All Forum Posts by: Jason Eyerly
Jason Eyerly has started 65 posts and replied 368 times.
Post: How can I find homes with equity and send letters?
- Real Estate Agent
- Charleston, SC
- Posts 387
- Votes 82
Quote from @Sam B.:
YellowLetterHQ
Buy their listsource subscription for a discount on listsource.com leads and they can do the mailing for you too.
Aw man, list source excludes my two markets. Kansas and South Carolina lmao.
Post: How can I find homes with equity and send letters?
- Real Estate Agent
- Charleston, SC
- Posts 387
- Votes 82
Quote from @Sam B.:
YellowLetterHQ
Buy their listsource subscription for a discount on listsource.com leads and they can do the mailing for you too.
Thank you! Don't have my license reactivated again yet, suffering through Kaplans real estate course for my education requirements but I plan on knocking it out of the park with this method again. If I sell just two houses by years end I'd be giddy.
Post: How can I find homes with equity and send letters?
- Real Estate Agent
- Charleston, SC
- Posts 387
- Votes 82
Back in the day, there was a way to look in any specific area and find houses that had (or likely had) equity in them. Then there was a guy who would take your address list and make letters and little envelopes that looked handwritten to get them opened by people with equity. I did this as an RE agent ten years ago and I had an overwhelming response. Is this still possible or in existence?
Post: Still waiting for the "right time"?
- Real Estate Agent
- Charleston, SC
- Posts 387
- Votes 82
Quote from @Jordan Ray:
Quote from @Michael Carbonare:
𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 “𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞” 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞? 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬:
𝐈𝐧 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒, 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝟔 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟓𝟎 largest U.S. metro areas had housing inventory above pre-pandemic levels.
𝐈𝐧 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐣𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝟐𝟎 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝟓𝟎.
This isn’t just data. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞.
Markets like Austin, Denver, and Memphis now have significantly more homes available than they did in 2019, creating real chances for creative investors who know how to move when others hesitate and dawdle.
More inventory = less competition
Less competition = more negotiating power
More negotiating power = better deals for you
If you're still sitting on the sidelines, ask yourself: what exactly are you waiting for?
@Michael Carbonare, I couldn't agree more with this. @Joe Villeneuve, you are 100% right about that! Too many "Investors" watching the stock market and news headlines and not actually studying the market and consulting with their agent and are waiting on "the right deal" just to fall in their lap. Real deals are found in #'s. Offers going out, negotiations happening, seller problems being solved. This is the best time to do it!
"Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful" - Warren Buffett
This quote couldn't be more true right now!
"Buy the fear, sell the greed." - Warren Buffett
Post: Do I stand any chance of getting Fix & Flip / STR Purchase Financing?
- Real Estate Agent
- Charleston, SC
- Posts 387
- Votes 82
Quote from @Patrick Roberts:
Start working on your credit asap. There are a few hard money lenders who will lend without considering your FICO, but any kind of traditional or long-term financing options are off the table with a FICO sub-580. Realistically, you want to be above 680 for most permanent financing for investment properties (like DSCR loans) to be reasonably priced.
Vantage 3.0 (the scoring model shown in your images) is OK, but it tends to lack a lot of detail. I have found that MyFico.com is a pretty solid tool for tracking/evaluating personal FICO info. It shows you all of your trades and your FICO 8 (I think) scores, which are similar to FICO 2/4/5 used in mortgage lending. It also has a simulator tool that can help you understanding what levers to pull to increase your score.
Regarding your comments about a $2,500/month payment, I would caution that you should reflect on your mindset about this. This is roughly the starting point for most mortgages today. Expecting anything sub $2,000/month is not realistic unless youre buying a very cheap house or bringing a large downpayment. Most rents are approx $2,000+/month now as well. This is just a fact of life thanks to inflation from the past five years, and I dont see where it's going to improve.
