All Forum Posts by: Kirsten Sitnick

Hi @Amanda Johnson ! Just to piggyback on what Jared said, there are lots of other ways to find deals to wholesale. Try absentee owners, probate, expired listings, FSBOs, or drive around a look for vacant houses (just to name a few). Good luck!

--Kirsten

Welcome @NA Jones !

---Kirsten (in Catonsville)

I'm in the same situation, Ian, I have one property, and some cash. I'm having trouble finding loans for low cost properties. Will check out the smaller local banks. Any other ideas? I'm also looking in the $50K range.

Sounds to me like you need just what you mentioned...contingencies for home inspection and termite inspection. Usually you have a set amount of time, say 10 days, in which to get out of the contract (or try to renegotiate it with the seller).

---Kirsten

One more idea to add to the great ones already...tape a note to the door. Sometimes the owner checks on the house every once in a while. But try the other ideas first!

--Kirsten

Hi, I don't think you can generalize an entire county as being a good area or a bad area to invest in. Neighborhoods, sure, but a whole county is going to have a variety. It's more about the specifics of the deal you're looking at...how much are you paying for the property, how much can you sell it for when you're done, how much work is needed, etc. @Jamal Atwell , why not look at some properties and evaluate comps and repair costs? Look at comps, are properties being sold to homeowners in the area, not just investors buying rentals?

---Kirsten

I love having MLS access for quick access to comps. That said, it's expensive to keep a license (between fees to the local association, MLS fees, etc.), so you might want to wait to do it until you need it. I just wanted to add that you may be able to take your licensing class online if you decide to go that route. The licensing rules vary in each state, but taking the class online was really convenient.

---Kirsten

Hi Cynthia! Hope to see you at one of the REIAs in the area!

---Kirsten (from Catonsville)

Hi Chenna, if your mortgage is $1500, and you can rent for $1600 it sounds like you will lose money. Stuff happens. You will have repairs, you'll have months with a vacancy, things like that. If you're hiring a property manager, in my area (Baltimore) they charge 10% of rent; is it the same in your area? Even if you manage it yourself, you can expect that things will go wrong, and you should have the reserves to handle that. Your tenant is paying your mortgage balance down, and you may have your property value increase, but do you have the reserves to wait that out?

--Kirsten

Hey, David, are you starting an LLC? It's actually really easy to establish your entity yourself. You can do it through the mail, but it takes a while. I think it's easier to do it in person. I've done it a few times myself, download the forms here:

http://www.dat.state.md.us/sdatweb/sdatforms.html

Fill them out ahead of time, then when you go to SDAT to file them, it's pretty quick. Probably takes about half an hour.

--Kirsten