All Forum Posts by: Courtney Fricke

@Delana Encalarde - Welcome to REI!

I highly suggest that you receive contract advice from a real estate attorney. It'll be worth 10x more than what someone who isn't an attorney has to say or share. Your title company attorney should work just fine to advise you. For NOLA, I suggest Crescent Title or Delta Title. When referring to "wholesaling", the term that most in the industry understand is assignments and double closings. They sometimes don't understand the term wholesaling because they only know it by assignments or double closings. 

As a local wholesaler, investor and REIA owner for the Northshore area, if you are looking to do deals in the GNO area and if you come by any for St. Tammany Parish, please keep me in mind! I am both an end buyer and a wholesaler who is open to doing co-wholesaling or JV deals.

Best of luck!

@Carmine Costantini III - let's connect. I actively wholesale properties that don't fit my portfolio's criteria throughout the year. Send me a message and we'll go from there as far as what you are looking for.

Hi @Carmine Costantini III
I am a local investor, wholesaler and REIA owner in the Slidell area as well! Welcome to BP. If I can help in any way, let me know!

Sorry to hear about your experience, @Damon Oubre. As a REIA owner, investor and wholesaler in Southeast Louisiana, I have seen differently. Hopefully you find the right fit for you and your future ventures!

@Troy Williams let me know if I can be of any help!

Hi @Annabel Valencia, congrats on joining BP and starting your education! Sorry ahead of time for this novel. 

I would suggest a few things education wise. 1. Start listening to the bigger pockets podcast from number 1. They are free and a great tool to learn from. I listen while I drive ALL the time. 2. Find a local REIA or investor meet up in your area to learn alongside like minded individuals. This helps with networking and education - which helps with confidence when doing deals.

As for your condo, what are the numbers. Does it make a profit each month?
You say it is valued at around $75K and it brings in $800/month rent. 
Is the $800/month rent the market rate?
What is your monthly breakdown of cash flow? 

Rent collected  MINUS
taxes (yearly property tax divided by 12)
landlord policy of insurance (yearly insurance divided by 12)
flood insurance if applicable (yearly insurance divided by 12)
any applicable HOA fees
any other expenses that the landlord may pay (sometimes includes trash, etc)

Additionally most will deduct the following percentages from the collected rent:
10% for property management (you stated your mother is doing it for free but that may not always be the case and not for all your future properties so plan accordingly)
8% for vacancy (this percentage allows for around one month of vacancy a year)
12% for maintenance (put aside for future repairs)

Run the numbers. Is your unit still making money each month? 

PS: Most investors stay away from condos because the HOA fees tend to take away from the cash flow. I actually am selling my condo (primary residence) soon as I don't plan to keep it for a rental because of the dues, the management on site, and the possibility of assessments.

Now, with the monthly cash flow in mind, I would suggest tucking it away for future repairs as they WILL come eventually. Build up a decent reserve so that when an AC unit or a hot water heater needs to be replaced, you will be able to pay from your cash flow pile instead of relying on your personal income or credit. 

As far as your future credits go, I would talk with a local community banker (in Louisiana I can recommend a few) and make a plan of what you'd need to do in order to qualify for a HELOC or a business line of credit (given that you have an LLC for these rentals) or something like that. Talk with lending professionals to know exactly what you'd need to do to become a candidate (raise credit score, be at a job for x number of years, etc), raise your debt to income ratio, etc. Braden is right in saying that investing does require a bit of credit and capital. Even if you used a hard money lender to acquire more properties, you would need credit to refinance the properties with local banks using the BRRRR strategy.

The author of the book on investing in no or low money down states that it is all free info that can be found in the forums but he just compiled in one place in his book. So devour the podcasts and the forums for info on creative financing. Get educationally strong before moving forward. 

When I got started out with little to no capital, one of my mentors told me to study the game of investing, educate myself a lot and then be very risk averse in the beginning because if I buy a money pit property or if my numbers are off and I lose $20K on a property (which is NOT uncommon in investing)  then it would derail me entirely versus someone who has more capital. So with that in mind, set large goals but start off very risk averse in the beginning so that you can have a long career in investing rather than a short one. Stack up capital through cashflow and possibly wholesaling or reverse wholesaling. Build a solid foundation of education, cash and personal credit, then attack those goals!

Best of luck in your ventures!

As time has passed, I'm sure many in this thread have come to realize that actively wholesaling is easier said than done but isn't impossible in Louisiana. I frequently do wholesale deals in the St. Tammany Parish area on the Northshore of NOLA. I run a REIA down here as well.

Best of luck in all of your ventures!

Hi @Lionel Joseph welcome to BP and to REI! I live in the SE Louisiana area as well. If you're nearby the Slidell/St. Tammany Parish area - we have a monthly REIA meet up that happens every second Tuesday of the month. You're welcome to join us to find local deals, network and learn along side other like minded folks.

As an active wholesaler and investor in the area, let me know how I can help you. I would suggest to find a local meet up in your area to find locals who are actively doing what you'd like to do, listen to the Bigger Pockets' podcasts if you are not already and to figure out what your preferences are (location, size/type of property, price range, desired ROI or cashflow, etc) so that you can start analyzing deals. Best of luck on your ventures!

Hey @Ryan Montelepre talking with a local lender is the best. Our local REIA for the Northshore that meets in Slidell has a few lenders that are investor friendly. Also, @David Carter above is obviously here on BP and an option. I don't have any experience with buying with these types of loans but I can help connect you with some local lenders if that is helpful.

Hey @Michael Hudson I am an active wholesaler on the Northshore. Let's connect!

@David H. Hey David, welcome to BP! I know that real estate can leave a bad taste in your mouth if it bites you the wrong way but here's to hoping that you find the education you need to move forward confidently! 

I'm a local investor as well in the St. Tammany area. I live in Slidell but actively invest in all of the parish as a wholesaler, flipper and landlord. I also recently started a local REIA for the Northshore area earlier this year. You're welcome to check us out if you'd like to network with local investors, share/find local deals and learn from the speakers brought in. For example, have a local guy coming to share on our Oct 9th meeting about Lease Options.

Best of luck on your new endeavors and let me know if I can help.