All Forum Posts by: Julian Diaz

Is the property fenced? I believe if it is fenced and locked you may be able to upgrade the charge to breaking and entering. Other than that a good old fashioned shotgun or a dog in the property to deter him.

The estoppel agreement should be on the seller to provide. This is something you and your agent should verify in the due diligence documents and cause for an amend/extend if it is not provided. As to approaching the tenants about it just pitch it in favor of them. Yes it is your way to enforce their leases but focus on the fact that it protects them from eviction and raised rents. Hope this helps and good luck!

@James Brewster Thanks for the insight.  I'm interested in CS because it is a hot market and seems very stable compared to others I'm seeing right now.  Mainly though its just what I'm familiar with.  I agree the north side has been hot with outside money driving up construction and sale prices.  For the buy and hold game the stability of Fort Carson in the Fountain area is great.  I'll be jumping back into that market again.. just trying to decide the best way to do it from the Pan Handle of Florida.

If you've jumped in like that and don't know the ropes I suggest you find a partner that you can learn from. Initially all you bring to the table is enthusiasm and time. Make those work by doing the leg work and door knocking for them. It'll feel like your just another employee at first but you'll have a place to learn and won't flounder on your own. Best of luck!

@Bill S. Thanks for the insight. I am more familiar with the Colorado Springs area. I agree that seals are becoming much harder to find. Which is why I haven't dropped the day job lol

Polling the audience here for your experiences purchasing and selling Real Estate sight unseen as an investor. I had a decent buy and hold portfolio going and had to liquidate for some family reasons. Now I'm ready to get back in the game and my interest remains in Colorado, but now live in FL. I still hold a RE license there and know the market. I am highly considering partnering with wholesalers to purchase long term rentals and turn over some on the MLS for profit. This of course would almost entirely be done from FL. I have a few agents there that I trust, a management team I am satisfied with to use again, and some friends in the area to assist for a few extra bucks.

So that is where I am, the main topic here is what is your experience? What are the Pros and Cons to this form of investing aside from the obvious of not seeing the property and taking an inspection as gospel. 

Hello BP. I wouldn't normally approach looking for a mentor in this way but figured it was worth a try. Since moving to the Pan Handle of Florida near Panama City Beach I've made some adjustments to not living in a city and all the networking options that affords. I am working on my real estate licensee transfer to FL. I work full time as a flight instructor and want to move my real estate investing to wholesaling. I'm looking for someone interested in partnering on a few deals to show me the process and point out the legal trip wires. I have investment capital to leverage and soon a license access to mls. I believe I offer a lot to a good partnership, just having trouble finding anyone living in the sticks. I've been a licensed real estate agent and done several of my own deals over the years so no scams please. I value my time and yours.

I had to develop a system that would not only work around a full time job, but also allow for extended absences as my job took me other places.  What I found to the most crucial was finding the right tenant.  I fell on a process of purposely planning my rents to be $75-100 below market value.  This $1200 a year I recover by my lower turn over rates (carpet, paint, advertising etc).  With a lower rate I can look at problematic tenants after making required repairs that they have the option to leave if they want.  Being a signed lease it is my option to let them out of it.  Usually they don't because my rates are better and using this process I have had a few bad apples come and go, but without actually tracking it I'd have to say my tenants average about 3.5 years per lease.  I had one going on 7 years.  This keeps things easy as they know my expectations and trust that I will take care of them.

I also use property management and have authorized them to make required repairs up to $200 without calling me.  I require an immediate email with the description and invoice.  This also eliminates most of the midnight calls and only draws in my attention when its truly an issue.  

Hope this helps and best of luck with your family.  

Some of the obvious pros to buying new are the warranties and life span on appliances, roof, garage door etc.  The problem there also is that nothing has been put to the test.  If you buy new you should always do a thorough background check on the contractor and make sure they have established communities elsewhere.  If you are a licensed agent you can even find 5 or 10 year old homes they built that are now for sale to view for cracking, settling etc.  

The immediate downside to buying new is that you will have to pay retail price for the same square footage you could have picked up cheaper with a value add project or off market deal.  I suppose the real question is how long you plan to invest in the property.  I have never bought new builds, but I could see potential in a ten plus year strategy.  I do frequently walk new properties to see new trends, get ideas for rehabs and scope out the competition.

I'm not that patient lol :)

I have a B.S. in Aeronautical Science. Fancy way of saying I'm a pilot. I don't know that the degree itself gives any advantage, but experience in the aviation industry certainly helps under pressure. When it's time to make a decision I analyze the situation and move forward. Its usually the 90% solution, but beats making no decision and remaining on the sideline!