All Forum Posts by: Jacob Sampson

There isn't a down side to asking the question of several agencies in your town.  All they can do is say, "no".

If you are taking it off the market you need to be collecting rent.   I might hold, with a deposit, until March 1 but after that they need to pay rent.  I would not be feeling worried about getting it rented after only 1 week.

If you caused the snow then you are responsible, unless you gave sufficient notice you were going to make it snow.

This was a duplicate post.

You, have less control and they can up fees when they chose.  You are still, also responsible for interior maintenance but all in all, I don't mind condos at all.

I get both yours and your wife's concerns.  I am strictly buy and hold and my wife HATES real estate.  I've been doing it for 11 years so she's at least a good enough sport not leave me.  We have 3 kids and when I come home and tell her we have to come up with $3k to cover expenses, she loves it!! She can barely keep her clothes on after that discussion.

First off, I would find out how much you are being out bid by.  I would do this by asking my realtor after the property gets closed on or I will check the county appraisers site within a couple of months of closing.  If you are being out bid by 1%-5% then you can probably just nudge your bids up in order to get the first one under your belt.  If you are way off, then me personally, I find another way to invest in RE until the market changes.

@James Masotti,

I think you illustrate, well, why knowing the area in which you invest is so important.  I also agree, you want to sell fast.  At $2000 per month holding costs, holding longer for the possibility of 5-7k more is a risky play. 

I'm not sure if you mentioned how much experience you have as a flipper but, I think you should start out with a solid margin for error.  As a beginner you will make the most mistakes and have the hardest time recovering from them.  Later as you gain experience you won't need to build as large a margin for error into your deals.

I hope you are able to close on a good deal soon.

Not sure what are your needs are but Google Voice is great and free.

There are so many variables, as you can see.  I'm not sure I can add anything that hasn't been said, but I will give a quick morsel for thought.  As a beginner, when you are most likely to make mistakes and those mistakes are the most difficult to recover from, make your mistakes small ones. 

Buying too many buy and holds at one time.  I wasn't prepared for the unexpected deferred maintenance and the high % of crap tenants.  Took about 1.5 years and a lot of personal cash to climb out of that whole.  Now, everything is great.  Lessons learned;

1.  As with any business, you need to manage your growth.  Just because you are successful with 2 or 3 rentals doesn't mean you are prepared for 20.  They are different businesses, the similarities are only skin deep.

2.  Being well capitalized is a must!!  Play within your bank roll.  Stepping outside of your means is a recipe for trouble.