All Forum Posts by: Dave Savage

Welcome @Mark Fischer from a fellow Rochester, NY investor. You'll find a lot of other Rochester investors here who are willing to help out. Coming to the FFREIA meeting is a good first start to meet other investors in the area and start to get some informaiton.

Feel free to post any questions on here as you start your journey and we would be glad to help you locate target areas to buy your first rental.

LLC is a good way to protect your investment, but there are some things to consider with regards to loans, etc. For the first one you might consider getting umbrella insurance to cover you - but I would talk to a lawyer about it.

Depending on your current living situation, consider buying a Multi and living in one of the units. Getting in at 3.5% down with a low interest rate will be a great investment for years after you move out.

But if they were due a commission I would assume it would be 3%?

@Kenneth James quick analysis for you.

Let's say you were able to get the property Sub-2 on the $165k and only give him $10k.

$175k Purchase + $65k Rehab = $240k

$275k Sale - 6% Commission ($16.5k) = $259k

This only leaves you $19k to cover insurance, taxes, rehab overages, interest while holding, utilities, closing costs on both ends which leaves it with a very skinny profit if any.

IMHO - on to the next deal, assuming your $65k is accurate for repairs - maybe get a contractor in there to give you a bid - if you can get it down to $35-40k it could be a better deal especially if he will let you Sub-2 the original loan.

@Jim Tiernan - I have heard people recommend using Equity >99% but why not go for 80% or even 60%? That would open you up to a lot more leads with a ton of equity.

I usually leave the corporate entities in there, but don't think I have ever received a call from them - hopefully someone else has more info on that selection.

@Isaac Kaai I agree with @J Scott . MLS deals, if they are truly a deal will be picked up by the experienced investors and the agents they work with that are constantly getting MLS updates within a few hours.

Looking for other ways to find a deal will be much more fruitful - direct mail, bandit signs, driving for dollars. Do searches on BP for those topics and you will find a lot of good free info to get started.

With a lot of competition MLS and craigslist will be tough, as other investors will be keyed in and getting the best leads before you even see them. I would door knock on the probate and pre-foreclosure lists if that is your desired path to get started. You will get the door slammed in your face a lot of times, but you never know when someone might want to work with you

You can get a lot of bandit signs for $100 - that is a good way to get the phone ringing and start practicing talking to sellers - as long as it is legal in your area.

Rough numbers depending on market:

ARV-70%-Repairs-Wholesale Profit = what you need to get the property for. You will get a lot of "NOs" but these deals do happen and you can make it work with perserverence

For the front page video I would consider taping yourself talking for 30-60 seconds giving a brief intro to what you do. Make sure to not have it autolaunch upon landing so you don't have someone in an office having it come on at an inopportune time.

I would question whether giving a "free market report" or "how to sell your house report" would result in any more leads than just a simple info entry box but it might be interesting to set up two pages with two numbers and do a comparison. Not sure where you can get a free report, hopefully someone else jumps in.

@Anthony L. welcome to BP and Rochester. There are a lot of other investors in Rochester on the forums, so feel free to ask detailed questions about areas to invest in, etc. Also check out FFREIA to meet other investors in the area.

@Aaron K. If you have already had the inspection I wouldn't worry about the plumbing and electrical. If they didn't catch an issue, most likely a city inspector wouldn't.

Typically you don't do an environmental inspection on the land for a 2-4 family.

Title company will take care of the transfer but you should get title insurance.

Sounds like you have done a lot of Due Diligence, move ahead and start saving for the next property.