All Forum Posts by: Karin Crompton

@Cory T.   so sorry to read of all of your trouble, and I'm sure there are a lot of people here saying, "That could have been me." This thread will prove very useful to other vacation rental owners and is a cautionary tale w/great advice. I'm just sorry that the great advice and info is the result of something terrible you've had to go through.

I don't have much to offer on the eviction side of things, but I would like to stress how incredibly useful the press can be. I worked as a newspaper reporter for almost 20 years and have seen first-hand how powerful the negative publicity aspect can be. Reporters live for this kind of thing: a story where they can shine a light on wrongdoing and, through public pressure, change occurs or an organization that was ignoring the little guy suddenly finds a conscience (albeit for show). PR is an amazing thing. In this case, I have little doubt that AirBnB would become much more involved once your story gains some traction. Additionally, the scammer's name would most likely become public and be easily searchable forever - potentially helping future vacation rental owners and landlords alike.

I fully recommend touching base w/print and TV reporters. As others here have said, find out who covers the vacation rental industry and contact them asap. This is a great industry story (in reporter's terms, obviously, not great for you) - you've got the little guy being scammed, a dirtbag renter/squatter, a gigantic company trying to ignore the problem, and a laundry list of "Did you know?" type of info to inform and enlighten readers about the legalities of these situations.

I wish you luck and a fast resolution!

I will be out of state then, but have attended in the past and recommend this meet-up to others (like @Jeremy Hauben )! See you at a future event. :)

I'm not sure what you mean by Letter of Intent, but in my opinion you'd do just as well - actually, better - to send in an actual offer. Send an offer with the earnest money deposit and your contingencies; you can have a contractor walk-through as a contingency (or a 10-day inspection period, etc). To put it bluntly, the LOI will most likely get tossed back at you b/c it sounds like you're kicking tires - and an offer will accomplish the same thing and have more credibility.

Also, what do you mean by transactional funding? Do you have someone putting up cash for you, or a hard money lender, or cash yourself? Are you prepared to buy the property if your end buyer backs out? The only thing a seller and a listing agent want to know is that you can and will follow through, and they should be doing everything they can to verify that you have the funds. Can you show them you do?

In the Bristol example, there are a lot of unanswered questions, the biggest being: how much rehab is needed? On a really quick-and-dirty calculation that assumes your ARV is correct, if the house needs more than about 45k in work you won't be able to wholesale it.

Just remember: the simpler you keep it, the better.

Hi @Ronald H. - all good questions. I answered some of this in your other post ("Why do there seem to be so many deals in CT?").

Regarding assignment, it can be tough to do so here. You can try writing "(Your company name) and/or assigns" when you submit an offer, but a lot of sellers balk at that. Other folks here on BP have had some creative ideas, so maybe they will chime in. I believe another idea I've heard is to form an LLC w/your end buyer and then have the other member buy you out. That way the company name remains the same on the contract. I forget the exact details, but you would need some things in place ahead of time.

Good question, too, about the contractor helping you to estimate rehab costs and then grabbing the deal out from under you. I don't have a good answer on that one! Maybe you get burned a couple of times before finding the contractor you're going to work with. Or maybe you rely on a bunch of photos from the agent. Or you find a CT-based rehabber to partner with. Tough call.

Oh, and the Census Bureau has good stats and demographics info on towns and cities; check American Fact Finder on the Census Bureau's website.

Hi @Ronald H. - would you mind sharing a few more details? What area of the state are you talking about, and what town/city? I live in southeastern CT (shoreline area toward the Rhode Island side) and I don't see a ton of great deals on the MLS, assuming you're talking about properties that are listed. I know there are some cities here in CT that have deceptively low asking prices, but there's usually a good reason for it.

I don't mean to throw cold water on your plan, which might work out very well; it just depends on the area. And I always get nervous for people who are tempted by low asking prices. There should be a lot more criterial than that.

As far as making offers, you would probably hook up with an agent. This sounds like it could be your best bet, as you'd need a local expert who knows the area, knows contracts, etc. Make sure that agent knows how to nail down ARV, which is going to be the toughest thing for you to figure out in this long-distance scenario. It could be really easy for someone to blow smoke and tell you a house is a great deal when it's not - how would you know? That agent should have some idea about the rehab process, too. You don't want someone who sees a low asking price, sees a good ARV, and has no idea of the work and cost in between.

Title insurance comes in at closing; your closing attorney will arrange for it and it will show up on the settlement statement.

A home inspection company isn't a bad idea, though you might not have time for that if it truly is a good deal. You'll be competing with rehabbers who got into the house right away and are submitting contracts with little to no contingencies. These houses don't typically undergo a full inspection prior to purchase.

Hope that helps, and good luck with the plan! If you find anything in my area, let me know (tho if it was on the MLS, I probably already saw it. ;-) ).

Welcome to Bigger Pockets, @Almeda Gordon ! There have been a couple of Fairfield meetups recently, organized by @Jonathan Makovsky. And there are quite a few investors from that area who are members of CTREIA. I'm not sure whether this is still the case, but there was a really active Fairfield County subgroup for some time.

Best of luck!

Too late, @John Carlo Gallo - I've tied @Jeremy Hauben  up (not literally, of course). When someone sounds like they know what they're doing, I corner them in a hurry! I will admit that I don't have anything as sexy as hotels going on, however...

haha @Jeremy Hauben you know us Yankees, we settle down and stay in one place for centuries! And California ... who wants to deal with earthquakes? ;-)

So by SECT, I mean the New London county area (New London, Groton, East Lyme, north to about Norwich, etc). Are you New Haven vicinity? I don't know what we call that - maybe just shoreline area.

Welcome, @Jeremy Hauben - man, do I wish you were in SECT! It's not easy to find contractors who understand investing.

Great introduction, btw. Best of luck in the next stages of your career!

Welcome, @Bill T. . BP is a great place to learn and network. There are quite a few Fairfield County/NY-area investors and there have been some good meet-ups as well. Check with @Jonathan Makovsky for Fairfield-area meetups and @Darren Sager for NYC meetups.

(For some reason my @ tool isn't working today...)