All Forum Posts by: Adam Stanton

Its been noted already the difference. Your realtor should have explained that to you. Make sure you're talking with him/her often and ask lots of questions.

Inspections are important but they are not a soup to nuts view of the property. Inspectors will only judge what he can see, nothing behind the walls or covered up. Most won't even move the floor registers. Inspections are also an opportunity to get out of the deal without losing your deposit. Savvy investors use them as a negotiating tactic. 

Bubble nation wide, no. Bubble in select markets, absolutely. 

I applaud your interest in trying to find an upside in this potential deal but I don't think there is one. Your friend is pretty upside down on this. Either you make zero profit or he loses money. Either way someone has to take the hit. The amount of work involved with flipping from out of state is challenging too. 

I hate them. I've been known to tear them down in my neighborhood. Even worse are the people who use them to sell puppies. 

Do a search in the forums for property insurance.  Some here like to go with the less expensive insurance providers.  Others recommend a strong policy that provides good coverage.  I'm in the latter of the two.  

It's up to the individual how accurate that list really is. It aligns with my experience. Competition is hot though. I'm already scouting other areas. 

@Rodney Buchanan the simple answer is yes, there is 100% financing out there. BUT, it takes time to get to that level if you don't have rich parents or a trust fund to dip in to. Most of the guys I know who are using little to none of their own money have at least a ten year track record of solid performance. These guys can typically email or text their private money providers with the deal and the money is quickly sent. I agree with @JerryPadilla and others that mention multi families with an FHA. That's an easy route to get in the game. I take the crawl, walk run approach. I purchased my first property with an FHA, lived in it and fixed at the same time. Took the profit and used it to buy a few rentals. Now I'm looking to raise private money with some colleagues. You'll find some who disagree with this. They would argue that jumping right in to creative financing is the way to go. That's fine if you're savvy enough to understand how all that works. I definitely wouldn't turn away a creative deal but they are harder to find than most admit. Starting with the simple approach using bank financing and a small downpayment is a worthwhile learning experience. Don't be pressured to try and get all creative if you're new to this. It's not worth the risk.

Best of luck

I'm research working with private investors and found this helpful.  Questions, when it comes to soliciting funds - better knows as "offering opportunity" - can you recommend a resource that helps explains the do's and don'ts?  We want to avoid SEC issues. 

Ditto to all that was mentioned. I went to the Richmond meetup last week and it was great. 

I use CL as well. I price my rentals just below market in order to fill it quickly. Nothing sucks cash flow like an empty rental. 

DC and NoVa are too hot and too pricey. There's nothing to be found on the MLS and there are few foreclosures left. What is left are not being sold at much of a discount. There are plenty of markets in the two to three hour range that work well. All depends on your goals.