All Forum Posts by: Geordy Rostad

@Fili Aguirre

The other problem with this approach aside from the money is the time. Seems like burning $100 of gas would take several hours.

You should go to the area and get a good feel for it a couple times maybe and try to establish a ground team.

Are you planning to do the rehab yourself?

Are you planning to self-manage?

The only way to scale in this game is to create systems.

You should definitely read that book i suggested in my first answer. I think it would really help you in this case.

Hi @Jack Glazer

Have you read this book yet? Lot's of excellent info in there about long distance investing:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/store/long-distance-real-estate-investing-ultimate

You could start small with some out of town single family BRRRRs to test the waters a bit?

Hi @Account Closed

I'm curious why would it cost $100 and why would you have to go there every day? 

You should be able to invest in another city without ever even going there once. This book has a LOT of great information about how to invest long distance and reducing the risk a bit:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/store/long-distance-real-estate-investing-ultimate

@Miles Stanley

Perhaps you should go to some open houses in the area on the weekend and meet some brokers that way. Ask them about their brokerages and see if they like them. Talk with them about some of your goals too. Chances are, they will all point you towards the same places.

@Dominic Licerio

The best advice I've read anywhere on this subject is in this book. There is a fairly substantial section specifically on vetting contractors, how to hire them, how to pay them, how to keep them honest, etc:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/store/long-distance-real-estate-investing-ultimate

Even though you won't be long distance, the entire process he lays out still applies. 

If you decide to be your own general, you're going to end up doing a lot of little jobs that the subs won't cover. If you're ok with that, maybe you could save some money. If you don't know what you're doing, you are better to just hire and watch the first time or two.

@Dakota Lawhorn

Buying a property at an auction is definitely not a good way to jump into real estate investing. Especially if your resources are limited. There's some disadvantages:

1) can be lots of competition on the best projects.

2) sometimes only 1/10 or 1/20 of the properties scheduled actually make it to the auction on the day they are scheduled.

3) The noteholder (the bank) can actually bid against you to try to squeeze more money out of the property.

4) You can't inspect the property ahead of time.

5) You won't always know if it's occupied or not.

6) Many auctions require cash at the time you win the bid.

Most of the guys that go to these things have deep pockets. They don't show up to the auction to bid on one thing. They show up with like 10 different things they might bid on in the hopes of getting one of them.

You should definitely go to the auction to see what it's like but leave your wallet at home for now

@Katie Criddle

Have you considered doing a hard money loan up front, then do all your fixing and stabilization, then refi to permanent financing after that? Then you'll be able to get all your cash back and lock in the best rates on your permanent financing.

I have two contacts around here that will do 10% down @ 10% interest. I think they will even finance your repairs. This way you get to keep more of your cash free for other projects.

@Alvonta Flemings

There are typically three things you need to buy a property:

1) good credit

2) work history

3) cash

If you have 2 of the 3, you can still buy. If you only have 1 of the 3 it's going to be pretty hard. If you have none of the 3, it's going to be nearly impossible.

There are some ideas for you...

1) Get a cosigner who will lend you their credit to help out. 

2) Get the 3.5% down payment required for FHA from someone as a gift. It has to be documented.

3) Convince the owner to seller finance it to you with zero down. (highly unlikely)

@Albert Gutierrez

I just ran into this exact same situation the other day on a place up here I wanted to buy. All the numbers looked great until I got to the $3800/yr insurance. Looked up the place and figured out it was in a floodway. Not much can be done about that. You just need to factor it in and purchase the property at a price that it will still work with that 

@Christina Savinar

Yes, this can be a viable strategy but most parks don't allow for rentals. You might make more money by buying mobiles in parks in cash.. Say for $8,000, then rehab it and put $5,000 into it, then sell it on a contract for $25,000 with $5,000 down @ 18% interest for 5 years or something. After the paper is seasoned for like 6 months, you can probably sell that too and do it all over again.