All Forum Posts by: Minna Reid

So as promising as my phone leads off my local newspaper seemed to be at first, over the last few weeks, they've pretty much turned out to be useless - about 95% unmotivated sellers looking to save realtor fees. I pulled the ad, but would like to put it back in as it was a fairly inexpensive method to get the phone to ring quite abit and put my name out there, except I need to reword it to attract more MOTIVATED SELLERS. Any ideas for good phrases that would attract the sellers I want to hear from?
Or maybe I should just skip the paper and get my signs up ( they're still in the box!!!) and do some direct mail maybe? My website does catch leads, but only when I get the name out so people go there.
I do talk to everyone imaginable that could be of help to find more sellers, but so far that has proved fruitless....and there are no REI clubs or other investors (that I know of) in my area to get a good network going.

I recently started a home improvement company - albeit mostly to get my sparsely-employed-as-of-late-contractor-boyfriend off the couch..( He is great at what he does, not so at sales, marketing, follow up, paperwork, keeping books, which I am now handling, along with some light assistance to actual physical work)...Anyway I'm starting my first rehab shortly and was planning to just do the work (it's a light job) between he, I and maybe another guy we know. But now I'm wondering - would there be some advantage to hiring my own company to do this work and getting it all on the books? Any plus or negative in that? At tax time even? Or am I better off without?

Is she out of lease ? Has she given proper notice according to the terms of the lease and your state laws? If so, and the manager is really just being a jerk, I would suggest carefully documenting the state of the unit at move out. Take pictures. Do a walk through with the property manager. Make sure he has a forwarding address. In CT I have 30 days to get a tenant moving out what remains of their security deposit (with applicable interest) and I need to provide an itemization of any deductions . A property manager cannot just "keep" the security deposit for no reason. It's illegal, and they can be sued.

Maybe theres something more to this story...Does she owe back rent? Late fees? Maybe there was some other damage to the unit?

Ok so basically - as long as I buy a similar property within 45 days of selling another (and none are owner occupied) - I can avoid being taxed is that right? Does the 45 days have to be after the sale of the original property, or can it be preceding?
The new property just has to be the same or more expensive is that right?

How exactly does seller financing work? When would it be a good choice?
For example, let's say I want to sell my condo to the people who rent it, rather than evict them to put it on the market. They have bad credit and probably wouldnt be able to get a mortgage on their own, but would likely want to buy my condo if they could. I'd like out, but dont have a great deal of equity. Would seller financing be a good option in this situation?

if I said that right... The monthly rent needs to be at least 1% the purchase price - am I hearing this right? I'm shopping rentals with this factor, but I already have one that has become a nightmare, and I'm in the process of evicting to sell, because it is just not worthwhile. I'm not at 1% with that one. Am I understanding correctly that this is at least the desirable minimum GPM...(GM) ..whatever??

Well...I got over it..lol. We are closing in Feb (by signing I literally meant signing the contract), but inspection is all set with no surprises, everything is rolling smoothly, they just needed a little more time to have carpets installed in their new place. Now I cant wait to just get started on the rehab, and meanwhile I'm still looking for more good deals out there. I mean at some point you just gotta trust you've done your homework I guess. We'll see at resell time- lol..
And actually I did stress my own house and the one before that...there were always those few days before that I started thinking "oh my god...what if I'm getting in over my head...What if I don't make it..what if I end up on the streets...etc" Obviously not in the same way, but still the jitters. But hey, at the end of the day -no risk, no reward right? I could spend the rest of life in my "safe" day job to feel secure and just daydreamink about what I really wanna be doing instead.

When talking to people before you see their house, how far do you go to qualify them? I generally get their property description, their situation and what they think their house is worth, what they want for it, and what they owe. But I come accross a few problems. I'd like to save some time in not visiting people if their numbers are ridiculous, but at the same time once we're face to face they're generally much more forthcoming about things.
For example I talked to a couple and I really didnt even want to go as I figured I'd just end up telling them they should just find a realtor, and as it turns out, they really needed out and just jumped on my offer.
Then yesterday I saw another that I was excited about as the hubby sounded pretty realistic, but once I get there I realize we're like 80 grand away from any real price and needless to say he didnt care for my offer.
Couldn't I be qualifying better somehow on the phone so as my time is directed the right way? or should I always just go and see whats up?

To avoid paying capital gains taxes on the sale of my personal residence before I live in it for two years?