It sounds like you have solid income, so I would work on socking away as much cash as possible. Until your FICO has meaningfully improved, any flip projects will only have one exit path - selling the property - as most take-out financing options wont be available. You'll want to be conservative given this fact, which means lower leverage on the project and more cash/reserves to give yourself a cushion. Flips are much more risky right now due to the current RE market environment than they were a few years ago. At this point, I'm talking to either a borrower or another lender who is dealing with a distressed flip project literally every day. I had a conversation over lunch yesterday with a private lender here in CHS that is about to take back a local failed flip where the borrower's entire stake will be wiped out, and there will still be a deficiency owed to the lender.
Based on your post, you have time (several off days each week) and good earning capacity, so overall you're in good shape. Once you get your FICO back in order, you should be in a pretty good position to take down some deals. If I was you, I would spend the next few months networking and building relationships with other RE investors/professionals, repairing credit, and building up cash reserves. Play the long game - dont get in a hurry.
I figured I can apply my days off to dabbling in the RE markets in Wichita or if I relocate soon the greater CHS area. It seems nothing is ever going to work out for me to have the time/credit/money to get into real estate so I want to do something soon. Check out the above comment and let me know what you think - keeping the house, renting it, and using FHA to get my own actual house. I'm hoping when this last collection comes off sometime this month I'll be +600 but I have a significant cash reserve right now. If the market is that bad I'd be happy just hacking an FHA of my own, selling dads, and focus on growing my plan B career (commercial aviation) because healthcare is brutally exhausting.
Post: Do I stand any chance of getting Fix & Flip / STR Purchase Financing?
- Real Estate Agent
- Charleston, SC
- Posts 387
- Votes 82
Quote from @Caleb Brown:
Wichita is a decent sized market, start there. Plenty of business and deals around that. I would lean on selling your Dads house and start fresh. Find a house hack there. Focus on building your agent business and repairing your credit. I would not consider investing out of state or in a STR in another city.
The sentimental value and how close I am to keeping his house is killing me. $200k in equity is nothing to laugh at. And a $1600/month mortgage. With the doom and gloom cast on fix and flips right now, if I can assume my dad's mortgage and rent the house I will be net positive and then I can use an FHA for my own home and airbnb it in South Carolina in the interim. Just waiting to hear from the probate attorney what his credit cards are willing to settle for. I'm definitely in a good spot to house hack. I am on the road about 95% of the year. However, nothing I can do for credit except make payments on time and wait. I am starting a good will campaign to creditors to see about getting lates removed.
Post: Where Should I Invest $200K for Cash-Flowing Rental Property in a Good School Distric
- Real Estate Agent
- Charleston, SC
- Posts 387
- Votes 82
Quote from @Becca F.:
Quote from @Vanessa Li:
Quote from @Becca F.:
I agree with Nicholas and Jay's comments. I'm in the Bay Area and invest here and Indianapolis metro area. For context I did live in Indiana and rented out my home when I moved back to California.
The example Jay gave of a $650k mid term rental with $2600 property tax, I'm pay close to $6250 on my Indiana Class A (nice suburb with great schools) current market value around $300k (I bought it in 2013 and did a cash out refi during COVID with lower rate). On my $150k Class C property, property tax is $3440.
I'm not trying to criticize the Midwest but the property tax rates are higher even though purchase prices are lower. I think it's a fine place to invest for people who live there. For me it's not worth it to buy there anymore, doing the slow exit. We Californians get plenty of hate on BP for investing here but we have appreciation and Proposition 13 (property taxes go up max of 2% a year) so I'm stating the opposite in the nicest way possible.
If you absolutely cannot invest locally, my vote is for Nevada. Reno, which is closer to those who live in NorCal and Vegas which is closer to LA area. The property taxes are one of the lowest in the country. Nevada is also much more landlord friendly than CA. I looked in Reno and will look in Vegas.
In full transparency I think would have been better off buying one high quality property in Reno or Vegas in late 2022/early 2023 than buying two Class C Indiana homes (sold one of them to cut my losses). I'm not an agent or trying to pitch a market and would only suggest a market that I would personally buy in.
