All Forum Posts by: Jon Deavers

@Brandon T.

Sure thing. I'll send you a PM with contact info for them. 

6 months is the lowest I've seen on a seasoning period after closing for a cash out re-fi.

I do focus on investors, roughly 80% of my business right now is working with investors for buy & hold and fix & flip projects in Richmond.

Hi @Mark Armstrong

I'm a little confused on one thing and may be able to help you with clarification.

Is the agent you made the offer to the listing agent for the property or your buyer's agent? Things may work a little differently in TX but just checking.

-If he/she's your buyer's agent and you found out about these issues after an inspection was completed (also assuming your contract was contingent upon an inspection) then there's no issue asking for a reasonable discount from the offer price. The seller has the option to accept or decline or counter. Of course, if it's $3k in repairs and you're asking for $15k off, the agent would be correct in advising against that offer. Still should present it especially if it's a foreclosure/etc. 

-If it's the listing agent you're dealing with directly then go hire a buyer's agent so your transaction will be at arm's length. It doesn't typically cost you anything to hire a buyer's agent, they usually get paid by the seller at closing. May be tough to do if you're already in a dual agency situation, but that's how I would proceed in the future.

-If there is no inspection contingency/due diligence period in the contract and the seller has accepted the original terms, then you are out of luck and are obligated to close or lose your deposit.

Hope this helps a little and good luck with the deal!

@Brandon T.

1) Lean on BP. You will want an agent who focuses on investment property and most of us don't. Trust your peers on BP.

2) I can recommend a good broker here in Richmond who can give you some figures. Honestly rates are so low across the board that shopping various channels for the lowest rate is a waste of time IMO. I would shop more for good service and vet folks out on how they will take care of you during the process. Going to be worth a lot more than a tenth of a percent on a 30 year note for a $50k property.

3) Had a great discussion about this with a client the other day. LLC's aren't anonymous anyway (at least if they're registered in VA) so anonymity is kind of a moot point. We both agreed that your time and money are better spent with a solid and sufficient insurance policy than with the upkeep fees the SCC charges you for your LLC annually anyway. Regardless, Fannie Mae will not allow you to close under an assumed entity so if you are going to use conventional financing you will need to transfer to an LLC after closing. I can recommend a great attorney here in RVA experienced with that.

So, welcome to the site! Hope to see you around town sometime!

I'm a little late to the party but I'll throw in another plug for @Sean Tluchak as well.  He's closed several deals for my clients in the last few months and he and his staff always do a great job.

@Weis Sherdel

Definitely some properties that meet your criteria in the Richmond metro and Tri-Cities areas (Petersburg, Hopewell, Colonial Heights). North Chesterfield/South Richmond is a good place to look and I like the tri-cities for rentals due to the heavy military population from Fort Lee. 

It's worth noting too that offers on FNMA properties (and certain other REO's like VA and state housing development properties) are likely to be accepted if they are owner occupied over investor purchased, so your house hack strategy has that going for it. If you offer the same terms as an investor, you're likely to win out since those institutions make it a practice of encouraging home ownership.

Good luck @Kevin Beres!

Hello @Effy Green

Welcome to the site. The Richmond REIA can be located online at Meetup.com

Best of luck and enjoy BP!

It all depends on price range really. There are only a couple of spots where multi's exist in RVA. The VCU area historic neighborhoods like The Fan, Carver, Jackson Ward, Oregon Hill, etc. are typically priced by comp so you have to approach them as an owner occupant not a pure investment play. The rents typically don't support the price points. Northside, Churchill, and a very small section of Southside have more income based price-points but are not as desirable as the other neighborhoods. So it really limits your choices. If you're planning to live in one side and house hack with the other unit(s) I would keep my eyes open for multi's in Northside close to Brooklyn Park Blvd but west of Richmond-Henrico Tpke or, alternatively, Church Hill near Broad St and Chimborazo. Those spots offer the "safest" neighborhoods at the most reasonable price points.

@Joel Owens strategy is also effective but not on every property. Check with your agent to see what the activity level has been on the listing. If they can confirm it's been slow, banks will make concessions for significant unseen defects found during inspection. If it's a hot property though they will ask you to close or terminate. EMD would be protected by the inspection contingency so it still might be worth a shot.

Hi @Kevin Beres

Was that the duplex on Northumberland by chance? If so, according to the neighbors there have been almostva hundred agents/buyers in that house in the last week and a half. Right now in Richmond, the REO market is on fire. Almost nothing is selling at or below the list price. Remember that list prices for REO are based on broker price opinions. Sometimes those are higher than market will bear but in this case that building was was move-in ready and in a great part of Richmond's northside. The bottom line is, with that much competition the only way to improve your offer to a bank is a higher purchase price and lower concessions. When you're buying from an individual it's sometimes effective to write a letter to accompany the offer explaining your situation (young, first home, etc) and some sellers will take that into account. With REO though, highest bidder wins out.