All Forum Posts by: Jim Goebel

@Dan Kaen

We tried this and got approval from an owner that was getting his house taken to buy it, however what we were told within 1-2 months of the foreclosure auction was that the BANK also had to approve our offer.  We had a nearly impossible time trying to get through to the law firm managing the bank's bad assets and the whole proceedings, so we were unable to go this route and had to wait til the auction. 

After talking about this with someone else with a lot more experience than us, we were informed that drawing up a purchase agreement and writing a check ultimately would have probably done the trick for us.  If we had been able to do that, we would have likely saved 20-30k on the purchase price (someone bid us up in the auction)....

However, I think we made the right decision to NOT do that given where we were and comfort level with the process (perceived risk was higher at that point and its worked out well)

To buy directly from someone that's getting foreclosed though... as someone mentioned you do need to consider all the 'usual' stuff that happens in a closing/settlement - including having title examined/possibly insured ---  you can pay for this directly from a title /abstracting company however they usually want it paid in advance.  You will also need to kind of quarterback the deal, getting the parties together and driving it forward.  This is often different than if you work through an agent.  There's no agent to hand hold for you on this one.

Care to share any more thoughts about your deal?  We are also looking for additional insight as this is our first time.  

The initial thought for ours was to structure the deal as a lease initially, then after some time it would transition to a 'lease with purchase option' then if lessees execute the purchase option, that's when the owner financing would kick in.  However, per recent conversation with our trusted RE attorney, we were informed that what's called a 'residential installation contract' let's us get around the trouble in the hopefully not likely event that there was default on payment.  Basically - a way to avoid having to go through the lengthy foreclosure process.

Yep, self-directed IRA. It's been great to be able to use the real estate experience for that vehicle, it's definitely out performing the stock market

I think with a certain property profile an amenity like solar panels can be a great value add, if not even from a pure financial analysis standpoint.  It depends on your product and what tenant you are after.  For our mix of properties we have strongly considered getting some solar installed.

The main trick/hanging point for us is the utility part of things.  Who owns the panels and therefore the impact on the utility bill (which the tenant usually pays for) makes it where functionally you have to market the panels and have that conversation on the front end (and re coup the investment in essentially increased rent if they are still paying the utility bill)

Good luck 

We are offering owner financing on a house we rehabbed.

It's currently being leased for $1550 / mo in Des Moines IA.  Folks who moved in expressed interest in purchasing.

House is owned under IRA. For multiple reasons we've decided to offer owner financing. Terms have been tentatively presented. Plan is to give folks there 6mo-a year of leasing and then at their option they can execute the 'next step' ie owner financing etc

Bought for $52k, put a lot into it.....  I'll leave it there.  Lots of love and it's a pretty house.

This is our first time with owner financing so we'll see how it goes.

yeah sure what the heck!

@Chris Kang

I would think maybe you can land something at a company that facilitates managing REITs, or some sort of private equity company that focuses on real estate.  However, these fields / jobs can be VERY competitive to get in to.

Note I don't have any personal experience with this as my path here was engineering , make money, and then simply start investing.

One thought might be to position yourself as a marketer to an A/E type of firm (architectural or engineering) because you could presumably get some visibility into what projects they do, etc.  Would be good experience especially if you can get to know some of the engineers/architects.

Many of these companies would be on a shoe string for budget for this kind of stuff, though.

@Gayle Eisner 

For me sniff test / intuition would be having a separate living unit would bring more if done well and functional however it's YOUR market.

Not many people are going to be able to really answer this for you.

My recommendation is get some data points.  Go out and find some data points on both sides of this and talk to the renter.  Look at what they are renting for...  Talk to the owner.  Act like you're a renter.

No, not sure of that @Samantha Vice

However we have had some mixed success with using Trello which is kind of a scrum/task management kind of platform.

It would theoretically work but you need to build in enough process and get buy in from your team otherwise like anything else it just doesn't get used.

Hi @Eli Unruh

I'm going to be the wet blanket here and say... be patient.  Keep this iron hot and keep developing the skills you need to make the leap.  It's hard to replace having some capital to start.  Although there are tons of people on this forum that will advise to lever up, do partnerships, 'creative financing' etc, that's not my path and I wouldn't advise that.

Now, as I re-read however... You are married, and with a house.  Good.  Have you considered renting out part or all of your house?  Do you have any equity in your house?  If so, be smart about using it somehow.  But don't be in too big of a hurry.  Don't rule out getting a job and getting paid to learn on someone else's dime!!!

Here's some more advice:

Delay having kids.

Keep your wife very involved in what you're doing.

Buy houses and live in them that needs tons of work.  Even, enough work to say, not have hot water or creature comforts.