All Forum Posts by: Corby Goade

What are your intentions? Do you want to rent it out? Fix it up and sell it? Is it in a park? Does it come with land? 

How would you structure the deal? You are either dealing with cash or conventional financing, correct? Are you proposing owner finance?

We need to know a lot more about this in order to help. Is this a SFR? How long has it been vacant? Where is the property? Have you done market comps? What are your screening and tenant criteria? Tell me more, I'd be happy to help.

If you can get a HELOC on your own home and use that to pay for the entire $70, that is what I would recommend. You can always refinance, but closing costs will be less, you can close almost immediately and you can negotiate more aggressively, since you are paying with "cash." I love HELOCs for all of those reasons.

Why wouldn't you take care of it? Those rats will eventually find a way inside and then you will definitely have a problem. The cost of doing something, traps, sealing up the house, calling an exterminator, would all be relatively minor, but the cost of the tenants feeling like you don't care about them or the property is significantly greater. I like to err on the side of taking good care of my tenants rather than not.

In my city, that solely depends on the zoning and the number of units per acre allowed. If the area you are in allows 8 dwellings per acre and your area is already at 8, the city will not allow you to split that property, creating 9 units per acre. There are also requirements for number of off street parking spots per unit, private entrances, etc.

Sounds like a decent deal, congrats! You can use an attorney you trust to help with the paperwork if you prefer to not use an RE agent. Also, this being a townhome, I assume there is an HOA? If so, I'd take a very close look at the bylaws- in some cases an HOA can dramatically influence your ability to manage your investment and what your cash flow and appreciation look like. Good luck!

 I would use my discretion. Are they good tenants who pay on time and don't cause much trouble? If so, it's not worth $175 to change that. I'd just have a conversation with them about it and tell them that you aren't passing on the charge this time.

No need to be afraid of wholesalers, they can be your best friend. Most of the ones I've met and worked with have been good people doing their best. I think that rep probably is because many people try to get their start in RE by wholesaling and don't have a comprehensive understanding of how a rehab works or how much it costs. In a situation like that, try to educate them. Who knows, they could bring you a home run on their next deal. I'd happily pay someone a few thousand dollars to do all of the work of finding and negotiating a great deal for me. Look at wholesalers as your very own sales reps that you only have to pay if they bring you a killer deal. 

Hi @Jennifer D.- I can't really answer that question because I don't know anything about the Houston market. What I would say is that you should meet with a realtor and some other investors to find what reasonable buying criteria for your situation and your market might be. Are you most interested in cash flow? Cash on cash return? Appreciation? Forced appreciation? It's nearly impossible to get all of those things in a single deal, so you need to decide what your greatest need is and if you have the means and the market is able to meet those needs. 

Once you decide what your criteria are, don't waiver. Negotiate harder, come up with more creative terms or wait, but don't soften your resolve- you will learn and be better prepared to recognize a great deal when you see one.