All Forum Posts by: Jack Bobeck

@Julie McCoy You really dont need a lot of time in real estate. Build your team now, while you have time, your handymen, painters, realtor, RE lawyer, title company. You can do this now, to save you time later. 

if a deal is a great deal, dont let high int rates get in the way of the deal. You are only using OPM to get the deal done. 

Nice job @Michael A Johnson! If it were me, I'd cash out the elderly neighbor and get a note from conventional option with a HELOC on it, that you can use for other properties. With the HELOC you take it out and put it back in, as needed. Maybe you can work with the same lender on financing "secondary" homes.

Ask the banks about seasoning - how long you need to hold the property before refinancing. There are some GREAT discussions on seasoning out here on BP. Some using an LLC to eliminate the issue. I like the HELOC, because you only pay a small fee to pull out cash, then the rates are low and you can pay it back when you get the refi-cash out done for the house. Best of luck to you!

Real Estate financing is all dependent, ultimately, on your assets as collateral. When you rent, you do not have an asset. I like option 1, because you have assets. You can do more with these. Unless in #2, you are just rolling in cash to allow you to buy with cash. What is your goal in real estate? How much do you need to have to get to the "dream house"? Determine your goal(s) first, then choose your scenario. You cannot chose a wrong one, as we are always learning in real estate. Best of luck to you! 

1st, define your goals. What do you want to do in real estate? How much do you want to earn today, tomorrow, next week, next month, at the end of the year? Your goals will help you find your way in real estate. Want to make 100k a year, flipping may be for you. Satisfied with 15-20% return in a year, but only 20-25k, maybe rentals are the way to go for you. I would start with the amount of money you want in real estate, to determine your first investment. You might want to buy property notes or be a bank for someone and limit the risk, but make good money as the bank. 

Define your goals to identify your real estate investment. Best of luck to you! 

Do you work with a handyman now? If not, go to your local paint store and see if there is a wall of business cards, or ask a Realtor for a favor and some help. They might have people who can give you estimates. 

Can you share any of the issues? 

I would not use any of your identity, come up with a creative name that means nothing to someone looking for your dirty laundry. 

Some on the BP site have pointed out that if you have an LLC for each property, you have the cost to setup, in FL its about 500-600 bucks for each one. Then you need tax returns for each one. Why not buy Umbrella Coverage for your properties, through either auto insurance you have or your primary residence? Each LLC has to have its own tax work and forms, I don't see the value in having 10 properties with 10 LLCs and 10 tax returns, but that is my opinion, and others will do it differently.

You can seach the LLCs in use at sunbiz.org here in the state of florida. Best of luck to you. 

I shop my insurance every year. They are all changing, be absorbed by one another, changing X because of Y. I just saw premiums rise 30% on one property due to a "flat roof", its a game, you have to play. My deductible is 2-2.5k, which I can pay, if I need to, but not too high to where I cannot. Shop it, look for a better deal each year before property taxes come out in the fall. 

Conventional loans will be very tough without a W2. Not impossible, but my wife and I spent 6 months getting our primary residence refinanced because she was self-employed as a Realtor. Any change in employment and they ask for tax returns and documenation like you are on the "operating table". It was brutal, for me anyway.

Do you have any equity you can pull out of your investment property? You need assets as collateral, its nice to have cash, but the lender wants to feel secure about loaning out 200-250, as you well know. 

Hard money, private money, I would hope you could get 8-12% on money in CA, which you may need to do, for now, to get the deal done, build up more cash and keep doing a few deals to get to the point where you don't need OPM (other people's money). You can shop online, but most investor deals without a conventional loan, the note will be 6-7%, which is fine with cheap money for 30 years, but if it were me, its all about the assets you have now, for collateral. You might want to find a partner to help with a flip and raise more cash for your projects. Wish you the best of luck!

Having purchased a property with auction.com, they were in control when I purchased in 2013. I have seen others post that they have been able to use their own local title firm, so that is good news, as the auction.com title office for my deal was out of Pittsburgh and I am in Florida so there was calling and emails to get status.

When I first did my deal, I had to show I had the funds and send an earnest deposit which was used to help fund the deal. I think I had a 25k house, where I had to put down 3800 or something like that, and I wired it from my source to the title company for Auction.com. All Auction.com is, for the banks, is an intermediary, so they get a cut from the process. If the deal is good enough, go for it, but be prepared to have another party in the transaction (Auction.com)

a drug raid in my city, Jacksonville, FL does not mean that the property is seized by the city. what does the city want with a property? So you would need to contact the owner, see if they are tired of the tenants and see if maybe you can assume the mortgage or take over and pay him on a simple note. Kudos to you looking for an opportunity!