All Forum Posts by: Andy Collins

It sounds like the property was just "at the wrong place at the wrong time" and really had nothing to do with the incident.

If you had said that there was gas leaking in the building and that caused the explosion, I would be much more cautious, but I don't see a problem based on what you have said,,the property was not "at fault",,so unless there is some stigma attached to the property,,go for it!

andy

I give tenants to the 7th before I kick in late fees, I tell them that way if they are paid weekly they will always have another check before its late.

Maybe I'm too easy, but I normally have all except one check under my front doormat by the 3rd, I have one tenant that pays in cash and is usually around the 12th-16th when they pay, and they pay late fees. They have been in that house for nearly 2 years, and now I realize they just pay things late, and don't complain about the late fees.

I'm really confused why someone would call a tenant and leave an "nasty smart@ss" message. My tenants are my customers, if I have a problem with one (and I have before) I talk to them in a professional manner, and I think that has a much better outcome.

andy

1. Schools, Schools Schools,,In the same town there might be several high schools and you go to a high schools that area is 'assigned to',,,in a town I have rentals there is one high school in heavy demand, so thats one area I buy in. It's a little harder to find a deal, but if you keep looking you can find one.

2. not many rentals in the area, go to the appraisal district website for your county/city whatever, go down the street and look at where the owners live,,if its at the address of the house, then its owner occupied, if the legal owner is listed at a different address, its a rental,,I try to not get into any area (and by that I mean the block the house is on on a few blocks in any direction), that isn't 80% owner occupied.

3.I try to find mature neighborhoods,,not built in the 50's, but prefer 80's or so, I see too many new neighborhoods in the price range I look for (ARV of $100-$120k) that come crashing down,,more mature neighborhoods tend to change slower.

4. How far is it from my house,,I try not to have a a rental more than 20 minutes from my house,,,I might go farther, but the farther I get away from my house the less I know about the neighborhood,,,,I try to buy in areas I know well because I have studied and liked them, I know what houses cost, what rents run,,,I know the area well, and can even catch if the neighborhoods start to change

andy

talk to a hard money broker or look for private investors.

If the deal is right, the hard money broker can make the deal with little out of pocket money (again, depending on the deal) but obviously it comes with cost.

I use the same color scheme in most of my rentals, 'softer tan' on walls, trip and doors in alabaster (both Sherwin Williams colors)

I found a person in Dallas that consults on paint colors,,she only charges about $70 to come out and go over ideas.

I mainly use her for my house, but if a rental needs a little something extra, I call her. I had a house that needed something, she picked out this ugly greenish color for the kitchen,,I trust her and went with it,,all of the women that viewed the house fell in love with that color,,,,,,yes I do whatever she recommends now

andy

When people say hard money they always think of 12-14% interest and 2-4 points,,,but one thing most hard money lenders won't tell you, is that anyone can be a hard money lender.

My 83 year old mother is making about 2% in money markets, I have used her as my hard money lender.

She gets 10% interest plus 1 point,,she is more than happy, and I get a much better 'hard money rate", and help out my mom.

The requirement is that you have to "refinance" a loan into conventional, not a house you paid cash for. You have to have a loan in place, the title company will take care of everything, it is totally legal and ethical.

I don't think you would be allowed to use your spouse as a hard money lender (I know someone that did that and the mortgage company did NOT like that), but a brother, sister, parents, kids,,,,its great for both parties (just not good for the hard money lenders).

Unless you have a lot of assets, and your going to buy and hold single family, going the traditional mortgage route in your personal name is probable the way to go.

You can have up to 10 traditional mortgages, the first four are relatively easy, 5-10 have more strict underwritting (720 mid FICO, 6 month reserves for all rental property, etc)

Go meet and make friends with a good mortgage broker (or 2 or 3) have them go over the potential deals.

I would recommend doing that for your first 10 single family (everyone i different but just spend a couple of hundred dollar for a $2-$3 M umbrella policy.

After you get to that point you will put properties into LLC and get commercial financing, but as Jon pointed out, isn't as good as traditional mortgages (rates will be a little higher and you won't lock them in for anything close to 30 years)

For multi-family forget everything I just said, it a different world

Stacy,

Are you going into Single Family or Multi-Family?

Will you buy and hold or flip?

What are you trying to accomplish with real estate investing?

andy

Get the duplex under contract before he changes his mind,,maybe its different there, but in the Dallas area you can't get a good deal on a duplex

I agree with everything Curt said,,contractors can be your biggest asset or your biggest headache. I have an Electrical/AC guy, plumber and contractor that are a BIG help,,sometimes I can't get that contractor and I have to use another (and I know the quality won't be there)..

I have also learned from them, the contractor shows me how to do things, the electricial answers questions when I'm having a problem installing something myself,,but I am LOYAL to these contractors, I don't use anyone else, except in the case of the rehab contractor, but he understands and encourages me to get someone else if he is tied up.

There are some great guys to work with out there,,they are worth the headaches you put up with until you find them