All Forum Posts by: Corby Goade

Howdy Scott! I am probably in the minority on BP, but I am not a fan of the "throwing out offers in volume and crossing your fingers" approach. I try to stay in contact with wholesalers in my area, scour the MLS, Zillow, LoopNet, and work with a great, investor friendly agent. When something pops up that makes sense, I jump with an aggressive cash offer and generally have had pretty good success with that.

When you find an MLS property that looks good, something I'd suggest to avoid leaving money on the table is make an offer that you are comfortable with, but include an escalation clause that will allow you to beat higher offers by a defined dollar amount, ie, if anyone outbids you up to a certain point, you'll beat their offer by $250. Require that they show you the highest offer that you are going to beat.

Best of luck!

I'd guess cash for keys would be the best way to go, as it's likely that exactly what the squatter wants. Do they have a lease of any kind? Even a forged one? That could make it much more difficult. I'd call the county Sherriff and the courthouse- usually they have some sort of legal aid there and propose the situation as if you have already purchased the property and are looking for advice. If it's a renter friendly area, you'll probably have a hard time. If it's a landlord friendly area, it might not be too big of a deal. Good luck!

We do need more info, but to give you some simple advice to think about- what are you trying to achieve through RE? Define your buying criteria (cash flow? How much? Cash on Cash return? How high? Flipping? Are you looking for a certain percentage of a return or a specific dollar amount? How much? Think about those things, come up with some numbers that you are comfortable with and start analyzing deals on MLS, BP, Craigslist, etc. You'll soon find out if your numbers are realistic or if you either have to modify your criteria or work even harder to find a deal.

Looks like a good deal from what you've posted here. Many investors don't agree with me, but I always recommend that you manage properties when you begin. If you don't know how to manage a property, how do you manage a property manager? You need to know when you are getting good service and how to screen tenants, ect. That type of experience will greatly inform how you operate in the future, self managing or not.

Sorry about the unsolicited advice- good luck!

I haven't read all of the replies here, so this may have been covered. You've only mentioned two offers being rejected here, which is not a heck of a lot! Most investors on here make dozens or hundreds of offers hoping to land one good deal. Secondly, I think you are making it a bit more difficult on yourself than it needs to be. Most markets are hot and people are paying prices based on speculation, especially owner occupiers. That's tough for an investor to compete with. I'd suggest that you make a much more aggressive offer, pay for an inspection and THEN start negotiating your price after you have an inspection report and the house is off of the market. You'll swing the pendulum in your favor a bit and have much more leverage than you would when you are bidding against 40 other people willing to pay over the asking price.

Best of luck!

First thing I'd do is check the terms of your contract with the PM. Usually there is a clause in there that you can sever the contract with a bit of notice for any reason. If they are refusing to own (and pay for) their mistake after you've had civil conversations with their management, I'd do a couple things. I'd sever the contract and take them to small claims. If you have documentation that you both agreed to terms and they just didn't follow through, it's likely that you'd have some level of success in small claims and you certainly don't need an attorney for that. Finally, once this is all settled, if you still feel that they didn't handle the situation ethically, I'd leave them some honest, well written and professional reviews on various websites.

Best of luck.

Depending on your situation, you might be able to get a 203K. Get creative with your offers- maybe you ask for a big discount on the price, but offer him an indefinite dividend for life- 5% of gross rents? Would that be worth it to you? You are asking for a huge discount, but there's many ways to skin a cat.

It took me a while to find a bank that would do this, but in the last few months I've found two local banks that do no fee, no closing cost on HELOCS on non-owner occupies properties. Heck, they even pay for the appraisal. Don't give up- get to a REI club meeting in your area and ask who others are working with. Best of luck!

@Ben Hom, if you are interested in the next meetup, touch base with @Jonna Weber, she has a casual quarterly meetup that she hosts.

@Anthony Ellison- sorry about the misunderstanding, I assumed you were wholesaling. Go get it!