All Forum Posts by: Braden Smith

Welcome to BP! I'm a local investor and realtor here in New Orleans. If you have any questions I can answer, let me know! 

If it is located in an area where new homes are being built, I would contact every builder that has built a house in the area or anywhere nearby. 

Hey @Alyssa Kruger. The conventional loan would probably work for you, as long as the 5% down isn't an issue. It is only 1.5% more than the FHA minimum. The FHA 203k renovation loans can be used for properties with up to 4 units, and can be an easy way to get into a place with a low down payment and have the renovation costs rolled into the same loan. FHA loans are for owner occupants, but nobody comes to check to make sure you are living there for the full year. If you rent it out and the property is still in your name there wont be an issue. If you try to sell it within a year then there would be an issue. As far as finding a lender goes, I would ask around in your area. A good lender can make all the difference. My preferred lender here is with Movement Mortgage. They are a great company and can do just about every type of loan there is.

Hey @Luke Aubrey. Try Chris Carter with HomeTown Lenders. Tell him I referred you.

Hey @Ethan Jackson. Check this out - https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2015/01/3...

That should be a good start for you. After you read that, just search "how to wholesale houses" on BiggerPockets and you will find TONS of info on it.

I have contacts for everything real estate related. Shoot me a PM and let's discuss how we might be able to work together.

Hey @Alexander Wilson Moore. I use hard and private money lenders and can tell you that they will want to look at your financial situation. I have not found any that don't. They won't lend money to someone with no capital and no experience. And they will want to see your credit score also. You'll also need downpayment money on these loans that are higher than a traditional bank loan. You will need at least 10% down and then you make interest only payments until you finish the project and sell the property. So if a property has an all in budget for acquisition and renovation of $200,000 you would need $20,000 down and you would make interest only payments for the duration of the project. These payments would be determined by your interest rate and terms, but let's say your interest rate is 10% (which is pretty good for hard or private money), you monthly payment might be about $1500. And these hard and/or private money lenders typically require a couple of points up front in addition to the deposit so that would be another $3,000 to $4,000 up front. There is a reason it is called "hard money". I don't want to discourage you, and that is not my intention, but capital is required in this business, especially if you are flipping. 

Also, I can tell you from experience that the New Orleans area has reached a point of complete saturation with real estate investors which has made the competition fierce. It has gotten harder and harder to find good deals. And due to this extreme amount of competition I have seen many new and/or rookie investor get wrapped up in a bidding war for a property where they let their emotions get the best of them and end up paying too much for a property. From there they are lucky to just break even and hopefully not lose any money. You have to know your numbers and stick to your formula. Know your max allowable offer and don't go over it just because you want or need a deal. 

Just be prepared for the massive amount of competition and multiple offer situations, even on off market properties that are not listed on the MLS. Which by the way, you cannot find any good deals on the MLS anymore. Everything is priced at a premium on the MLS these days. I look at it every day. I'm a local realtor and investor so I'm very familiar with the MLS here in our area.

Actually it was posted 7 times... not sure how that happened. But welcome to BP. You'll find a wealth of information here, and the best part is it's all FREE! Don't pay a guru to teach you anything. You can learn all you want her for free. But also don't pay attention to what the so called gurus teach about investing with no money. That's not real life. Nothing comes for free and everything has a price. Most people start off wholesaling because it requires the least amount of money, but you'll still need money for marketing and advertising, as well as deposits and other costs.

@Mark Welp Let me know how it goes with LionDesk. Have heard some good things about it.

New Orleans neighborhoods change drastically from block to block. They always have. And now we have many neighborhoods that are in transition and changing rapidly. The boundaries of good and bad are moving and if you don't know where they are you will get yourself into some real trouble. Investing in New Orleans is a challenge even for us with experience. Comps jump all over the place. You cannot look at a radius or zip code when looking at comps. You must draw your own boundaries on the map to be sure you are looking in the same neighborhood. You must know where those boundary lines are.

I'm a local realtor and investor, but I dont run comps for other investors. No offense, but there is a conflict of interest there for me. I am sure you could find a realtor that would do it for you, but you would have to make it worth their while somehow. I have several friends and associates that are realtors that I might be able to refer you to, but they will want to know how would you make it worth their while...?