All Forum Posts by: John Warren

Hi BP community,

I was inside a house last night. And ran into something I have never seen. In the basement there is a low spot in the concrete floor that has some water in it. My contractor was not sure what could cause this.

There have been water issues in the basement before according to the disclosures. It looks like the water issues were related to a sewer backup. In addition there is a big tree outside the house that needs to come down. 

Does anyone know what would cause this low spot? Sewer leak? Tree root? Nothing big deal?

I probably should have come! Big day at work. I will catch you all at the next one!

I am planning on coming to this. Are we still on with the nasty weather?

No problem! That book started it all for me. Hope you enjoy it!

check out this one

The Complete Guide to Buying and Selling Apartment Buildings

Would you even be able to get hard money for that deal? I spoke with several hard money lenders and they wanted me to have an absurd amount of liquidity/ net worth. I was looking more at the 100k price point to. 

Also, my gut would say there is not enough meat in this deal for that amount of risk. Commercial properties can get expensive to fix really fast, and with no cash flow you could be in a world of trouble...

Just my 2 cents!

Thanks @Brandon Sturgill @Crystal Smith @Account Closed!

I just spoke with my cousin yesterday who has been flipping a house he is living in. He mentioned that he wants to buy apartments as well!  He is in the south bend Indiana market, and I am going to explore that market since he is there.

Thanks for mentioning price point Brandon. I will rule out the Wisconsin market if the price point is too high. I could more effectively work in Illinois at that point and just wait for great deals.

Clay, what is driving the redevelopment of Grand Rapids? Is there new industry there? New jobs being created? I definitely want to make sure I am following jobs and not just buying cheap junk in the Midwest so to speak.

unless you find the deal through direct mail or something, why wouldn't you use an agent? They are paid for by the seller anyway. Just work with a commercial broker that knows apartments. 

@Cory Mccarthy

Are the areas in Michigan you mentioned good cash flow areas? I do have some family there as well. Not sure why I never considered Michigan!

Look for different lenders and ask upfront about this before you waste more time with the approval process. I found that a lot of mortgage people that work with traditional buyers would waste a lot of my time. Once I found my current mortgage officer, the approval process was fast and painless. 

A mortgage officer should be able to tell you in a five minute conversation if they can get you the terms you want. If they can't or it seems to "conplicated", keep looking!