All Forum Posts by: John Stevenson

There is good money to be made in flipping houses but there is the potential to lose a lot of money if not done well. My advice to someone just starting out is to find someone to work with that is already in that business and learn everything you can in a hands on environment.

You should consider your holding period. How long will it take from the time of purchase to resell the property? Do you already have a buyer lined up? If you do not, then every month the property stays on the market, you will be paying mortgage interest, taxes, insurance, utilities and lawn care. Though these may not seem like much each month, they will add up and can eat away your profit. Also, do not forget to factor in your cost to sell including any realtor fees if you decide to go that route.

Andrew O. is correct. If you are wholesaling, why would a realtor pay you to pass them leads from the MLS that they already have "free" access to? Or consider an investor for that matter. If you have access to these sites then so do they and they can do the research just as well as you.

Direct mailing is one way to get leads. Word of mouth is another. You need to get word out to your friends and their friends and their friend's friends to locate potential leads that only you know about.

This is a great strategy here. Lender's love it because of the high equity position. It also works well for the investor because it leaves cash on hand. The low ARV makes for an almost guaranteed high yield when the property is flipped. The only challenge is finding the properties.

Fred Maul "My only other concerns is the part of town kind of sucks. "

I gather you will not be living there. So the concern here is can you really rent the units for $1,050 and $1,100 in that area. If so then good. Having Section 8 tenants helps keep the income steady too.

The other concern is whether or not you will be able to find a buyer for the property down the road.

If you can meet these two investor requirements then I wouldn't be overly worried about the location.

It sounds like some of the other posts like Phillip Dwyer and Heather T. have some good advice. If you want to pursue REI then a great place to start is to get a real estate license. The education is not overly demanding nor lengthy and working part-time is possible though you may need to be really good at managing a schedule.

Another way to get into REI is to look into purchasing a property on a land contract. Generally the down payment is much smaller and there is a balloon after 3 to 5 years where in you can get bank financing. Meanwhile, you rent out the property to cover your payment and hopefully a little extra cash in your pocket to reinvest.

This is a compilation from a bunch of different sources. There has been quite a few questions within the forum about how to pursue non-conventional funding. I was interested in opening up the topic for further discussion.

I am not saying that these will in anyway be the norm nor will work for most transactions, but once in a blue moon they may be able to be pulled off.

I encourage collaboration and any other creative financing options that have worked for others.

Many people would like to invest in real estate but either they do not have enough money for a down payment or they do not want to lock their cash into a property purchase. It is possible to buy property with no money down.

1. Roll the down payment into the purchase price. Depending on your credit rating and lending history, some lenders will allow you to finance 100% of the purchase price. This will cause the interest rate and your payments to much higher than if you put money down. But, if you intend to sell the property quickly, it shouldn’t have much of an effect on your profit margin.

2. Negotiate a separate installment plan for the down payment. Negotiate a separate installment plan for the down payment. Sometimes the seller will allow you to pay the down payment on a monthly basis.

3. Trade something other than cash. This could include land, a car, a boat, jewelry or valuable collectibles. Find out what they want and need. Maybe you have, or can get, just what they are looking for. You could also trade services such as carpentry, auto mechanics, painting, dental work and other services that you can do for the seller over time.

4. Trade houses with the seller. Many professional investors acquire homes with no money down by trading one property for another. In some cases, they trade one large property for several smaller rentals. Property trading is also a legal way to avoid the capital gains associated with selling a property.

5. Get the seller to transfer their mortgage to you. This is a common occurrence in foreclosures where the homeowner is eager to sell and is willing to work with the buyer. You can do the deal as an assignment of contract and efficiently close the sale.

6. Apply for a loan assistance program. Talk to your bank, many lending institutions offer programs that allow buyers to put little to no money down on real estate purchases.

7. Find an investment partner. Look for an investment partner who will put up some or all of the cash in an equity-sharing partnership. You make the monthly payments and the two of you split the eventual resale profits.

8. Find a property to rent-to-own or lease with an option to buy. If you have a lease-option for 5 years, at the end of that time, you will need to purchase the house and can get a bank loan then. Meanwhile, you can use the time to fix your credit and/or save for a down payment. Some contracts may put some or all of the rental amount towards the down payment.

9. Get owner financing or a land contract. Another option is to have the seller act as the bank. You make your payments, including interest, directly to the seller. Then after usually 3 to 5 years you make a lump sum payment to the seller. During this time, you should have enough equity to qualify for a standard bank loan.

10. Use a home equity line of credit from another property. If you have equity in another property, you could use that equity as a down payment on purchasing another investment property.

Good luck in finding "cheap" properties in Manhattan. LOL Besides keeping your eyes on conventional MLS websites like Realtor.com and Trulia you might look to engage a good area realtor to keep their eyes open for you. There are also quite a few websites that feature only foreclosures, auctions and REO listings.

I did a quick check on our site and we are only showing 19 properties in the greater NYC area. I would recommend making sure all your ducks are in a row (i.e. pre-qualification approval etc) to make sure you can snap up any good properties that you do find because I doubt they will stay on the market for long.

I am a little unclear on your question. What do you mean when you say "target those sellers" on Realtor.com. Those sellers are already under a contract with a Realtor. If those sellers pursued a listing or sale with you personally then they would be in violation of their listing contract.

If you have a referral/buyer for a property, you should contact the listing agent not the owner.