All Forum Posts by: Joshua McGinnis

@Jon Huber Thanks for organizing this. Unfortunately, I have a pre-existing engagement and will be out of town that weekend. But count me in for the next one for sure!

@David Esparza Let's chat. We've helped several other BP investors here in LA.

@Leonard L. You can add a "negative" keyword which will disable notifications for matching keywords that ALSO contain the negative keyword, like "newbie". This should help reduce the number of emails you receive.

http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts

@Jim Edmunds You should be able to locate nearest Los Angeles Superior Court, go down there and get on the computers in the self-help section. Most of LA County's probate records are all digitized and available for your consumption.

You'll have dig through the files to find cases with real estate.

Welcome to BP @Christopher Abernathy !

Hi @Mario Lara Welcome to BP. 

I'd advise trying hard to find a property that is non rent controlled so that you have more control over how much you want to charge for rent, among other things.

Take a look at the following:

From: http://www.lafla.org/pdf/hou_rentcontrol_eng.pdf

I had the pleasure of being a guest on Michael Alder's Taking Action Today podcast this past week where I discussed my venture into virtual wholesaling, note investing, and the Los Angeles real estate market.

Check it out here:

http://www.michaelalder.com/podcast/virtual-wholes...

Thanks for listening!

Hi @Jason Russell Welcome to BP and congrats on the decision to start wholesaling.

How did you get obtain your list of vacant properties here in Los Angeles?

Here are a few ideas on how to hunt down the property owners:

• Search public records (you'll have to subscribe to a service)
• Form a relationship with an agent (they have access to this info and can you get the owners)
• Form a relationship with a title agent and they can get you this info for free
• Try http://www.propertyshark.com/

You can also visit a local assessor's office to obtain the information in-person:

Source: http://lacountypropertytax.com/portal/list/faq.aspx?faqID=44

I'm wholesaling, but not to properties here in LA. Happy to help any way that I can.

Hi @Justen Alias - welcome to BP officially. I look forward to learning more about you and your businesses.

@Alick Patrick My lender and I were just chatting about the business of mortgages. She was very clear to me that they don't make their money on origination fees nor the rate. She said FHA loans have very little margin primarily due to the regulations on what you may charge and for what. Where the lender makes their money is when they securitize the note and sell it off. I found this very interesting ...

Mortgage brokers on the other hand do charge a premium on the rate and so it is usually to your benefit to price shop and negotiate for better rates.

FHA actually is pretty explicit about their credit requirements. You can see them here:

http://www.fha.com/fha_requirements_credit

I'm thinking it's more likely that the original broker who said you could qualify for FHA was wrong. The good news is that it's been six years since the foreclosure and I believe they fall off after seven which would clear everything up for you.