All Forum Posts by: Brenden Mitchum

Hey @Bryan Henry, welcome to the BP community man!

Nice job on that first house hack - you're way already ahead of most! And that analytical mind should serve you well in the world of REI.

What is your plan to scale-up and retire by 30? Is it something like what @Brandon Turner suggests in "7 Years to 7 Figure Wealth" or do you have another plan? If you have no plan and only a hope you will definitely want to sit down this weekend and map out a path, something to keep you focused. A great way to start this is with a vision. Where do you want to at 30? What do you want to be doing? With who? Finally, how much monthly cash flow will you need to make this happen? Then work backwards to figure out how you will get there. Obviously this will change as you go along, especially with so much uncertainty right now, but this process is still vital.

Other than that, I think you're on the right track man. I see you're signed up for the Invest Now virtual meetup tonight so great start there. And just keep networking hard here on BP and add value wherever you can.

Feel free to reach out to me anytime you have questions or just want to chat!

Hey @Audrey Thiault, welcome to the BP community!

So is this strictly an investment property or are you and your husband planning on living upstairs?

If it is strictly investment, you'll have to get creative for that downpayment. Maybe the seller will help finance it? Or perhaps your bank that you have been with for x years will give you a personal loan? I have never done this before but have been recently asking sellers if they are open to partial seller financing. I think this is much easier to achieve once you are already under contract, and worse thing that happens is they say no.

Feel free to message me anytime if you have other questions or just want to chat! Always love to connect with fellow ATLiens!

Hi @Anissa Hernandez!

Congrats on finding a potential deal and starting that negotiation process!

The first big red flag I see here is your expenses. For the first property they are only at about 30%. For the second they are 20%. These are highly unrealistic. It looks like you're saying these are the seller's numbers so no surprise here. Underreporting expenses is common and he might think a new investor won't catch it. It also looks like he has vacancy at 5%. I would assume 10% unless you have rent rolls that say otherwise. So now run you numbers with 50-55% expenses and 10% vacancy to get a better idea of what kind of deal it is. 

It sounds like you might not be super familiar with MF underwriting so I highly recommend you watch some videos on this and maybe even purchase software. Michael Blank has a solid, affordable one that comes with some good educational videos.

And please, feel free to message me anytime if you have questions or just want to chat!

Hey @Karl Moyano, welcome to the BP community!

Well, you are off to a fantastic start. Applying with multiple lenders is a great call, but make sure that they provide you with a closing cost worksheet that has all closing costs, rate and discount points on there. This way you can compare them all. Keep in mind, you also want whoever will be the most flexible, especially in these uncertain times. If you simply pick whoever is most cheap you may find yourself losing a deal due to them dragging their feet and missing closing.

Now, next step would be to get yourself a killer agent. You'll want to do something similar that you did with the lenders. Reach out to some agents in your area and start a discussion with them. Ask them about their experience and whether they are familiar with investing. You don't need someone who only works with investors but it does help to have someone who understands what motivates an investor. You'll want to give them detailed criteria so they can set you up with auto-emails in your area(s) of choice. Zillow is great, but it can't beat a good agent with a focused auto-email search. 

If you don't have very specific criteria then that will be your next step before reaching out to agents.

Feel free to message me anytime if you have other questions or just want to chat!

Hey @Aviv Harkov, welcome to the BP community!

Seeing as you are out of the country, I feel a great read for you would be Long Distance Real Estate Investing by David Green. I have not read it, as I am investing locally but have heard it's very helpful for OOS investors. Some other great intro investing reads would be Ken McElroy's ABCs of Real Estate Investing and The Millionaire Real Estate Investor by Gary Keller. 

Obviously there is tons of amazing free information here on BP. The BP podcast is also fantastic and they even have a new podcast geared towards newbie investors that you may want to check out!

Feel free to message me anytime if you have questions or just want to chat!

Hey @John Abbasnezhad

REOs are typically listed on the MLS so you just need an agent. Now is a great time to start getting familiar with the entire foreclosure process, as these are likely to increase in the ongoing recession. If you can, get real familiar with pre-foreclosures so that you are able to help others while building your portfolio, rather than just helping the banks recoup their losses.

If you have any other questions or just want to chat, please message me anytime!

@Jess Thompson

There is some awesome rock around here. I've only done a bit of bouldering so far since most spots are closed right now. But I am stoked about how much good climbing there is within a 2 hour drive.

Dream van is definitely a Sprinter but at the same time I would never drop that much on a van. I'd really like to get a Ram 3500 or Chevy G20. I'm also looking for a car right now and it's taking every ounce of self-control to not buy a van instead haha

That's an awesome dream! What's the next step on the road to that dream?

Hey @Joe Ansley

You could use a site like listsource to pull a list of apartment owners and narrow down some other criteria. You can then direct mail to those or you can skiptrace to get phone numbers. Or you can go the more hands-on route and drive4dollars. However, the most efficient way is to build relationships with brokers and property management companies. They will then bring you the deals, but this can be tough if you do not have experience in MF yet.

Hope this helps a bit. Feel free to message me anytime if you have other questions or just want to chat!

Hey @Andrew Deck, welcome to the BP community!

For the type of loan you'd be getting (FHA), it typically wouldn't matter too much who you go with in terms of down payment and rate. However, during these times many larger banks are really tightening up there lending so you may have a hard time getting what you might get by going with a broker. These guys have much more flexibility so are able to find the best option for you. For this reason, they can cost less in terms of discount points and closing costs. Also, another factor is service. Are they going to take good care of you and make sure you close on time, rather than dragging their feet? This is very important as it could cost you a deal. I'd rather pay a bit more and know that I'll be able to close on time.

I'd recommend you reach out to your bank and some brokers to find out what each can provide. Make sure you get a closing cost worksheet with discount points so that you can get the full picture. They will likely need to run your credit for this so just make sure you have them all do it around the same time to avoid more than one hard pull hit on your score.

I am not a lender so this is just knowledge from personal experience so please speak with your lenders. If you have any other questions or just want to chat, please message me anytime!

Hey @James Mccusker, welcome to the BP community!

Love that intro man -immediately trying to add value to others. This tells me you're a man I'd like to connect with. I very well may need your services in the future so will be in touch. In the meantime, if you have any questions or just want to chat, please do not hesitate to message me anytime!