All Forum Posts by: Nick C.

I'd be careful in Ybor or Channelside, unless you're looking into condos in Channelside. The areas that you're more likely to get rent at 1% of the purchase price would be Tampa Heights and Seminole Heights, your $$ goes a lot further in those areas. Hyde Park and Davis Island is probably too expensive for that. 

Invest asap, student loans can wait. I'm assuming your student loan has a low interest rate? If you can make a better return investing then your investments can pay off your student loans instead of you. 

I would have the answering service only get basic information about the property. Gathering information on the seller's situation will give you a chance to build rapport and try to find their motivation for selling. You don't want the seller getting annoyed having to answer the same questions twice. 

Neither your answering service nor a VA are going to care about building rapport. They are going to input whatever information they're instructed to, and that should be the extent of their contribution to the transaction.

"Never give up. Never surrender." I believe this was Winston Churchill, not Dee Dee Huey? 

I think your situation is far from a nightmare. My guess is if the owner gladly accepted an offer of 20% of the ARV he knew about the lien. Most people aren't glad about that. However depending on what the lien is for, and if it can be negotiated down to a manageable figure, you might end up being in great shape before all is said and done. It sounds like the owner will do what it takes to get the deal done, and you should have plenty of spread to work with at your purchase price.

I think the #1 thing is getting good deals to sell. The rest will take care of itself. 

@Mike Wood Aaaah I see what you mean by an hour out of town. There's a lot of the newer builds in those price points up by Wesley Chapel or down by Ruskin. Most likely the only way you're getting a newer build in St Pete is by tearing down the existing house. 

I'd be very careful of anything in south St Pete. There area very good areas down there like Gulfport or Lakewood Estates, but the properties you listed are in bad areas, I wouldn't spend more than $30k on either one. Most of south St Pete is pretty rough. I've had a much different experience than Mike Wood, and I couldn't disagree more about being an hour away from the city centers. That would put you in another city entirely or the Gulf of Mexico. We're experiencing terrific cash flow in both Tampa and St Pete. Screening tenants or finding good property management is just as or more important than finding a good house to buy. 

As far as the areas, the best way would be to spend a lot of time in your car driving around and connect with some local investors that can steer you away from the lemons. 

I can't speak for Zillow and they're pitiful valuation software, but I can tell you 75-85k will go a long way in St Pete. In the bad parts of town you would spend considerably less. 500k and up will get you property a few blocks from the beach. 

There is no customary fee that I'm aware of. Everything is negotiable. It's definitely something to ask about up front, whether there is room in the spread to get paid, or do you need to add your fee on top of their asking price. Remember you aren't protected by the MLS, so either do an assignment fee or make sure your commission is written into the contract.

If leaving voicemail doesn't work, try texting. Texts are harder to ignore than voicemail or email, some people don't even listen to voicemails anymore, and you know they're seeing the text no matter how "busy" they are. If it's a good listing I've texted an agent a dozen times if they tried ignoring me. I'd rather be annoying than irrelevant.