All Forum Posts by: Val Csontos

@Justin Case  Since most of the properties we had purchased were about 85% leveraged and located in B+ neighborhoods, at first as you would expect they had hardly any cash-flows, how ever after about 10 years they started cash flow very well, and now 16 years later all of them cash flowing very nicely.

As far as full time, goes I am able to cut our  grass in the middle of the week since 2003 :)

Here is the link where MBQ Baltimore allowed areas are listed:

http://www.mbquadel.com/Portals/0/Downloads/Census%20Map.pdf

Also a link where you can specifically look up property addresses.

(not totally user friendly but is doable as it's got a link where you can put your address In and it will give you the code you need for the lookup.

http://www.mbquadel.com/Portals/0/Downloads/Allowa...

@J Scott 

      Yes that is pretty typical with Sec 8 to wait in total of about 3-4 weeks. We do the same, just keep advertising and first come first take it if well qualified of course! Once it is approved by Housing,  

    When we do it, usually I make sure that the place gets inspected and if not passed at first, fix all small things immediately and have the inspector sign the documentation as soon as it is passed inspection, as Housing will start paying you from that day forward.  (even retroactively here in AA county)

@Cody Ferguson  I just have the tenants deposit into our business account. Paying late is not an issue with us because of the following clause in our leases: 

 Tenant understands if he/she pays on or before the 4 of the month the rent is discounted  by $200 for that month. And than we just write the lease with the increased amount , and apply the discount each time.It they ask you why the lease is written that way we tell them the truth that it is to penalize tardiness. Also we chart a $13 fee if they pay with check/money order so they never pay that way anymore. We just have to check the bank account. At the beginning of the month. 

With the above system in place we see with in 24 hours if there is rent, and the majority of the rent payments comes in by the 4th.

Good luck to you!

@J. Martin 

I have done something very similar in the nineties.

Here is how we addressed it at the time:

(We needed a temporary situation to seal off a room for a 12 months lease. )

With our method when you need to bring back the door way, you will only have screw holes and painting to do. Probably no more than 2- 3 hours of labor.

We left door / molding in place, (door handle has to come off) ,

So with precise cut we placed a 3/4 inch plywood over the door, but inside the molding, just carefully screws on to the door, on one side and to the door frame(in angle)  on the opposite side and use the rest of the plywood to cut strips placed them over drywall next to door. For best result find studs.

Than place dry wall over the entire surface, Make sure the edges of the dry wall lines up pretty well and has little clearance at the ceiling and the side walls.

To make the project a temporarily one do not use joint compound at the inside corners(where your temporarily wall meets the permanent ones) rather just caulk the corners. This way when its time to remove you can do it in 30 minutes with almost no sign of the old wall, just some caulking lines on the ceiling/walls and lots of screw holes.

Good luck with your project.

Val

@Chan K. . You just can't please everyone any given time so i am not sure what to say to this event. However one thing is for sure, In times like this it does pay dividends to have a previously established relation ship with a plumber so you can get one in a hurry if you really need one.

Earlier on when we had only a few doors, i was always trying to hire plumbers to replace faucets etc.. even thought i had remodeled several bathrooms personally. I toke me years but now we finaly have someone who most likely will come out the same day or if it can wait than the next morning.

This situation will work out for you just fine, don't loose focus by arguing with the tenant just get it done as fast as your can! Time will be your best PR as two months from now no one will remember this little event but the person who stuck with the bill. You :)

Good luck to you and don't get discouraged.

Regards

Val

@J Scott I was off for a while, out of the country on vacation, but i see you are moving a head with this property. How are things with the new Tenant? Did housing of MBQ certify/inspect your unit? I hope this one will be a pleasant experience for you. Otherwise your wife will have a hard time convince you to do another "buy and hold" :)

@Orion Walker Actually I did not pay any interest on the money I borrowed from the Realtor. I sold him on the idea that If I pay him say $80/mo. Than this will allow for me less money down so i am able to buy more properties and after the 7th or 8th property he is getting $500/mo EVERY month even in the snow storm. 

That is exacly what happened and for about 5 -6-7 years I was paying him EVERY MONTH. So he had commission came even in Dec Jan Feb months when other agents were dormant.

I was young and inexperienced but my creativity and dedication impressed him enough for him to wanting to work with me. As i said it was not as  much luck as just plain old working at it until you find one.  I was turned down or laughed at by 19 agent, but only toke one yes do do it.

IMHO, RE license will not necessarily get you good deals, but relationships with bankers of estate attorneys, or with other selected few (high volume) realtors will.

I read that somewhere and totally agree with the following:

In order to get the best chance for a great RE property purchase deal, when the offer you had submitted is:

 either the first one, or the last one, 

with no other buyers a round.

Good luck to you!

@Orion Walker I would move on and find a deal that is "easier" for you to execute. In order to find (and successfully close on) a deal that is worth both your time and effort, and money, as an investor, you probably will need to generate enough leads:

Talk to enough motivated sellers, estate attorneys/ bank REO reps in your target area, to see if there are motivated enough sellers for you to talk to. And don't quit until you have at least two or three possible properties with motivated sellers lined up.

This way you are not "chasing" sellers/deals rather they will come to you. (you will come a cross a lot more confident in your offers or just talking to sellers when you have at least two more nearly as good deals to make) 

The above action will dramatically increase your chances to be able to negotiate much more realistic deals for you that you will be able to perform (close) on.

 If I was you i would also do some reading in creating financing technics as they can come handy to acquire properties. For example when i first started out i had asked about 20 realtors i my area if i could borrow their commission (buyer agent's) and just pay them 60 monthly payments out the the rent cash flow, and 19 said no but 1 said yes. So with that agent i was able to buy over a dozen properties and use his commission to pay the closing cost (3%) so i could buy houses with almost no money down.

Good Luck to you!

@Karen M.  Listening to Carollton Sheets tapes back in the 90s  got me to the idea to rent the property before I settle. Of course you have to be careful, but here is how i did it many times in the past decade and a half:

As part of the negotiation for the purchase of the property, I was allowed to show the place for rent prior to closing, and had a rent agreement ready as well. ( I put a "just in case" clause in the lease, but never had to use it should the purchase would not go thru.) 

The nice thing about renting the property prior to settlement (lease start date must be the day after your purchase settlement day):

You start out with a cash flow boost, because you pay mortgage in the "rear" so you have no mortgage due for 30 days, and the rent is paid to you in advance.

If you purchase a property with no money down, than this setup creates a situation where  you have a free month of rent at the time of settlement, in other words "you get paid" for purchasing the property. I normally use this "free money" to buy new Fridge or other appliances to make the place more attractive for higher rent.

Good Luck!