All Forum Posts by: Dan Shelhamer

@Chris Mason  Awesome points.  Cash out refi sounds like the way to go for me because I do not plan on sitting on the sidelines.  Also, a huge advantage is being able to buy those 'cash only' purchases and going to auctions.  Your point on how some RE investors become hard money lenders is very eye opening, and a strategy I have yet to hear!  Thanks again Chris!

HELOC or Cash out Refi? This may be a dumb question, but just wondering which one is better to use? Which one is a cheaper way to do it, or are they basically the same thing?

I currently owe $176k on my primary residence, and it is worth $225-230k.  Also, a current rental property I am looking at would have roughly $68k in equity after fixing it up if my numbers are correct.  Is their a way to pull out the equity on both of these properties in order to then have 80-90% of $117k (total equity in both).  Then be able to buy 2-3 more properties with that.  Also, want to make sure I am not over leveraging myself but my strategy is long-term hold so I'm not sure if that even matters.  Please let me know your thoughts/advice.

Thanks in advance!!

I am interested.  Is this still on the market?  What's the estimated repair costs?  Financing available?

@Josh Mitchell The taxes are right around $6K based on Zillow (Lake County has the highest property taxes in Illinois).  Down payment will be 20% ($23,000).  Insurance, I would believe to be around $400-500/year.  I am not going to hire a property management company for this one, at least not right away.  Being that it's my 1st deal,  I would like to learn the ropes myself and then turn to PM as I add more properties to my portfolio.  I will be doing a lot of the work myself (painting & floors), but also do expect some unforeseen things to show up in the inspection.  Also, figuring $100/month for maintenance/upkeep.  I'm hoping to have around a 8% vacancy rate or better.  Thanks for your time on this!

@Hattie Dizmond thank you for your input on this!!

So I am making my 1st offer today on a foreclosure. I have plugged the #'s into a rental calculator, but wanted to see what the more experienced investors think. I am offering $115k on a 3 bed, 2 bath, 1372 square foot home. It doesn't seem to need much work (paint, floors, dishwasher, and fridge), so I am thinking under $10k. The estimated rent is around $1,600, and that is what scares me a little. I was trying to get closer to the 2% rule, but the equity I can get if I get it at $115k seems good. The ARV is around $170k, maybe a little more. Let me know what you think about this deal. Thanks!

So basically I cannot make an offer on any home without being pre-approved first? I was under the impression that you just needed a pre-qualification to make an offer, and then if your offer gets accepted is when you would need to be pre-approved? Thank you.

I am in the process of looking for my 1st buy & hold property.  I got my pre-qualification letter from Chase about a month ago.  I found a property that I would like to make an offer on, however, my agent has told me that I need to get prequalified from 'Caliber Home Loans' in order to make an offer on this specific house.  He said it is basically their way of trying to "get my business".  Is this a real thing?  I feel like Caliber is probabaly paying any agents a referral bonus for having their clients do this.  I really do not want to start getting pre-approved through all these different lenders.  It is a waste of time, and I feel like it will hurt my credit.  Please let me know what all of you have experienced with situations like this.  Ist this real or am I being taken advantage of?

I am in the process of creating a direct mail marketing list for Absentee owners. The criteria I used was a 15 mile radius of my zip code, 3-4 bedrooms, 2-3 bathroom, 70% equity or more. After inputting that, I got a list of 874 leads. I feel like there can't be that many absentee owners that fall into my criteria. Looking for some input on anyone who has some experience using ListSource or any list service for their direct mail marketing. What criteria do you put into the list, and how big is your average list?Also, how do you handle the mailing aspect? Thanks in advance!

I just turned 26, and bought my 1st home at 24 using an FHA loan. I was lucky to be able to "house hack", as I have my brother, buddy, and girlfriend all living in it, and covering the mortgage & utilities. I have always been very passionate to learn about Real Estate, and Bigger Pockets opened up so many more possibilities for me as an investor. I am currently educating myself on everything related to RE (the bigger pockets podcast is an amazing tool), and am looking to purchase my 1st rental in the next few months. I also want to do wholesaling/flipping to acquire more capital for rentals. My goal is to have my properties paid off in 10 years, and have $12-$15k/month of passive income. I am looking for properties in the Northern Suburbs of Chicago if anyone out there is selling!

I have a great realtor who helped me find the home I currently reside in & love in only a couple months.  I have now reached out to her again to help me in the process of finding a foreclosure that would make a great cash-flowing rental property.  However, after all of the books I have read & research I have done, it seems that most investors do direct mail marketing.  My feeling is that by the time it is on Zillow, Redfin, etc. that it is already too late to get a great deal (as it has been seen by several investors already who clearly passed on it).  I feel that I need to get some postcards sent out to homes in my area, and start doing some work myself to truly get a great deal.  Do investor's primarily do the work themselves on finding those hidden gems?  What is your opinion on this? 

Thanks in advance!