Thank you for your comments and suggestions, Becca. Buying one high quality property than buying multiple lower classes home is exactly what I am looking for. I'd like to know why do you think Vegas and Reno are good market with potential.
For the same reasons @Bradley Buxton listed above with Reno. I've learned to follow the Bay Area money - many of them moved to Sacramento and out of state (this may be changing with return to office since COVID and people not being able to work remotely as much). I didn't do a deep dive into Reno and MTR possibilities with the property manager I communicated with.
For Las Vegas: our Oakland Raiders (football) and As (baseball) moved here, big entertainment city, tourism, people that travel there for business for mid-term rentals (maybe need to buy higher end with nicer house and possibly a pool than a Long Term Rentals). STRs are very restrictive so I wouldn't do AirBnbs and it's more labor intensive no matter what market than LTRs. People do illegal AirBnbs which is a very bad idea if they get caught. I choose to follow laws to not create more problems. I talked to an agent who said new builds would have lower interest rate.
Some people are also leaving California for retirement since Nevada has no state income tax and CA taxes pensions and any IRA/401k withdrawals, stock dividends (CA doesn't tax Social Security income for now).
The tenants will likely a different base than lots of Bay Area tenants. Many of the new tenants here are tech workers/engineers (I do have 2 long term tenants here in multi-unit, great tenants). Tenants in Vegas may be more service workers, relying on tips, not people earning $150k+ in like Bay Area income, not sure about Reno. The school districts in Nevada, I'm less knowledgeable about. I know people in the Bay Area will pay higher rent or mortgage payments to be in a high quality school district.
If you're in SoCal I'm not familiar with rental markets there. I've poured out so much money into Indiana properties so I'm trying to problem solve those before making an offer on a Nevada property.
Education, specifically in Vegas, is absolutely atrocious.
Post: Do I stand any chance of getting Fix & Flip / STR Purchase Financing?
- Real Estate Agent
- Charleston, SC
- Posts 387
- Votes 82
Hey folks,
So, I've worked hard over my ten year absence on BP. I'm getting my RE license again to jump back in. My work schedule only requires that I work two 24 hours shifts every 8 days, so I have some downtime. I'm in Wichita, KS so not the best market but it'll make do for now. My target market for fix and flips would be around this area or in Charleston, SC (greater area) and the latter for STR. I know the low country very well. I've paid off all my credit cards, collections (the one remaining should be deleted this month) but my score still sucks due to late payments. Almost all of which were incurred after the sudden passing of my father and me incurring all of his debts and mortgage to keep the estate afloat. Still waiting on final numbers from probate attorney to see if I sell his house or pay the remainder of his debts or try to get an FHA loan to buy his house from the estate ($2,500 a mortgage makes me nauseous). Anyways, I want to purchase an STR as I'm just jumping into REI I need the cashflow to grow. Or, I thought about fix and flips. Is it even possible for me to get financing with my credit profile? Income is consistently 120/130k+ each year.
Post: Airbnb arbitrage question
- Real Estate Agent
- Charleston, SC
- Posts 387
- Votes 82
Quote from @Nicholas L.:
i said this in another post but why not house hack an STR? it seems like you're in the perfect position to do that.
I'm honestly not sure what house hacking is.
Post: Airbnb arbitrage question
- Real Estate Agent
- Charleston, SC
- Posts 387
- Votes 82
Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:
Quote from @Jason Eyerly:
Quote from @Michael Baum:
Yeah, all that can happen is you go bankrupt, get sued and have to go live under a rock somewhere.
I wish any and all trying to do arbitrage but realistically, oftentimes it is worse than a crap shoot.
I know 3 people that went bankrupt doing arbitrage and one is still embroiled in a nasty lawsuit.
Right now, it will be the toughest it has ever been to be successful at arbitrage so just make sure you have a lot socked away when/if things go south.
That's averaged out but even if the market changed tomorrow, I wouldn't go bankrupt. I'd still convert it to a LTR to cover as much of my costs as possible until the lease expired.