All Forum Posts by: Joe Norman

Good luck! I think they are all cloud based now.

These pesky licenses and "mandatory classes, disclosures, etc." are there to protect consumers from predatory real estate practices (e.g., promising to buy someone's house for cash with no intention of actually closing). As someone else stated, if one's businesses operates based on a "loophole" then they should think long and hard about whether they are running a legal and ethical businesses, or just a scam to grab a piece of a seller's equity.

That said, my guess is that the South Carolina Real Estate Commission only regulates licenses real estate professionals so this news letter probably doesn't actually affect you or your "businesses". The only possible impact I can see is that a licensed real estate professional would no longer be able to sign a listing agreement with a wholesaler to market the deal.

I don't see a problem with this arrangement, especially since it was disclosed up from that the cottage was not part of the lease. It would make sense for the owner to measure their utility usage so they can reimburse the owner, thats really the only change I would make. Good luck!

I promise you that your agent puts in way more than 2 hours work per purchase you make. Putting the offer paperwork together takes close to an hour (at least it does in Maryland with our ridiculous amount of addendums that are required)

Admin fees, and setting a minimum commission, are very standard (although a $1k admin fee is definitely one of the higher ones I’ve seen). What is not standard, or ethical, is for the agent to spring this on you now. They should have had the compensation conversation with you up front, before showing houses.

The tact I would take is to say that you were unaware of these additional chargers when you started working together. The deal can definitely be closed w/o you signing the buyer agency, its just that “your” agent would actually be working as a sub-agent of the seller. Not necessarily ideal for you or the agent (if they’re acting ethically).

I generally charge a $5k flat fee for transaction management if a client already has a contract signed and asks my team team to manage the transaction-to-close process. This is the starting point, at least, as I will definitely discount this for my repeat investor clients.

If a client is flipping the house then I would significantly reduce the flat fee (probably to around $1k, depending on the details), and the listing once the project is complete.

Does your jurisdiction require rental licenses? If so I would consider that the "final word" on whether or not this is a "legal" ADU. If the County/City/Town is allowing you to rent it out then don't worry about the zoning or ceiling height or anything else.

As Gene pointed out, these situations are often not as bad as they seem.

Awesome man great work! What block is this house on?

I would say start by determining what your goals are. Do you want cashflow now and don't care about appreciation in the future? Do you want strong appreciation, even if it means sacrificing some present-day cashflow?

After that I would determine your budgets - How much can you afford to pay in cash? How much can you afford to pay with a hard money loan? What about a more conventional mortgage? Talk to lenders and have Hard Money and Conventional financing pre approval letters ready to go.

Once you know your goals and your budgets (different budgets depending on different financing types) you can then start analyzing deals with the help of a local Realtor who knows the investment market in Baltimore.

Good luck!

 It can be hard to comp Baltimore properties, newbies should definitely double check numbers with an experienced prop before pulling the trigger. I'm happy to help if you want to reach out!