All Forum Posts by: Chris Davidson

@Cory Yoviene limit your search and you will get more results. Define your criteria ex: 3/1 single level with detached garage. What ever it may be if you are trying to find properties not marketed you need to be specific. Then let realtors, wholesalers and friends know what you are looking for. Set your finances in order, have funding lined up and be able to communicate how much you are willing to spend and how you are going to spend it. 

The more detail you give the better chance you have of someone else being able to help you find something. 

Cheers!

@James Dillard yes you are on the right train of thought. But this is where it comes down to personal goals and plans. Some will say leave the personal alone you always have security others say get the money where its the cheapest its all the same. How you interpret that is up to you. If you are making sound investment purchases and not over leveraging why not go for the cheaper money if you are the only one paying the bills. Where I would draw a hard line on not using personal is if you were partnering and didn't have complete control. 

My vote is take the cheaper money in the end it all spends the same why pay more.

@Brian Gonsalves in short talk to a CPA about how it will effect your taxes, and a lawyer on how to handle the transition and setup from your parents to an llc that you and your sister would be running along with how that is going to effect child support (this might be more than one lawyer family lawyers sometimes don't do business law). 

Side note borrowing on properties that are under a llc can be more difficult than an individual that is looking to borrow against. So I would add a banker/lender to the mix and make sure that if you do all of this you will still be able to obtain the financing you are looking for.

Hope that helps and congrats on the rapid expansion

@Stepan Fedetskiy. I would work it backwards. While 50k is a good chunk to get started with depending on the flip cost, acquisition cost, and holding cost, that money could run out quickly at certain price points. Hardmoney will help you get the house, but involve higher holding cost, but allow you to retain more of the gains, where as an investor might be willing to split the gains and cover some cost. 

The biggest thing is creating relationships and that is what will make or break the deal. Hope this helps!

@Peter Morgan Flip the breakers off and see if the meter is still moving. Without knowing the apartment and its wiring hard to trouble shoot. The things that draw power are water heaters, and appliance. Make sure a neighbor is stealing the power either but going to have to spend time there and looking at the meter to see where the power is going. 

Best Of Luck Mate!

@Asif Ahmed as far as a credit or debit card it really boils down to what you perfer. Now days a lot of debit cards have the protection of credit cards. I personally just opened another credit card to get the points and all credit transaction through it, and had a checking account for rents and also cutting contractors checks if they didn't take credit. Then had a savings account set up for the security deposit. That worked for me for the first few properties. I think there are two camps the every property has its own books business name and etc. then the others. Which is better I am not sure as I am not a lawyer and haven't had a horror story of lawsuits yet to make me think each property needs to be under a different company. 

Id find a local meet up and see what is the normal in your area and that will help give you an idea on they laws and questions to ask. Some states are way easier to deal with and make setting up businesses and accounts really easy others not so much.

@Robert Whitelaw why not work it backwards. You know you have 70k, see what kind of loan(s) you qualify for. If you can get in a lower down conventional 70k runs a lot further if you are stuck at 25% you are limited to 280k, and that might knock out some markets for the property types you are looking for.

If you want to talk more about the Boise market would love to chat just hit me up!

@Juan David Maldonado when you say current appraised value of 66k, was that the tax assessed value, or did the estate have an appraisal performed on the property?

If the Estate had an appraisal on the property get your hands on that report and they will show how they calculated the value. If it is the county tax assed value then check out your local counties website and see how they determined it if you really want to know, but it has correlation with actual market value.

Hope that helps out!

@Fernando Juarez way to do your homework before making the jump. There are many many different careers one could take to be involved in real estate. Just to name a few that you didn't mention: inspector, contractors, property management, escrow officer, loan officer, underwriter, surveyor, and many more. 

I think finding what interest you and give the challenge you are looking for while being able to provide for the life style you desire is completely personal. 

@Ray Martinez There is a lot of toss up on this one. First I would say the HELOC can be cheaper if it takes longer to find an investment as after setting up there is no cost until a draw is made. The Flip side to this is that doesn't spark the fire to get an investment going with the newer usually larger payments coming in and a pile of cash just sitting there. If you are ready to buy know your cost the cash out could be better as the rates are lower.

The flip side is say you cash out at 80k but needed 100k for the deal, or you cash out for 100k and only needed 80k but are now financing 20k you didn't really need for the next 30 years. Granted probably only pushed your payment up 80/ month for that extra 20k. 

I personally am a fan of the HELOC but think both have advantages. Best of luck Ray!