All Forum Posts by: Stephen Dickey

There are definitely free and clear homes out there that are available for investing. It might be easier, however, to find homes that do not have a current mortgage, but might have liens or judgement. Go to your county assessors office and tell them you are interested in homes that are coming up for foreclosure. A lot of these homes are being foreclosed due to tax liens, judgement, etc. Some of these houses will not have a mortgage, and you will just have to pay whatever is owed. Or, you could get homeowners info and contact them about selling. Some times they will be motivated due to their situation, and then you could very well have a deal...

Great deal! Keep it going! And now, if the opportunity arises, you could very well have some equity to play with as well!!

I have rented numerous times before, and unless i lived in a 'complex' i was always responsible for the upkeep of the house. If i remember correctly, i am pretty sure their was a clause in the lease that said as much.

@Chris Mason This right here is gold:

• Advanced level of the above bullet (this may only work in CA): About 3 months before your appraisal, start going to open houses as a "buyer," and request disclosure packages from listing agents for those soon-to-be-comps of yours. The nuggets of gold there, that the appraiser may not wish to research because appraisal fees have not tracked with median income increases, can be a huge help.

This right here might even be better!!

• Make sure your dog doesn't bite the appraiser. 

LOL!!!!

Long story short, this house is our first time doing a flip, so we are cash-out refi'ing in order to pay off some hard money loans and finishing some landscaping work before putting it on the market (lucky for us we had a substantial profit margin!!). We won't profit near as much as we initially expected, but that is the beauty of this game. You live and learn! That is why we are dependent on this appraisal, bc it dictates how much money we can pull out. On our future projects, I am sure there are ways to become more efficient as far as profitability. Thanks for the suggestions though! I will definitely be visiting some open houses in the near future!!

@Russell Brazil it is a cash-out refinance. Appraiser will be working with the lender. I am expecting a conservative number, but i know what the market value of this property should be. I am going all in, will not lose on this. Thanks for the knowledge, though. Very informative!

Very solid @Nick C.. Will take action on your advice. Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen. It is a new year. We all know this. Time to reach for the skies and make dreams a reality..

That being said, NEVER hesitate on an opportunity. Hesitation is a direct result of fear, and fear will limit you from reaching your desired outcome. The only thing that correlates from hesitating is regret. 

Take action. Make something happen. Pull the trigger. If not, your opportunity will pass right before your eyes.

Become a lion. Be a savage. Destroy your goals. Help others. If not, you will be sitting on the sidelines.

Play the game.

**Disclaimer**

I am well aware that residential real estate appraisals are to be done completely ethical. We are not  to persuade/convince/ pressure them in any way, shape, or form. By doing so is in clear violation of appraisal practices.

With that being said, does anyone have any tips/pointers/suggestions as to how to go about the best way of communicating with an appraiser to get the desired result? This is a tricky subject because you obviously don't want to cross any lines, but there has to be a way to do so to get a "number" in their head of what you think the outcome should be. I am currently using the BRRR method to some success, but with it being 2017, it is time to kick it up a notch and maximize opportunity. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Once again this post is not meant to be unethical, just want some good pointers dealing with the psychology of the mind and how to create opportunities.

Depends on what you are looking for in a partner. What are you looking for them to bring to the table?

Self-discipline. Doing the things i tell myself i am going to do. Change my daily habits to put myself into the best position to succeed.