All Forum Posts by: Jerry Padilla

@Greg Baker when we purchased our primary residence they looked at the entire purchase price. We used sellers concessions and we paid taxes on it. 

I see a lot of these areas are in or near Rochester NY. I don't think these returns take into account the property taxes. Although, there are decent returns are taxes are high here and older homes require maintenance. Depending on the tenants you bring in some can cause damage or also bring in things like bed bugs, cochroaches, mice from not being cleanly. Yes, it is the landlords responsibility to pay for the extermination of all these pests. So, we have never seen that great of returns, but we try and keep our properties nice and decent. We have seen many houses that a ran by landlords that don't want to stick money into the homes, and there are much greater returns than. Just my opinion though. 

These are some great posts on distinguishing the difference between a depressed area and a war zone. 

@Brian Lounsbury 

 I would recommend giving @James Wise  a call. He is very knowledgeable about the area. I have clients that work with him and I know there are certain areas that seem good over the internet, but in all reality are not the best locations. You really need to find an agent or property manager that can steer you to the best locations when you factor in safety for your property and ability to sell and to also profit from rental income. I wish you the best in your search!

@Matt T. I wish you the best. You unfortunately may want to offer then some money to get out, so they don't destroy the house on their way out! I have looked at some houses in pretty rough shape from

Former owners destroying the house - graffiti to holes in the wall to smashing out windows. It may cost you less to pay them to get out and cause no damage, on their way out. And don't give them the money until you inspect it afterwards and have locks changed. 

@Matt T. are they still living in the house? If they are, I am pretty sure you have to legally evict them, or offer them money to get out and not damage the property. 

Yes that is the case for some lenders. Some lenders have the ability to choose Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac To decision the loan. Fannie Mae doesn't require a two year history. You have the ability to use one year tax return or current leases in the property or potential income (determined by the appraiser) prior to the purchase of the property. A credit of 75 percent is given when a one year lease or the potential income is used as the factor. 

I agree that you should have something on you to defend yourself. What about pepper spray also? I don't think you need a permit and they can't turn that weapon against you as they won't be able to see. 

Our first rehab and rent out was stressful but my girlfriend now wife at the lived there so rehabbing it wasn't so bad. The real flip we lived in an apartment and bought a flip maxing out credit cards and lines of credit. It was more money and stress than my girlfriend and I could handle at the time (now my wife) we ended up splitting up from the stress of the rehab for about a month. We ended up renting the house out for a year and selling it, to make a 25k profit. We now hire contractors as we still fight and stress out doing the rehabbing ourself. But buying houses is an addiction we just keep going back to. Lol. 

I am close to over 10k. This year my goal is over 100k! High goals, I know. I plan to be more active on the site. It is great to read all the success that others have had from this site.