All Forum Posts by: Karl B.

Halloween is tomorrow! Please entertain us with more creepy haunted stories! 

This is simple. I would buy a 4-unit VIA a FHA-loan.

Live in it for a year, refinance it, and find another 4-unit to FHA.

With the broader market slowing down and the US being in a downturn, I think demand for A-class properties will go down in some markets.

I deal in mostly C-class properties and in my market I have not seen a slow-down. 

This is funny. The young couple thing cracks me up. 

When a couple wants to view a property I always look at their Facebook to see if I find any red flags (something I do with ALL tenants). And there are seriously couples who have been 'Facebook official' for only a few weeks and they're already looking to move in together. 

So I've got A.D.D. - Mom made the doctor prescribe be Ritalin when I was a kid and I have the attention span of a puppy - but damn - you're looking to move in together after being bf/gf for only a few weeks? SLOW DOWN! 

Random, but I currently have some tenants in their early-20s. I don't remember how it came up but it turned out they were bf/gf since they were like 10 years old. Which was shocking to me as THAT'S dedication! They're some of the best tenants I've ever had.

In my market, if I was a newbie, looking to buy one deal, I would wait. 

But since I buy multiple properties a year, I'm looking for deals now, as I have a lot of capital sitting on the sidelines. I'm seeing a lot of overpriced stuff in my market and am being patient, though turning over rocks does yield good deals, if you keep turning them over to see what's underneath. 

In the near future, some people are going to need money - and fast. In some cases they won't want to wait for a realtor to list their house as they'll need the money sooner than later; if you can fill their need and close quickly with cash you're in the driver's seat for a nice discount. 

I would buy a few multi-family properties in my current market, have them run like clockwork and then look for passive investors who will help me buy more properties. 

Though $20,000,000 is a lot to make in 5 years... I hope it's  just a water gun!

I rescued a mama cat and her three kittens from one of my properties and took them to a horse barn where they now live (and now mama cat is preggo again).

Personally, I wouldn't relocate a cat to a situation similar to yours because the cat (off the top of my head):

-Might hop on cars during the wintertime (in the dead of winter our cats LOVE warm car hoods - it drove my dad bananas)

-Being a stray cat doesn't see to be a great reality. The mama cat I rescued was skinny and there were neighbors who fed the strays

-Some tenants might not like to see more cats, especially if they aren't being neutered, and the stray population could quickly grow

I think it would be better if you found someone you know and trust to adopt the cat from you. That way the cat can live a happy life and be warm during the wintertime. Take a photo of your new fuzzy friend and post it on your Facebook page, asking if any friends/family want to adopt him/her. 

Brandon Turner's newbie webinar showed me what made for a good deal and I ran numbers using his criteria. 

When I got started I went at it alone without a team and did just fine. The most important thing one can do is buy a screaming deal with minimal surprises and low-risk. It's not brain surgery. Most people fail because they buy where the numbers are not acceptable. 

I don't care, as long as the car is well-taken care of. 

I will say that the best agent I ever had (she was my L.A. agent) drives a Mercedes SUV. 

Quote from @Alicia Marks:

Quote from @Karl B.:

 Contractor. But I'm lumping tradesmen into that category. 

And 'finding' them isn't half the issue - it's getting them to show up let alone commit to a project. So frustrating. 

Thank goodness of the tradesmen I work with the most (handyman and plumber) they show up quickly - but my electrician - it's like I have to call the guy once a week over the course of a month to get him to show up (the reason I deal with it is he charges less than half of what others charge and he does good work).

Does his dragging his feet ultimately affect your carrying costs? It may be a wash to hire someone consistent.

Yes - most definitely it does. He promised he would get it done in the near future; I had him show up to take a look at a 4-unit located on the same block that needs some lighting added to the basement. I didn't think it would take the guy this long - in the future I will hold them to more of a timeline.