All Forum Posts by: David Braut

@David Nacco what is your criteria? I noticed a bunch of low priced rentals listed on Zillow.. are only buying off market deals?

@David Nacco how is Suffolk when it comes to flooding recently? How about vacancy rates?

@Daniel Hennek I’m not here to impress you. But Since this forum is here to help people, what do you suggest for ethical marketing ideas to find sellers and what formulas would you use to make sure your deal is ethical? After all we are all here to learn!

@Daniel Hennek I guess I didn’t make myself clear enough. I don’t condone taking advantage of people, littering or justifying “if others do it then it must be ok” mentality.

But there are a lot of double standards and self righteous justifications out there. I’ve seen some horrible work done by realtors on multiple occasions. I turned down a listing from a mentally disabled owner (in a hot market) against the advice of my broker. I even found and contacted the owners sibling to ensure she got the help she needed to stay in her condo.

This is just one example but I have more.

@Kenny Rains this is a great thread! I grew up in vb but currently live in Cali. My rentals are all in Virginia Beach/Chesapeake. The insight into ptown investing is great. As well as Suffolk...

I’d like to start looking at deals in Suffolk to consider (for buy and hold rentals). The last time I was out there I definitely noticed the growth in downtown Suffolk...

I still like vb but man it’s gotten competitive!

@Corey Thompson I understand that bandit signs don’t look nice. But neither does most advertising. That’s not the point. And yes it does work. I’ve bought/sold/rented/optioned deals from bandit signs.

If you typed a negative comment but you send out tons of paper mailers then maybe you should think about how people feel about junk mail or the environmental impact.

If you are a realtor who thinks realtors are out there to save people’s equity by selling their house for them while investors are out there stealing equity then maybe consider that realtors have a bad reputation and are often called vultures by the public. The average sale in my area results in commissions of $20,000 plus. Doesn’t seem too charitable to me.

Don’t forget that investors are often the last person called after realtors or the seller’s well intentioned buddy couldn’t help him.

With that said, people get taken advantage of everyday in every industry. Do what you think is right. Give back when you can... and keep crushing the marketing!

@Neil Schindel a lot of people are getting confused because fmv is usually based on current condition while ARV is value after repairs/remodel.

Also if you’ve verbally disclosed everything and he still wants to sell to you (often times hoarders don’t want to list because they are embarrassed and don’t want a bunch of strangers in their filthy home) then go for it but get all the disclosures in writing and signed by the seller- including that you are a licensed real estate agent. Good luck!

Trailers/manufactured homes have high cost of repair due to them being made with cheap materials in a factory.  You will not own the land, only the "mobile home" which is considered personal property so while it may be an "investment" of sorts, it is not truly a "real estate" investment.  Also consider that one of the major profit centers for mobile home parks is in raising rents regularly so you will have unpredictable expenses when it comes to projecting your lot rent moving forward.  My advice is to put your money down on a cashflowing sfr out of state.  Get a good property manager and enjoy your investment!

Contacting a seller to see if they want to sell is not sleazy, it is necessary.  Just be as honest as possible and don't try and cut the broker out of the deal (if there is a deal).  The best and least sleazy way to cut brokers out of deals is to find unlisted/off market deals, as I believe you were trying to do.

@Neetu Nagi so in that case you might look at stronger cash flow markets like the Midwest.