All Forum Posts by: Don Konipol

I am currently trying to close on a church in Nashville (residential R6-A zoning) and convert it into my primary residence. Two separate property appraisers (at the direction of the lender) were sent out to appraise, and neither was willing to appraise it as a "residence", and thus financing fell through (conventional primary loan). At this time, I am having to pay all cash in order to close.

Purchase price is approximately $600k. Since I'm taking such a cash hit, I asked the sellers agent if they would be able to designate some portion of the sale price ($200k?) as a "donation" (translating to the benefit of taking a deduction for 2025). They are amenable. My agent is saying that we are unable to split the contract that way (or reduce the purchase price), so I'm trying to figure out options. My tax professional is stating that I would need an appraisal to show the lot/structure are valued at $400k if I try to claim $200k as a donation.

Looking for any creative input on how something like this could be structured.

I am looking to secure my first tax sale and need another investor to go in on the deal. What are some terms that would appeal to an investor? I've never had to use hard money before, so I am not sure what type of conditions are reasonable. I am offering 15% interest on the initial investment plus 40% ROI after a six-month grace period. What penalties are normal for this type of partnership?

I visit fairly often with investors looking at a certain vacation rental property to make an offer on.  I am not a realtor, so I cannot give advice as though I am one, but there are some guidelines that I have used personally over the years, with great success. Maybe these will help you, too!

You’ve found the property you like, and the numbers seem to work, but it’s more than you can afford or want to pay. Here is the Collin Hays method of buying the property at what you want to pay:

1. Don’t ask the seller what their best offer is. They’ve already priced the property. This puts both you and them in an uncomfortable situation, as you are inferring that they didn’t already price it fairly.
2. Don’t make a list of the flaws of the property and use that to try to talk the seller down. They know they ins and outs of their property, and you bad-mouthing the property isn’t going to going to endear you to the seller. If you want the seller to accept a lower offer, you can’t offend them.  
3. Consider the possibility that the property is already priced quite fairly. I have given asking price several times with no quibble, particularly if I really liked the property and the numbers worked well.  
4. If you really like the place but you feel that it is priced too high for your budget, instead of saying “it’s priced too high” and insulting the seller, simply say “I absolutely love your place; it is exactly what I want, and I’d really like to buy it. It’s just more than I can afford, and I don’t want to offend you with a low offer.” If the seller says, “Oh no, feel free to give us an offer”, then there is your invitation.  
5. Find out what the seller has invested in the property if you can. In many states, this is public information. You can find the most recent sales price for the property on the local tax records website or by doing a quick search on Zillow. If you are trying to buy a $ 1 million home, and they bought it 20 years ago for $250,000, it’s likely they have a whole lot more wiggle room – and less price sensitivity – than someone who paid $1.2 million for it last year. Of course, what they paid isn’t going to take into account the money they have spent on renovations or remodeling, which can be substantial.  
6. Finally, even with a substantial discount, the house may not be worth it. Do your due diligence and make sure the numbers work for you. It may be that it works quite well at the asking price.  It may be that the price needs to be substantially less for the numbers to work.  You do not owe the seller any explanation on this.  They already made their investment using their own reasoning; now it's your turn.

Happy Hunting!

Money isn't easy to save and $10,000( my debts) is a ton of money I want to save for a downpayment, I'm just starting so I don't have any money I would like to save $60,000 to buy a rental property, I think I could do it in  5-6 years, my brother filed bankruptcy and they relieved him of $6000 in debt from cash money.

a list of my debt

Gst Hst Tax 4500 income tax from working with my dad I owe
Scotiabank credit card 1400
Canadian Tire credit card 500
cash money loan 2400
Belair 600
echelon 600

should I pay the 10k back in the next while or should I file bankruptcy like my brother as It won't be for years until I am able to get a downpayment for a rental house anyway.

When running numbers on an investment property, I focus more on equity growth than monthly cash flow.

Here’s why:

If I can acquire a property at a low basis and add significant value, I can:

1) Sell and reinvest elsewhere

2) Cash-out refinance to recapture my investment. Id be happy to break-even with the rental income if I get all of my invested capital back.

At this stage in my life, these equity plays are more impactful than holding onto a property for a couple hundred dollars of monthly cash flow.

What’s your take? Do you prioritize equity growth or cash flow in your investments?

A property doesnt increase in value just because an STR is run successfully on it. its value on paper is based on the comparables in the area. The perceived value may be more, because you know an STR was run there and making money, but a lender wont value it more.

I have a friend with a property in a very desirable location in Texas that I believe would be great for STR. It sits on about 1000 acres 30 minutes from Fredericksburg. He does not want to deal with the headache of tenants cleaning or any thing to do with STR. The property is unused most of the year.

How much harder is it to run an STR on a subleased property? Also any tips for automating this as much as possible and how to protect the property financially and property management would be appreciated.

Wholesaling as it is today will be a thing of the past.

It’ll truly be strange to even hear people and gurus trying to make big money off it.

The more people try wholesaling but then end up not having an end buyer or cancelling contracts or trying weird things like novations, the more all of real estate will be regulated and cause requirements like licensing to be able to transact more than just your personal resident purchase.

Which I don't know why hasn't happened sooner.

Here's all the states (in red or yellow) requiring a license to wholesale or at least have started the process:

Credit: REITipster

I think licensing and regulation is a beautiful thing that should happen if you plan to be an wholesaler and do more than one deal... which is going to be the case for anyone taking this business seriously.

Or even it being regulated to need a real estate agent to do more than one deal outside of buying a personal residence.

I've had plenty of failed attempts with agents in pursuit of wholesale deals and I know exactly why, it's not because the agent couldn't find me deals, it's just not practical to think there's opportunity for the numbers a wholesaler needs to make a profit on top of everyone else needing to these days.

Because the only sellers who truly can sell at a deep enough discount are usually those who ran out of time and just didn't do something sooner with their situation.

I know many coaches and gurus will disagree with me but there’s no regulations on youtube gurus and what they teach either.

If we look at the current state of the market in hot cities, the availability of online resources to the average homeowner, how many deals can you possibly believe are available at 70% of ARV?

This isn't 2011-2013 days but many people are stuck in that time period STILL.

As I finish my licensing study, I'm very grateful I chose this route as opposed to being a one trick pony.