All Forum Posts by: Mike Sedlacek

My county has a program for 1st time buyers helping with down payment and closing costs up to $30,000. Have you checked with your county to see if they have a similar program?

in my career as an investor my specialty was multifamily dwellings.Over 30 years all my purchases were owner financing . It was faster closings , lower down payments and 10 year callable with option to renew for another 10 years on different terms. Closing cost were less just both attorneys and assumable mortgage with qualifying approval . It worked for me and monthly payments went directly to the seller. 

A friend of mine gets his information directly from the asset manager of his bank. He is a Realtor and sells many of these homes to his list of investors. These properties, once on the market , are gone the next day. His investors are cash rich and put out purchase agreements daily. Yes alot of them are low ball offers but with many investors bidding on the same properties the banks are getting close to offer price. I'll tell you, once my friend sends out the property info to his list , he will get an offer to purchase within an hour. You need to get in touch with a Realtor working with investors and be ready, willing and able with no hasitation. 

Spokeo gives me both landline numbes and cell phone numbers. That being said, and having tried other services, spokeo is about 90% accurate. But my area is a miltitary town and people move frequently. So many times phone numbers here are out of date. And some people have moved but not their cell phone numbers. I have on occasion talked to people who have lived in my area but now are somewhere else in the country and they have kept their cell phone numbers. But, it is a good place to start. I use spokeo to circle dial around my listings for both just listed and just sold properties. One thing you can do for your area if you are getting many bad numbers , is to call them and ask if they have done any updates to the information.  In the past they have told me the numbers in my area are about a year old and that is not good for a military town. I have found that in some areas around town the numbers were 50% accurate and others area spot on. So it depends and I don't thing any other service is any more accurate for my area, anyways.

After you look up the tax information then go to www.Spokeo.com and get their phone information.

To paint them start with an oil base primer then use a latex semi-gloss paint because it is washable since they will collect dust and will need to be wiped down every so often.

I use Agreeable Gray from Sherwin Williams contract grade 400. It is a light gray and I like their paints. They are thick and don't run when applying on a wall. I use egg shell , it is washable.

Yeah. Have the seller file bankruptcy that stops foreclosure

Okay, so, I've been in the multi-family apartment business some 30 years. All the properties I purchased were built around the 1940-1950 vintage. When I took possession of the property I atomatically raised rents 20%. All these properties didn't have washer-dryer hook-ups. I installed either one or two coin operated washers and dryers in the basement area since in upstate NY we have basements. However, as each unit became vacant over the year I updated them with newer kitchens and baths and brought the rents to within 5% of going rates to get them rented quickly. I didn't use the capex or repair cost percentages when I analyzed  the income stream before purchase. I just knew from experience how the repairs costs where going to go monthly and early, so I just put a reserve into a savings account for it. Depending on what my plans for the coming year for improvements where going to be I planned the savings monthly for them. I think you have to have a good picture in your mind as to what the property is going to need monthly and yearly for improvements and figure this out when you view the property for the first time. 

I don't like relying on percentages and figures. Once you know what kind of tenants you have and their living habits and periodic inspections of their unit, you get a good feel for things and a good estimate of what you will be doing in repairs and improvements over the years. Just saying.

The first property, from a sales perspective, will take a while to sell because of location. Also when you move from that house and you rent it out to that type of tenant family, most likely their living habits will produce a messy property and interior. This will cost extra for clean up and repaint when you rent to new people or sell the property.

The second house is more likely to be a more desirable home for buyers and give you a quicker market time. Also the tenants living habits should be a cleaner environment both inside and outside thereby reducing cleanup costs vs. the first property. Just saying.