All Forum Posts by: Jesse Waters

@Kevin Miller welcome to BP.  Great place to learn and network.

I don't do wholesaling, I travel out of the country a lot for work, about half the time. Which is why I do REI. One, I would like to quit being gone for work and two, I do buy-n-hold rentals which provide cash flow and I can keep up with things through my managers even when I am out of town.

We got into the game by accident, we moved to grow our family and were stuck with a town house that we bought about 3 days before the height of the housing bubble with a 0-down VA loan. I was 24 at the time and didn't know any better. Once we moved we rented out the place on a break even deal. I quickly realized that if things were only slightly different we would be making money each month. Started by reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad then went on from there buying other properties when ever the right ones come along.

Best of Luck!!

JW

We converted our first primary residence to a rental and kept it in our personal names.  As far as insurance goes, we called the insurance company and told them that we had converted it to a rental and they changed the policy accordingly.

On our other rentals we purchased them to be rentals and insured them as such. Before I moved the titles over to LLC I had a chat with my insurance company, they were ok with us moving it to LLC and since they don't write business policies they left my name on the policy and added my LLC as an additional insured.

Welcome to BP. Not in your particular market. But I have gotten lots of ideas from here, as well as been able to refine my own business plans, methods & techniques by reading other peoples success stories and getting input from our fellow REI's on BP.

On the same thought. Does anyone know of a customization property evaluation tool where you can enter all the data on a property and see what your ROI/COC would be? It would really convenient to have an app where you put the purchase price, DP, loan terms (payment automatically calculated), taxes, insurance, vacancy, maintenance & other expenses in and the app spits out a nice percentage. (I know I can do it on excel, but an all in one app would make on the fly evaluations much easier.)

Sounds reasonable to me, but what would the market for something like this be? 

@James Hutson 

I use Zillow & LoopNet just to get an idea of what's for sale in a particular area, ball park comps & rent rates, particularly if I am browsing a new area, or in a part of town that I am not overly familiar with.  I actually get more use out of my banking app than any other one. After I get the good ol "mail-box money" I walk back to the house and deposit the checks & save my self the drive to the bank.  We also use Cozi so I can keep my schedule straight.  I am notorious for double scheduling things because I forgot about something, or forget that I have something and end up showing up a few minutes late.

I would be curious to see what else people are using as well.

@Rob Wilson Congrats on such a good deal.  Also good to see other investors on here from SC.  This definitely gives me some more motivation and hope for finding good seller financed deals.  I have been frustrated lately with the banks asking for 25-30% down payments, gets expensive quick, trying to pick up our 5th rental now.

JW- Aiken, SC

I put all my properties in LLC, that way if something happens we only have to deal with the ownership percentage of the LLC rather than directly dealing with any of the properties & probate. We had to take ownership of the properties in our name at closing them grand deed them over to the LLC, however, we usually do the paperwork at closing as well, cost about $100 a property. Going with the LLC will also give you a bunch of extra protection in the event a tenant files suit against you, they will only be able to go after what is held in the LLC and not attack any of your personal assets. Just make sure that you LLC is set up prior to trying to move the title over & you keep everything related to the LLC separate, you must maintain the corporate veil, otherwise your LLC protection isn't worth the paper it's written on. This isn't legal advise, I suggest a chat with a lawyer. Best of luck.

@Kevin Raye 

I would start with a local credit union, or local bank.  Also depends on what type of property it is, its condition & how many other mortgages you have.  Since you already own it & have history of paying you should be able to do a standard re-fi, or at worst they'll call it a cash out re-fi depending on if your hard money lender placed a lien on the property or not.  Some more details perhaps, and I'm sure you'll get much clearer advise.

JW

@Sergio Berumen Welcome to BP.  Great place to learn and network.

Al, Welcome to BP.  This is a great place to learn, ask questions and develop your plan & refine your strategies.  

Depending on what your goals are, I would hold off on paying for an expensive course. First thing I would do is do a BP Pod-cast marathon, read a few books on REI & browse the forum & blogs here on BP. You might even be able to find some one here who can mentor you either locally or long distance.

Best of luck.

JW