All Forum Posts by: Bonnie Low

@Juan Correia my thoughts are that this is a terrible situation. I'm so sorry this is happening to you and your wife! Unfortunately, I have no banking or investing advice for you on this. But as a Nutritional Therapist, you peaked my interest with the word 'diabetes' in your post. I have never worked with anyone with MODY, but I do work with Type 2 Diabetics. Even thought T2D is talked about as a "chronic progressive" disease (in other words, it's going to get worse and there's nothing you an do about it), an astonishing number of Type 2 Diabetics have reversed their Diabetes to the point they are no longer considered diabetic simply by changing what they eat. Primarily, a low carbohydrate diet is what works and has, in fact, even had success with T1 diabetes. I don't know if this would work for someone with MODY, but it's worth looking into. In the States, doctors who treat diabetics are woefully uninformed about nutrition. That may be the case in Portugal, too, so I just thought I should mention this to you. Overturning the disease could solve multiple problems for you, most importantly her health! I wish you all the best.

@Matthew Malen investors will thank you if you show up at local REIA meetings! This is a great place for networking and EVERYONE is looking for a reliable contractor. It's a great way to get referrals, too. Don't be afraid to bring a portfolio with photos of some of your work!

BP publishes a book on estimating repair costs. This is absolutely essential because it gives you a pretty comprehensive list of all the things you might need to replace when you're doing a flip and how to estimate the cost. It might be a little dated now, but you should look up prices in your own area anyway because labor rates can really vary. 

@Zane Paul there was a recent podcast - I think it was the Real Estate Rookie podcast - where the guy being interviewed mentioned this same tactic. Basically, he asked for a line of credit and his bank said no. So he said 'if I give you the $20k I have saved up, what can you do for me?' They said if he put it in an 18-month CD they'd given him a $35,000 line of credit. So he basically turned $20k into $35k and will earn some measly interest on his $20k in the CD. That may or may not work for you, but my takeaway was that rather than just accepting their initial 'no' answer, he asked them 'well, what CAN you do.' I thought that was brilliant and is definitely something I'll do in the future. We don't know what creative financing vehicles lenders have and we don't necessarily need to know them all. But we should at least ask open ended questions. Good luck!

Funny you should ask....sigh. We bought the house we're currently working on Oct 28th 2019. So here we are nearly a year later and are still finishing it up. This was a massive rehab. To call it a gut rehab would be misleading because we ended up removing all but a couple of walls and saving the part of the foundation that was slab. So, basically, it was a rebuild. What slowed us down was the time it took to have plans drawn up, revised, engineering and energy calculations to meet code and then getting all the subs lined up and getting them to show up when they said they would. In our area, there have been massive wildfires that we're still rebuilding from so we didn't factor in that all of the available trades would be booked out for months! The latest delay is the countertops. We're waiting for the installer to come out and template for the granite. They can't get out until October 12th. Then we have to wait another 2-3 weeks after that for installation. I've called around and tried all my other options but unless we want to switch to laminate countertops (we don't), we're out of options. Thankfully, our hard money lender has been accommodating and is letting us extend. 

I would ask them to bring you a line item of their construction estimate plus a comp from a Realtor for the ARV. Make them do their homework and prove to you that the numbers work. I've even had a banker ask for a construction quote from a GC. Of course, it helps if you have the frame of reference to know whether or not their numbers are legit, but sometimes forcing them to put it on paper ends up proving to them whether or not the deal is a good deal. 

UGH. We're in the middle of 2 escrows so it wouldn't have crossed my mind that it could be anything other than legit because sometimes the lender you're working with has a 3rd party that sends out the docusign information. I'm going to check a LOT closer from now on. Thank you for the heads up on this @Jay Hinrichs

@Mary Jay have you considered a month to month lease? Then at least you have a shorter term problem if either one doesn't work out. I'd also consider really bumping up your first and last month's deposit.  Personally, I'd probably go with the couple because you said you can verify their employment. Not being able to verify income is a red flag for illicit activities.

@Josh Nix do you know if the meetup is happening virtually these days? I'm an OOS investor looking at Lincoln and would be interested in joining via Zoom until I can get back there in person!

As an out of state investor, I wanted to point out that your definition of C or D class may be different than a local's definition. We experienced this in Pocatello Idaho. We live in CA and were investing in Pocatello. Our Realtor would frequently reference properties we were interested in as being "in the hood." We though they were solid C neighborhoods compared to what we were used to seeing! Obviously blue collar. Older homes in obvious need of renovation but no gang traffic, crack houses or abandoned boarded up buildings. So just be aware of that when talking to someone about their definition of neighborhoods. Check it against your own.