All Forum Posts by: Felix Goldstein

I majored in beer drinking.  but officially the piece of paper that i got said BS in Business Management.  If I was 18 again,  I would not go to university.  taking Canadian Literature didn't help at all. and it cost about 2k for the class. and even more importantly it cost me time.  Running a business is common sense.  It doesn't take enrolling in a class to figure it out.   the only two classes that were helpful were accounting (2 semesters worth) and law (2 semesters worth also).  

I was excited to start college.  I thought it was going to be something new and more interesting then high school. it was the same old thing. go to class. read some boring books about topics that didn't interest me, etc.

since it has been discussed here about getting degrees related to REI, from what i've heard, there are universitites that offer, Real Estate degrees. I think its better to go out there and do it, rather then sit in some class and read a book. i look at income and expenses and projected cap rates when i'm offered properties. It looks nice on paper, but then you get in the real world... and well you know how that is.

reading the posts here got me thinking, how many investors didn't go to college?

I'm confused by your post.  i usually call the city and ask them if i can do what i want to do. if not its not the end of the world.  properties can get rezoned.

usually you can not operate a business out of a single family home. sometimes i have seen SFHs that are zoned commerical and therefore can have a business operating out of the SFH.

I have been focused on wholesaling commercial properties (and residential) locally where i live.  if its too far for me to drive and show the property, i'm not sure how to go about doing that.  if i'm wholesaling a property that is too far for me to drive to to show it, the prospective buyers that i am offering the property too might just sign with the deed holder, since the deed holder is showing them the property, what is to prevent them from not buying from me but working with the deed holder directly?  BP is full of great people giving good advise. hopefully, someone can enlighten me?

investing in residential RE as opposed to commercial is like selling a 10 year old honda civic as opposed to selling a freightliner semi truck.  plus there is WAY less commercial RE out there then residential. houses are a dime a dozen. but not so with commercial.  since you are just venturing into the commercial RE i would recommend talking to a few commercial real estate brokers.  i would make sure they are "CCIM" certified.  ask them if they are. they will usually have "CCIM" after their name.  it means they know what they are doing. finding one that is honest also is also a must for me.  

as far as leases and managing yourself. a lot of times the leases are different for each tenant.  more times then you would think, one or both buyer and seller each have a lawyer looking over the paperwork.  

your tenant is a business that is engaged in well business. as opposed to just a tenant living in a property.  there are zoning requirements.  if your tenant is speedway which wants to operate a gas station the city might say no. but if your tenant is walgreens, the city might be ok with a retailer.  here locally i heard that dunkin donuts, i believe it was, wanted to open up a donut shop on a property,  the city wouldn't allow a drive through. so that deal didn't go through.

comps are a lot harder to find because the properties can be so different.  i would recommend loopnet.com. they have a free account that you can sing up for. they also have a paid account that you can get that give you more options.

if you want an easier transition into commercial try getting into multi family.  think of them as a whole bunch of houses all in one building. easier to manage.  i talk to many residential investors who only buy multi family (5 unit+ properties).

borrowing to purchase them is different.  lenders usually have two different loan officers. one that does commercial another one that does residential RE.

i like commercial properties more because its more interesting.  i can offer/have offered properties to rite aid, CVS, and Walgreens.  I also like it because they (tenants) are more professional then just some tenant wanting to rent a house.  especially if you are working with a national company.  

it it not uncommon for a deal to take a year or two to go through. houses get sold relatively quickly compared to commercial RE.

i wouldn't feel bad.  sellers and agents/brokers lie ALL the time.  it sounds like you relied on an agents lies when making your offer, so i would say its not all your fault.  the agent that told you about the supposed appreciation of the property was not ethical! and you are worried about being ethical?!?!

yes, for the most part you can find another agent to work with.  i have had agents want me to sign an exclusive representation contract.  so i would not be able to work with another agent. I never sign those.  I don't know the agent that well.  what if they are a bad agent. then i would be stuck with them.  agents are a dime a dozen.  

even if the seller can sue you for something, sometimes its not worth it to sue because the damages that the plaintiff would win is small and not worth going to court.  CONSULTING AN ATTORNEY MIGHT BE A GOOD IDEA. I'M NOT AN ATTORNEY. just speaking from experience

