All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Greene

@Aaron K. are you saying the law is that you can't show up without notice at any time for any reason in CA? I wouldn't expect to gain entry or force entry, but if a tenant is being non-responsive I would think you could knock and/or be there for maintenance purposes.

Set the inspection or just show up at this point. That's classic language to try to deflect what they are hiding. In my experience, it's usually unauthorized occupants. There is no hanging up on the landlord. I would get an attorney to send her a pre-eviction letter ASAP so she knows it's either follow the rules or leave. Once a tenant shows angst at a very regular question and process, I worry about the upkeep of the unit.

Use HubSpot CRM. It's free and will do everything you need to for what you are asking. I use Podio for my off-market acquisitions, kvCORE for my agent business, and HubSpot CRM for a smaller investor list. And I do think it's best to keep them separated like this especially if you have separate business entities.

Here is my take on courthouse auctions when you are new to doing it @Jenna Walker. In every market there are foreclosure hounds who have been doing it a long time. When you go to the auctions you will see the same people every week. If they aren't interested in it, it's not going to be a good deal and they won't play with too many condos because the margins are tight. If the upset is low the bank will always buy it back first. In hot markets (on-market), it's in their best interest to put it on the market especially because the listing percentage they pay for REO listing agents isn't very high compared to 6%. I've found that you can do better with condos by creating a list (using say, ListSource) targeting no mortgage or low mortgage and been there 7+ years. Most people are ready to move out of a condo by then if not before. Also, if you cross-add out of state owners you will find owners holding condos and probably not wanting them, especially if they own no other properties in the area. That's where you are doing them a favor. You could direct mail on your own and probably find decent condo deals for a rental.

My pleasure. Yeah, three times passed is not a surprise. Sometimes the bank wants to buy it back to list later as an REO and sometimes the upset value and opening bid is just too high at courthouse auction for it to be worth it. With only a 130k market value, I wouldn't be looking at it to renovate. There just isn't enough spread for it to be worth it at 98k unless it needs just cosmetic. Auction.com info is not reliable for extra liens. Only a title company can find out more information so if you plan on investing and buying foreclosures you want to develop a relationship with a local title company that can do quick searches for you to see if there are some hidden monsters there. There are a lot of potential pitfalls in foreclosure buying from the courthouse steps, the most being no inspections and the back liens that could come up later. You would have a bit more protection looking at sites like Hubzu, HomePath and Xome which are selling REOs, but on the market with some protection in that you can view them (with an agent) and they have generally cleaned them out and presented them at their best. Any questions at all, send me a message.

Is it already listed for auction at the courthouse? If so, how many times has it come up and passed? Often times, properties come up several times to auction and get continued on that day. The more times that happens, the more likely it is ready to sell, but you have to remember that the banks have a million properties and they do not care about getting one condo off their list. If it passes through auction it will end up being listed as an REO on the market which will give them more access anyway.

You also want to check if there are any other liens on the property on top of the mortgage owed. The upset value can include tax liens, IRS liens, etc. Some counties disclose all they know and some have no info so title will need to get that info for you if you really want to bid because with that spread, there isn't much room to work if you are going to renovate it.

One thing to note for you. 99% of real estate agents don't understand the true investor's perspective so the advice you are getting could be skewed, especially since you are new to REI. It's not just about the rents. If they haven't worked with investors, they won't know how to help you assess the rehab costs and as has been said above, rehab costs on 1900s multis can provide some surprises for you. Knob and tube wiring, asbestos, clay plumbing lines, abandoned underground oil tanks, mold. Only an agent who is an investor and works with them can help you find these unseen issues. If you don't find them your first investment will not earn you what you think when you first chart it out.

And if you are just starting out, you want to stick to a two-family to start with. You want to evaluate who is renting in the area. Is it in a good school district, one that families will rent in for the schools, or is public transportation to somewhere important as well. Being a first-time landlord is never what people think it will be so you want to limit your personal exposure by not over-buying on units to start.

An agent's relationship with you should never end after the home has closed, but I am more concerned that you are saying she said the relationship ended after a contract is signed. The agent should be helping you with inspection and the entire process until closed. There should be no certificate of occupancy issues pending after closing. In NJ, the CO must be obtained by the seller prior to closing.

Also, it is unlikely that a brokerage would be ok with an agent soliciting business as pay-per-play scenario as a consultant when many of the things they are consulting on are included in being a good agent and developing a lifelong relationship with you, the client. Good agents never ask you for more money for anything, they get paid via commission. Finding you a good handyman or plumber is setting themselves up to be your contact for the future so that when you are ready to sell, they are still there for you. Any agent who tells you the relationship ends at closing won't be an agent by next year.

Their coaches are trained to hold you accountable in any market and the general strategies won't change much between the U.S. and Canada and really anywhere. I would give him a chance and not worry about where he is, what his background is, and how much he has sold because as long as he can get you moving ahead on your own, you won't care about any of that later. If you find it's not working out, they will definitely reassign you. Think about NBA coaches who never played. They can still be great coaches although many would think they couldn't.

I think for real estate agents coaching can be helpful to springboard your business, but for investing it's very market-specific and personality-driven. I'm not saying REI coaching won't help, but the truth is that you can find most of what you need in these forums or by networking with local investors. All of us at one time tagged along with someone else and learned a ton that way. Most coaching systems are built for general theory and computation and REI is all about knowing your market inside and out and having the connections in it to find deals and close them. If you do need accountability you could find some newer local investors and hold each other accountable. But just like Russell above, I personally know Brentin and he is a very good guy who you could learn from. I'm just not an advocate of REI coaching as a systematic approach.