All Forum Posts by: Chanté Owens

Hello BP Community!

I've been reading a lot here, and I know there are some people who are self-employed here; however, I am curious about how funding has worked for those who are self-employed with one or more of the the following "barriers":

• Highly fluctuating yearly income
• Limited amount for down (say the 3-10% range)
• Being in your self-employed field for less than 2 years
• Fair credit/Credit Issues/Bankruptcies

These are just general questions.I know quite a few self-employed people who make anywhere from 15k to 1m a year, but they all discuss how frustrating it is to (try) to get "traditional" financing when self-employed and applying for mortgages; regardless of credit. The ones with more money have pooled together with one or two others and been able to purchase properties, but those who don't know others with money or willing to risk it on them are finding it difficult to find funding since they are self-employed.

Oddly enough, some of the people I know with a lot of money have the worse credit, and the ones who barely make 15k a year have great credit (not all, but a strange skew of people).

I'm just curious, as I am self-employed, and I know I'm going to have to think creatively when I am ready to purchase my multifamily in a couple of years.

I'm looking forward to the responses!

@Will Barnard You make a valid point about "transparency" and I hadn't really thought about it from that perspective. Having been in the insurance industry for so long, you tend to want the "path of least visibility," because we all know people love to sue "deep pockets." I've even heard Mark Cuban say this on the Shark Tank (yes, I love that show), that there are some deals he won't do, because he has the deepest pockets and he will be the first named in the lawsuit.

I decided a long time ago that if I worried about being sued I'd never be able to have any kind of business, so with that...get good insurance; be prudent, and go on about my business.

@Kimo Baenen Welcome! Kauai is sooo beautiful; what a great place to have met your wife. I'm looking forward to my move to Seattle next year. Wishing you the best in your ventures.

@Chris Martin I've been thinking about this too; especially (in the distant future), I own commercial properties. I'd prefer not to necessarily be found so easily; however, I know that if someone wants to find out something they can...it just depends on how much time and $$$ they are willing to expend!

@Brandon Turner Thanks! Great to be here =)

(Linking doesn't seem to be working for everyone I try to "@")

@J Scott I definitely agree. Building trust and credibility doesn't happen over night, so by being an active participant (even if you are just starting out and don't know much), can lend itself to building trust and credibility. People want to do business with people they can trust to do what they say they are going to do, and be readily accessible.

One pet peeve I have is a long delay for a response, even if a person reaches out to me and says, "Hey, I got your email/msg, but I'm still awaiting additional information and will get back to you within the next few days."

In my opinion, one of the worse feelings is not being able to get in touch with someone in a reasonable amount of time. That doesn't mean they have to be accessible 24/7, but responsiveness is key to doing business transactions.

@Will Barnard Trust me, if I had the capital, I'd look forward to doing deals with you! That's a goal of mine I'm shooting towards! :)

@Michael Quarles That is incredible! I figured you were doing well with your new program/strategy! So much information on this site!

@Michael Quarles will likely respond, but in response to your question Kim, I think that when he speaks to these people, it may be the timing, and they are desperate to get out from their home, and will state an amount he is willing to pay, thus likely getting that property at a lower price, and then turning around and selling it "as-is."

Sometimes people are moving and leaving the country and just need to sell quickly, or a whole bunch of other reasons, and if they receive his mailing at the right time and they make a deal with him, then he wins, and can buy that property and sell it to someone for more. His strategy sounds pretty good, because the people are calling him; he knows the max he's willing to pay, so he's not wasting any time with those that are out of his range, and if he expends a nominal amount of time, and even makes just $1000, it's still profit, with minimal energy expended. Just my .02 on how I viewed it when I first read this thread.

Hmm. That's a curious concept, and from an insurance standpoint, I wonder how this risk is underwritten for an insurance policy given that's definitely a new concept, but there are a lot of intricacies I could see with that, as @Ben Leybovich intimated in his post.

@Anson Young Thanks for the warm welcome. Hahaa, no worries, I'll be moving, but my parents still live here, and I'll be doing business here, so it (literally) will be my "home away from home."