All Forum Posts by: Mark Douglas

In your experience, what areas of improvement have contributed the most in increasing the property valuation? (i.e. Complete demo/reno vs. new paint)  (Also in the General RE forum, but I wanted to hear from rehabbers especially!)

In your experience, what areas of improvement have contributed the most in increasing the property valuation?  (i.e. Complete demo/reno vs. new paint)

@Cory Lee you could search the MLS with the keyword "seller" or "owner" and see if that pulls up any results. Direct Mail marketing (sending out targeted letters seeking sellers) works, but is often a volume play..the more you mail out, the higher chance you have at closing on one. You can search craigslist rentals, and ask if the landlord wants to sell. Also, just good old fashioned networking helps (REIA meetings, meetups, etc.)

Aprelle Hawkins Congrats on the recent purchase! I would try and refinance out of the hard money loan first. You can do a conventional loan anytime if you've got the cash, so I wouldn't worry too much about that right now. Most lenders like to see 1yr of receiving rent payments (from bank statements, PM software ledgers, etc.) but each one is different.

Steve Vaughan Great idea about including "why" I like the property. I think I'll include some before/after pics of my most recent buy/hold renovation too, to show them I'm serious about this.

Adam Christopher Thanks Adam, trying to be patient here lol Amir Safayan I'd like to include some commercial property after I buy a few more rentals. Working on the long term mindset!

Bill Gulley thanks Bill, I forgot to ask if they've got clear title to the property, I don't want to trigger the due on sale clause, right? Still waiting to hear back from my agent as to whether they're interested.

Jordan Samuel Between the two, I'd go for the duplex so you can have a little separation between tenants while you're renting. Also, if you're house hacking a 3bd for instance, and you're in one bedroom, that leaves two to rent, and may limit how much rent you can get. If you're doing a duplex, you may be able to get a higher gross rent. (Also, if you can snag a triplex or fourplex, that will give you more economies for scale. If you have a vacancy in a duplex, there isn't any income coming in, and you're stuck with the whole mortgage. If there's a vacancy in a 3/4 unit, you've still got some rent coming in each month.) Hope this helps!

John Ford that's exciting man !

Karen Sanderson When you say they won't use equity, do you mean they won't do a HELOC? Maybe try some portfolio lenders from the other metro areas in PA, it's a fairly common strategy, what you're wanting to do. Hope this helps ! - Mark