All Forum Posts by: Jon H.

I am just like you Sir. I have spent the better part of 2013 looking to buy property. Looking for the deals. I bid on plenty of deals and even got one under contract but lost my earnest money b/c i was an investor buying a HUD home and the house was missing its copper and i couldn't get a conventional mortgage. Since then i took out an equity line and now plan to pay cash.
My advise to you is check out Zillow. They can give you a ball park of what the rent value is in the areas you are looking. Also Call property management companies in your area. See if they will accept management on the property you plan on buying. I've found here in Birmingham Al that some management companies won't accept properties in certain areas. This really helped me. I don't wish to Manage my properties. So now if i'm interested in aquiring a property i always call 2-3 property management co's in the area and see if they will manage that property. I also see what value they would put on the rent in that area.
I have drug my feet for a year now being scared. I've decided to get more education.
I'm thinking i might flip my 1st deal. That way i can use the money made to pay for my first rental in cash. That way if it doesn't rent for 3 months its not going to cause bankruptcy. I agree with everyones take on this topic. I think you have to learn your target area, make sure you have enough cash to sustain you in case anything happens and jump in. The Profit is made when you purchase the property, not when you sell it. If you buy it cheap enough and its in a decent area then your risk will be minimal. You can always wholesale it if you get in trouble or put a renter in there and flip it as a turnkey investment. Good Luck my friend.
I'll be right their with you in 2014. No more fear. Education and Calculated Risk!

Mr. Gulley,
I am not screwing anybody. If you explain everything in great detail. Let them know that you can take cash or a payment plan that will be paid out over 5 years. Either way they are getting the money. You set the rules. If they don't except your offer then you move on. I'm not trying to fool anyone or dupe anyone. I believe in doing the right thing no matter what. What i'm suggesting is paying them their asking price but with no interest. So instead of paying them $19K cash now i'm paying them $40K cash divided over 5 years. When i sell the property they get their full money. If i rent it for the entire time they still get their money. I'm all about a boring and conventional approach that works. I might have explained the method poorly but in our business your doing the seller a favor. Most people i meet are either about to go into foreclosure or own the property outright and want to get out. Either way i treat both the same. If you want to sell me your property my offers will be the same. If you want interest i am willing to negotiate. Everything is worked into the price and everyone has been happy. I've never had someone upset or try to sue me.

Hello,
My wife and I would also like to meet up with some local investors. We are currently in the beginning stages of investing. We're about to start a year long class with a local investor to teach us the ropes. We've been in the game for about a year now and i've seen some great deals mainly in Clay Co, Centerpoint and Huffman/Pension areas. I've made many offers and i even had an accepted offer but was nervous about whether or not i was making the right move. Finally after seeing a friend of mine's success after taking this class i decided to bite the bullet and spend the money. My wife and i are interested in rentals but also doing a few flips to pay for the rentals in cash. I'm looking forward to meeting as many investors as i can. I would like to see how other investors in birmingham are doing and what areas are doing well. I've been a little nervous about areas where i've found many deals.

Its a year long course through CreativeRealEstateMentor.com Walter Baker and his wife Peggy teach the course and they live here in Birmigham as well. They also go in halves with you on your first 4 deals so you won't mess up. I have a friend who took the course last year and is doing very well. His Website can give you more details and tons of tips.

Hey Kirby,
Welcome. I'm also a beginning Alabama Investor. We're looking at rentals and flipping to buy rentals. Some wholesale too. Anyway welcome to BP. If you have any stories or advise please let me know. Its good to hear how people are progressing. As for me my wife and I are taking an Investor course. A friend of mine took the course and has made some pretty good money so far. I spent all last year finding properties making offers and didn't buy anything. I lost some earnest money and really learned from my mistakes. Myself i am always cautious and worried if i'm making the right deal. Finally after losing my earnest money on a house i decided i'd better get educated and let the folks that know what their doing hold my hand and walk me through the process. I'll let you know how we do. Glad to see some AL folks on the site. Welcome.

Hello Gentleman,
I also live here in Birmingham. I usually do a seach on Zillow for properties under $50K. They'll be a ton that pull up. Then i look on the map to see if there are any properties in my area of interest. This has been the main way i've found properties. The other way is going to the HUD website. Most of the time Zillow will have every foreclosure out there. Sometimes they won't though. Other ways i'll find deals is through Craigslist. Most of these deals are Wholesalers however.
In the future i think i will try marketing to buy homes in my particular area of interest. I've been told thats how you get the best deals.

@ John, The section 8 market here in birmginham is not a bad one to be in. You can pick up houses in decent areas for 10-25K. They rent for $650-$750 a month. My friend has several and he advised me to buy homes with hardwood floors/good bones. Most older homes in these areas come with hardwood. He basically advised me to account for some wear. He usually will put 10% away every month to account for this. However he usually is in a house done for $15K. With Section 8 you get to choose the individual you let live there. He'll get numbers from previous landlords and check out the renters history. Anyway my goal is to flip a house for a profit of at least $30K. Buy 1 rental home cash and repeat. My goal for 2014 is to flip 2-3 houses and have 3-4 rental properties by the end of 2014. for a little more you could get into better areas as well. Clay co, Pinson, Centerpoint. These areas are where i'm looking and haven't even thought about Section 8. Anyway good luck and let me know if i can help you in any way.

Hey Chris,
Congrats Man. My wife and I are also Birmingham Investors. We're starting a real estate investment course next week and are looking forward to making our first deals soon. Glad to see some investors here in Alabama. I've been on this site for a few months now and its good to see some investors in Birmingham.

Another option for Creative financing. When looking at a property espically with homeowners there are many ways you can creatively purchase a home. What i do is i'll make 3 offers. The first offer will be all cash (this offer will be the lowest). The Second will be owner financing. They finance the property. I pay a low monthly payment with no interest. I then can rent the home for more than what i'm paying the homeowner. Or i will offer a part cash upfront and then payments. All 3 offers will be at different purchase prices. The best i can hope for is the owner agreeing to let me purchase the home paying him a fixed monthly payment. I ad in 3 clauses to this so that i can rent it or sell it and still have no interest financing. I'm willing to offer sometimes full asking price if they will do owner financing. Why? Because there is no huge out of pocket expenses. I can pay him a low monthly payment for 10 years and i can turn around and rent the property out for more than the mortgage. Or i can fix the home and flip it and with low mtg payments.

My real estate Mentor/Teacher has a similar story. What he did was the homeowner wanted to move and she owed lets say $50K on the property. The property needed around $20K to get the property ready to flip. He offered to take up her mortgage payments but she was to make the next 2 months payments. He and another investor fixed the home and sold it before the 2months had come to an end. They made $60K on the deal and the homeowner got to re-locate and she didn't foreclose.