All Forum Posts by: Eric H.

Greetings @Kelvin Durham and Welcome to BP. Try the following links.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/hardmoneylenders

http://aaplonline.com/member-directory

Great morning @Mike Brown,

I understand good debt as being debt that you can use to earn a better rate than what the debt is costing you. For example, you incur debt at 5% but spend it on an investment that is making you 10%. Essentially you are making 5% with no out of pocket cash. Another way to use good debt is to get a credit card with no interest for 12-18 months. Use those funds to invest in something that yields a decent percentage before the no interest period ends, pay off the debt, and pocket your profit. Another way to use no interest credit cards is to transfer balances from other cards with high interest rates to the no interest card. The key is to pay off the debt before the no interest period ends.

What is your monthly income? If it is considerably higher than your monthly debt payments you are in good shape. The ratio between the two is called your debt to income ratio or DTI. I think it's good that you are starting to analyze your debt while you only have 3k right now. To put that in perspective, I have about 300k in debt and more than half of it is not what I would consider good debt. Bad decisions I made but also valuable learning lessons.

Finally, your last statement should read "One day I WILL own an apartment building". Speak your dreams/goals into existence. Put it out into the universe, TAKE ACTION, and the universe will reward you accordingly.

Happy investing!!

Peace!!

Great evening @Robin Ferguson,

Who is the audience/target market and on what platform did you send this message? My response to Joe would be "Give me a call to discuss" or I would repeat the original question. I'm not really sure what's Joe perspective but that goes to my 1st point of target and platform.

Let me know what Joe's response is.

Peace!!

Great morning @Seth Thompson,

It ultimately depends on your goals. Having a license can be expensive and a liability. A liability because you are held to higher standards by the real estate commission in your jurisdiction, just more red tape - disclosure, agency, paperwork..... And if you happen to trip over the red tape there could be consequences. I have my license solely for the purpose of gaining access to mls, making offers, and being able to see properties without having to wait on an agent. I am not a 'retail' agent so I stay clear of most of the red tape. My broker is well versed and understands the law well so he keeps me out of trouble too. Definitely interview a few brokers and share with them your goals to make sure you find a good fit. There are plenty of investors in the BP community that do quite well without one.

Happy investing!

Peace!!

Great morning @Ngoc Thy Vo

The simple road to answering your question begins with  "What does your lease state?". The more complex road begins with "What do the laws in Houston state?". Your lease should be legal (Have you had it reviewed by an attorney?) so I would start there. Do not take my word as gospel as I do not know the laws of your jurisdiction but I would assume that if you have nothing in writing from tenant originally stating that he/she did not want to lease anymore you can not keep his or her deposit. But if your lease states otherwise you may be golden. Next time, identify initial deposit as a 'holding fee' that will be transferred to security deposit upon execution of lease terms. A holding fee, you SHOULD be able to keep. A security deposit, you probably will not be able to keep because tenant did not move in. I would not rent to this tenant at all. He or she is showing you who they are. Believe them. To avoid all headaches, I would give tenant the deposit back and use the terms of your lease as ammunition and proof to back out of the deal.

Hope this helps.

Peace!!

Great day @Denise Evans,

Thanks for cleaning that up. Alabama definitely has a unique structure.

Great day @Josh Caldwell,

Results from the sign in the lawn?

Great day @Chris K.,

In year two of direct mail I mailed monthly and focused on Baltimore City and Baltimore County instead of multiple counties. I focused on SFH only instead of sfh + townhomes + condos. Today, I am not doing direct mail but I still get calls from my campaigns and I haven't sent a mailer in almost a year now. I did close 4 wholesale deals and bought one rental but I was not realizing a roi that would justify staying in the game. Furthermore, finances got tight and I plummeted my available funds into rehabbing that rental. You can read about it here.

Now that the rental is stable, I am ready to start marketing again. I've been cold calling on the weekends. No deals done yet...it's been about a month and I have been averaging 50-100 calls in about 1-2 hours. I will be hiring a firm to assist me in cold calling next month. My budget will be a little more than it was for direct mail but I will see how it goes.

Great day @Calene Lambert. Congratulations on taking action!! Congratulations on having a plan!! You are indeed heading in the right direction. With my 1st direct mail campaign I was doing too much. My target market was not clearly defined, I dropped mail too far apart (I was mailing quarterly), and my overall marketing budget was spread too thin (I was doing postcards, hired a va to do internet marketing, and I was doing shared mail). Your expectations are realistic. My advice is just stay consistent with your mailings, return missed calls immediately, and follow up, follow up, follow up.

Happy investing!! Peace!!

Great evening @Justen Ashcraft,

Try this calculator

http://www.interest.com/mortgage/calculators/accelerated-mortgage-payoff/