how we want to live,,,

You have a financial problem, that is NOT what I call a "serious serious' problem,,,if you have a child or loved one about to find out if they have cancer, THAT is what I call a "serious serious' problem,,,,you have a situation you have allowed yourself to be in,,,make a plan and go work it out,,

The way to make more money is to be better at everything you do,,then you will get noticed and will get promoted or another job offer

John, I was making a general comment on her article, NOT pointed toward you or anyone else in particular.

I have never come out and said the 'cool' factor before, but I think a lot of the guru's use it for that very reason....

I work in geographically small area, know the values, rental rates, etc,,,then I expanded that area a little bit,,I know most areas of two zip codes,,,that doesn't sound like much but its where I buy,,,,

Learn an area and become the expert on values in the area,,the difference of a house on one side of the street going to a certain school can make a difference in both resale and rental value,,,

Start with a really good realtor that is an expert in that area,,and look at every house on the market and any house for lease

@AliBoone I liked your article, you were very straight forward with the idea that people do it to sound cool, I think for the average starting investor, thats the primary reason.

I've been in media sales and sales management my entire life, when you have a new sales person, they normally fall into or close to one of two catagories.

1. wants to learn more about radio than anyone else in the industry before making the first call, thinks the more they study the better, and puts off making the first calls and making the first mistakes.

2. They are ready to start calling on accounts when they don't even know how to read a rate card,,they want to go see people, you have to hold them back a little so they have the basics down,,they want to start selling.

The sales reps in #1 have little chance for success,,they confuse activity with accomplishment. People in the second group have a much higher success rate.

I think spending days or weeks studying what entity to use is something like that,,,what will make you money is to get out and learn real estate, and start putting in offers on your first investment,,you need to be held back some, so you don't make a mistake, but you need to be ready to go start working on deals...you make money investing in real estate by putting together good deals,,,,,,you have to go 'get your feet wet",,,and thats how to succeed (again, with someone keeping you from making too big a mistake)

Don't get paralized you will make a mistake,,we all make mistakes

In my primary city you have to have a permit, and they do inspections between tenants, if they see a new hot water heater they check to make sure you had a permit,,if you didn't its a big hassle.

I have a great plumber I trust (note that "cheap" was NOT included in that description). The price you paid wasn't totally out of line (as others have said I can get it cheaper but I'm not in NY)

Fence repair, when I buy a property we do a total rehab, so we know most things won't break down for a little while, but we don't replace fences because of the cost.

I'm in the Dallas area, and during storm season I always have sections of fence get knock down,,,sometimes its a cheap fix, sometimes its not.

Utilities during rehab and between tenants

I'm glad Steve chimed in on this,,I always thought intent was part of the law, if you intend to sell, your still not going to get the lower rate.

On refinancing, I think your looking at two different things, they should refinance based on appraised value,,however if you don't have a loan against the house, its not a refinance and it is based off of what you paid for it.

If you do have a note properly in place you are refinancing and from my experience you shouldn't have a problem using a new appraisal.

Make sure your using a mortgage broker that is experienced with investors, not just OO properties

I'm not a mortgage broker, but this is what I have experienced