All Forum Posts by: Glenn Mayo

When lease-optioning to a tenant/buyer, do you pass repairs on to them, or do you take care of them yourself?

 This is solid, excellent advice. I will be filing this away for further consideration and using it to guide my buying choices. Thank you very much!

Hi, Kelly! Yes, I've considered wholesaling, but the thing is, I need to first do two things 1) learn EXACTLY how to do it, and 2) learn how to REALLY identify good deals. There are enough bad wholesalers out there already making things difficult for good wholesalers. I don't want to be another one. And I want my name to be one buyers are glad to hear, not one they roll their eyes at. So...I'm taking Ben Leybovich's advice and studying.

On that score, since you're a hard money lender, could you explain to me how exactly that works? All the intricacies and ins and outs? If I want to do anything in real estate, sooner or later (probably sooner), I'm going to have to use hard money, so it'd be a good idea to have more than a vague idea of how hard money lending works. :)

Interesting points, all. I definitely don't want to buy at retail, but I can't afford a major rehab. The "paint and carpet" variety is about as extreme as I can get at the moment, and that's because that's work I can do myself.

@JoannaWeber, I am EXACTLY in the middle of "The Millionaire Real Estate Investor" now. I hope to finish it this weekend. Excellent book!

In my area, I'm finding a lot of homes that have been previously purchased by investors and rehabbed, and are often FSBO, owned free and clear. I also have the great fortune to be located smack dab in the middle of an area that is in the early, but identifiable, stages of gentrification. I have heard it said that, if you're planning on buy and hold, it's ok to pay a little more for your rental properties. So, my question is, is that true? And if so, how does that apply to the kind of situation I described above? What percentage of retail do you think would be fair for a home that is newly rehabbed and move-in ready?

Thank you for the sage words, Ben. I have several books I'm reading, and I want to pick up several more (including yours). I will take your advice, hold off on jumping in, and finish studying before I try to move again. 

All:

I greatly appreciate the advice and admonishment. Please keep it coming!

Yeah, you all are right.

But see, this is also why so many newbies fail to launch. We're encouraged, rightly I think, to get out there, do something, make mistakes, learn, and BECOME investors, but there is SO much that we don't know, and there are so many potential pitfalls, that many of us just never get started. I could have sunk myself on my first deal if I hadn't had red flags go off and come here for advice. I guess you could say that it's good that the red flags did go off, but I couldn't pinpoint WHY they were going off. What happens when they DON'T go off? 

I want to get in on real estate investing. I want it so badly I can taste it. For over 20 years I've been interested in real estate, and I kept letting other people talk me out of it. "As an agent, you only get paid on commission, and that's not a steady income." "Investing is too risky." "Now's not the right time to get into the market." (Heard that one in 2008, even though I KNEW it was the best buyer's market I'd ever seen) "The way to wealth is through a steady job and saving." (How many of us have heard THAT one before? Usually from family members who are not wealthy) Well, I want to get in NOW, and I keep hearing the same advice from people who ARE actually doing it and ARE actually successful: "Jump in. Don't wait until you know everything or have a 20% down payment. You'll never get started if you don't get started, and you'll learn along the way. Learn from other people's successes and do what they do - what they've shown works." Well, that's what I'm trying to do, but apparently, I'm missing something key, and I don't know what. @Ben Leybovich, you're doing EXACTLY what I want to do, and I'm starting from a similar place as you did. MANY others have done it as well. I KNOW it can be done. I KNOW it. So what am I missing? What's the final puzzle piece that brings everything I've learned over the years together and opens the door and lets me in? That's why I'm here. That's what I need to know. Clearly, this property isn't going to work for me, and I'm glad you guys showed me that, because I don't want to make the kind of mistake this would have been. But how do I know when an opportunity really IS a good deal, and how do I put it together to buy it right?

Great, great stuff guys! Thank you very much. THIS is why I come to Bigger Pockets - to get this kind of education. As a newbie, I honestly believe there are going to be a lot of times where I don't know what I don't know, and you guys pointing this stuff out, and even telling me where I'm being stupid, is a BIG help, ESPECIALLY since it could save me a lot of time, headache, and money. Based on what you all have told me, I think I'll walk away from this one and look for something else. But, since it's possible that SOMEONE in Texas (or someone outside Texas looking to get into the DFW market) could do something with this, it's MLS # 13291855. If anyone is able to do something with it, give me a shout so I can see what you did and how you did it. Thanks again, guys!

 Ben, your response is EXACTLY why I posted this, and why I asked you to look at it. I knew there was something wrong with how I was thinking, but being new, I couldn't pinpoint what it was. It's that shift from HOW to WHY that I was overlooking.

Now, that being said, this IS a real place, the listed price is $125,000, and the ARV is $110,000 - $115,000. If you were looking at it, knowing that you like to buy with as little out of pocket as possible, how would you do it?