@Lauren Patrick i had no problem doing a tenant account and getting the water on in my name.  I bought the property on a land contract.  there policy supposedly is to have someone that bought a property on a land contract open a tenant account.  all i did is show them my land contract with the deed holder, paid a REFUNDABLE (if the bill gets paid) tenant deposit, and they turned the water on.  you might of had a problem because they like to mess with people. if someone is an actual tenant, they would show their lease. I don't want to pry in your business, but what did the goobers (and that is putting it lightly) tell you?  you can help by starting a revolution and calling and writing cleveland city council. also going to the next city council meeting would also help.  If hundreds of us showed up to city hall, that would get them stepping.  the cleveland water dept is beyond repair, it needs to be repealed all together.  In my opinion, that is the only way to put a stop to this. cleveland city council needs to just repeal the whole water dept ordinances.  if a private company running the water and sewer is not possible for some reason, then one of the suburbs needs to take over the water and sewer around here.  

@James Wise, if you have doughts wheather i'm on the right track perhaps you can ask a lawyer to look at the following Cleveland Ordinances and ohio revised code statutes.  that would save you time.  yes time is the most precious thing.   Not trying to sound arrogant or nothing just having a discussion with you.  I can see how you would have dought wheather i'm right.  You don't know me from Adam. Cleveland Codified Ordinance Sections 543.02, 535.04, 535.01(q) (this is for people that like land contracts like me).  also ask a lawyer to look at Ohio Revised code sections 743.04(A)(1)(b) (this is huge), and 743.04(A).  My guess is some of the owners of your 700+ unit portfolio, would be very interested in cutting their sewer and water bill by two.  My guess also is that the owners of your 700+ unit portfolio are lawyers. 

     since i got to talking about lawyers, perhaps the lawyers that own some of the properties that you manage might be willing to make a phone call on my behalf and take care of my water issue.  dealing with the water dept is draining all my energies.  that was not my intention in posting this thread, but now that i got to writing this, this thought came to mind.  I just showed them how to cut their water bill by 2.  

    the other reason i know i pushed their buttons, is becuase they are REALLY REALLY messing with me.  believe it or not, someone from the city called the county and had them delete my land contract transaction from the county site!  i call them the next day, and they tell me that i'm not the owner. not becuase "I only have a land contract" like they told me before, but becuase they say the last transaction is the deed being transfered to such and such a company.  the last transaction should be that same such and such a company signing a land contract with me.  i had to call the county, and have them put my purchase back on the county site.  That was done becuase i called the police on one of the managers at the water dept!  i don't just get the police involved or sue people for any old thing.  Someone has to make me really really mad for me to do something like that.

what i would really like to know is are there any private companies that supply water and take care of the sewage to properties in Ohio? If some people from other parts of the state can let me know that would be great.

@James Wise lets do something about this. i didn't write this post to rant and rave. I wrote this to put a stop to this. 

Cleveland Dept of water rips their own constituents off!  They over bill people, their service sucks, their employees are incompetent, etc.  I started quoting Cleveland codified ordinances sections 535.04, and 543.02 to them.  Those explain how much they are supposed to charge everyone for water and sewer.  It is extremely difficult to get them to follow their own ordinances (policies).  And instead of apologizing for their "mistake," they get mad and start talking nonsense.  They are beyond repair and need to go!  I'M NOT AN ATTORNEY. IT MIGHT BE A GOOD IDEA FOR YOU TO CONSULT AN ATTORNEY ABOUT THESE ORDINANCES.

I think what we investors need to do is start calling, writing, and/or going to the city council meetings and DEMAND that they repeal the ordinances for that and just get rid of the whole Cleveland water dept. It would be better if all of us contact city coucil and demand that they get rid of the Cleveland dept of water.  Just me or someone else doing this might not be enough. If your property is in the suburbs of Cleveland,  you are still dealing with the city of Cleveland water dept, unfortunately, and Cleveland ordinances for water apply to you. 

Cant a private company run the water in Cuyahoga county? Are there private company that operate water and sewer in Ohio? just like gas and electric.

I wonder if we have a class action lawsuit against the city that an attorney would want to take on?  This is huge! EVERY SINGLE BILL for sewer that they send out is wrong.

I do email of intent first.  It has price, contingencies, and time to close.  If seller agrees then I sign purchase/sell binding agreement.  Some times I would ask for option.  So I can see what I can/want to do with property 

@Cory Baker, i would seel a 14 year old properties. esspecially if they come with cash.  if they say they want to finance, ... i don't know if i would do that. probably not. maybe if they explain how they plan on finding the money.

@Damon Armstrong