All Forum Posts by: Jon Reed

Well.. here you go, the below link will tell you all you need to know about leverage. 

What is leverage in real estate?

Hard money lending takes many shapes... sounds like you talked to some institutional hard money lenders (who act much more like banks). I prefer hard money lenders that I personally know such as family, friends, or friend of a friend kind of deal. These are people who usually have extra cash that they are wanting to invest instead of people who's main income is lending money.

These kind of hard money lenders base their lending decisions on their trust in you, the property type, ROI, and time period. So, you can get a hard money loan for a live in flip, you just have to find a different type of hard money.

**Side comment** I think it is funny that many people think of hard money lenders as these super rich people with millions in cash with hard outline rules on how they need you to perform in order to get their money.... when in reality, the majority of hard money loans are just $50-100K lump sums of money that your wife's uncle is going to lend you to purchase your first flip and just wants to be  paid back in 6 months at 10%. 

Contact your real estate attorney. Who knows what kind of crazy laws New York has.

I read that as the tenant does not have to maintain or repair the appliances. 

But... to be perfectly clear... I would have that written into the bottom of the lease "tenant will not repair, maintain, or replace the ....". Just so when you move out they can't try to stick you with the cost of a new dryer.

Hmm... now that is a difficult question and situation.

With such a huge barrier to entry I would start with finding a job with a real estate management company in Port Harcourt. I would use that experience to learn how they got started and the regulation hurtles around real estate in Nigeria. Then hopefully network until I found a small real estate investor who may only have a dozen or less properties and is wanting to retire out of (or just get out of) real estate. I would try to write up a deal with him to take over his portfolio and buy his property out over the next 5-10 years.

It sounds like the heated pipe tape is more a stop gap (and you really do need to take out big chunks of the wall if you want it done right). 

If your walls are properly insulated for the region the property is in then your pipes should not be freezing. I would look into properly insulating the exterior walls and using the correct house wrap method to keep them from freezing. It would probably be a better investment that that pipe tape in the long term.

Depends on the type of apartment you are looking at. Just look around your area and ask the property manager. 

I have been investing for a year and half with 3 total properties... I still consider myself an educated newbie. 

Everyone should create and use an LLC for real estate. They are super cheap to make and offer protections that can save you from losing your kids college fund or your own personal home.

For the people who enjoy the numbers... An attorney can create a basic LLC for $500. If you have an average lifestyle with a $100K home, $50k in 401k, $15k in child education fund, and $10k in the bank then that LLC can protect all those assets from being taken as part of a settlement. That means your investment of $500 into an LLC has a cost avoidance ROI of 34,900%.

I believe that you should get your real estate license if you want to be a real estate agent. 

If you are getting your RE license to get access to the MLS or get some secret inside scoop... then it is not worth the maintenance fees, training time, and CE requirements.

I want to be a real estate investor and I have a great real estate agent who is an asset to help me achieve my goals.