All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Hankins

My wife is from Mexico City, and I have spent about 3 years living down there (home is Las Vegas / Henderson). I feel like you guys are pretty brave to invest down there. It's hard to really understand a market without living down there - and being a foreigner adds a whole new level of complexity. 

It is a pain in the butt to borrow money in Mexico, so I look at everything as a cash purchase. There are definitely some beautiful properties south of the boarder - but if you don't speak Spanish or have a Mexican family member, I have no idea what you are thinking.

Mexico is not the US. Yes the government / police are corrupt. Yes they will try to take advantage of you. I'm sure there are good deals, but if you don't have connections down there, why wouldn't you just buy a cash-flowing property in the US?

Anyway, good luck! It is a beautiful part of the world!
Jonathan

Hi Chris,

No idea why no one is saying this on the thread, but the major difference between a DSCR loan and a conventional is the amount they will lend you...

A DSCR lender is happily going to give you 80% of the property value - and only ask you to prove that you can pay for the loan over the next year. A conventional lender is going to to give you closer to 95% of the property value... but they are going to make d!%#* sure you are good for it :)

If you are just starting out, a Conventional loan is nice, because you get to keep your money in your pocket. If you have several properties, or you just want a loan that is easier to get - DSCR is the way to go.

Good luck out there!

Realtors only get paid when they close a sale - meaning that it is a complete waste of time and energy to work for people who are not intent on actually making a purchase at some definite point in the future. There are plenty of investors actively shopping to keep any Realtor busy - and these investors will offer TODAY if the property meets their criteria.

When I was an agent and people wanted me to start putting in research work for them, I would ask them what information they needed to see to make a decision - and when they would buy if they had that information. 

If their answer was anything along the lines of "Well, I'd definitely have to think about it" - I wouldn't waste my time with them. Those types of Zillow browsing "researchers" were usually "thinking about" buying in every hyped up market in the country - and hadn't even bothered to find out what their own buying ability was.

If you want agents to work with you, you need to sound like someone who is actually going to buy properties. If you think that you need to learn more before come up with an action plan for your life, you are just thinking in reverse order. The destination comes first - THEN the steps to get there. Pick a destination worth reaching, and people will line up to help you get there.

- 

I think Short Term Rentals are currently the way to go, and here is why: Location, Location, Location.

I mean, let's face it. At the end of the day, what choice do you really have? We don't know what is going to happen. The market can either go up, down, or stay the same. That's it. There are no other options. Everybody has an idea, and we won't know who the genius is until 10 years from now. It seems to me though, like people who own well located properties ALWAYS seem to come out on top over time. I can't imagine finding a property 5, 10, 15, or 20 years ago that was in high demand - and being sorry to own it today. I assume that the trend will continue for longer than I will be alive. 

There are plenty of properties out there right now with 25% gross incomes. I would find one, buy it, and give it to my kids in 30 years along with a little story about how life has ups and downs and we shouldn't let that push us into a fear induced state of inactivity.

Or just buy bitcoin... I hear that is going to the moon any day now :)

God bless you buddy :) Yes, I have door knocked a lot. My parents were Jehovah's Witnesses (I'm not joking) so I got started long before anyone was paying me to be out there. For real estate, I did a lot of knocking in Las Vegas in about 2013 - 2014 when I was a Realtor.

If you do it for a week, you will learn more than I could write here in several pages - so I will skip to the part I think is important.

I DON'T think it is a great way to find wholesale properties, and I think you will find that out for yourself quickly. I DO think it is the most underutilized way to find real estate listings though. If you are willing to door knock, I think you can do extremely well with a RE license. Knock doors, offer home price evaluations, and get listings. Then scale that out with a team of buyers agents. If you don't want to get a license, then make sure you partner with a good local Realtor to get paid referral fees. The people that you talk to who want to sell, are going to want top dollar. It is good if you can use that objection to your advantage and refer them directly to someone who will pay you for your work. If they then decide that bringing the home to market is too much work - your offer will look like a good option.

Good luck out there!

Yikes! Yeah, plenty of shady "companies" out there.

I'm not a lender, but we have had good success with a Private Capital company based in Ft Lauderdale in the past. I don't think they lend on properties in NV, but just about everywhere else in the country - and with no points up front.

Are you trying to get something funded, or just curious because these guys marketed to you?

Do you have an income now? If you are not currently employed, you won't be able to jump right into the simplest path of buying cash-flowing properties with traditional bank loans.

That point aside though, I would look for properties to use as short term rentals. That model seems to have best cashflow right now - and all a good short term rental property is is just a regular rental property in a high demand area. 

Do you know which part of the country you want to buy in yet?

Sorry, just to be clear - are you licensed and looking for sellers to represent, or only looking for off-market wholesale deals?

The brokers are usually paid a commission by the lender for bringing them a customer (you). You can always ask them what their fees are too - brokers only make money when they write loans, so they all want to talk with you and try to get you approved.

Since you are asking on BP, I assume you mean investor buyers. Investors are looking to make cashflow. A "deal" is a property where the income is greater than the expenses. The wider the margin between cost and income - the better the deal.