All Forum Posts by: Chris Calabrese

Like J Scott, I buy all of my materials myself, including most building materials. As an example, I just bought a Goodman packaged heat pump for about $2100 from Ingram's Heating & Air (online), and my HVAC guy couldn't get something comparable for under $3000 because his company marks up equipment. I also find that I can get fixtures, fans, tile, and other finish materials cheaper from Lowe's than anyone else can. We do most work ourselves anyway, but for stuff we hire out, it keeps our contractors honest and we know exactly what we're paying for labor.

I guess I've just been lucky with them. When I opened my business account, my BoA banker came in early and let me in an hour before the bank opened to help me out. And the service is great, but I live in the south, so maybe that's just the local flavor.

It sounds like their a pain to deal with on short sales and reo's, but as far as banking is concerned, I've been with them for over 10 years and have been very happy. I currently have 5 bank accounts, 1 mortgage (previously had another one too), and a credit card that has the lowest rate of any of my cards. The service at my local branch is fine, and I love the fact that I can find a BoA anywhere on the east coast when I travel. I guess if they just got back to being a bank, they would be ok.

J Scott, I've had this happen several times as well, at exactly 20% under asking. I think it may vary based on the DOM, and it sounds like this property was newly listed. I think they generally get a lot of bids, so they let everyone resubmit instead of truly countering.

Occassionally I see a HUD house sell extremely low (~50% of asking), but it is usually after 90+ DOM. Compared to a lot of banks, they seem to like to get rid of homes fast.

Good luck with the bid. I'm going thru my first HUD purchase right now, and it's obvious that it's run by the federal government!

-Chris

I'm sure this varies by state, but you can generally hold them liable for any unpaid rent, so the remaining 6 months in this case. However, you have to look for a new tenant, and then you can only charge them for up until the new tenant moves in.

I just did one of these this month and the lender paid for the second appraisal. In fact, I thought it was against FHA rules to allow the seller to pay.

I'm not extremely experienced, but I'm well on my way, and I would say that some combination of the two would be best, especially if investing is your only source of income. For instance, you could keep every 3rd house that you rehab as a rental. Or the ones that need the least amount of work and time could be held as rentals. That way you balance short term income with long-term cash flow.

It depends on the listing agreement between the agent and the seller. They usually get all 6%, but in SC we have a variable listing option where they can agree to take less, say 4.5%, if they find the buyer. It gives them incentive to procure a buyer themselves.

1 - You should be fine with personal accounts, as long as the properties are titled in your name. Security deposit laws vary by state, but it's a good idea to hold in a separate account either way, since it's not your money.

2 - Yes, transfer into real estate account and fund from there. Deposit rent in that account and transfer proceeds back to personal account.

3 - That seems like overkill to me, as long as your accounting is good.

4 - Not sure.

Once again, J Scott has hit the nail on the head. As long as there isn't anything too bad on the report, you can post it with the MLS listing and state that you have already fixed any issues. Good idea to leave a few things unfixed, in fact sometimes we actually leave some minor things (non-safety related) just to see if an inspector will catch them.