All Forum Posts by: Paul Stanley

Absolutely Dave! I actually applied the Conti negotiation strategy and saw it working. The book I took it from is "Buying Real Estate Without Cash Or Credit."

I just attended a commercial property presentation for private funding this week and heard that Cincinnati was pretty much untouched by the housing crash as many Co.s are based there.

Don't worry about sounding like an expert when you talk with sellers. In fact, sounding reluctant/unsure about buying their property will help you because they're less likely to feel like "the big bad investor" is there to somehow take advantage of them. Remember that sellers' 2 biggest fears tend to be a sense of loss [of their home] or that somehow the investor is taking advantage of them like a helpless swimmer being circled by sharks = them losing out on the deal with you. Your sounding unsure and reluctant to buy will make them feel more like their in the driver's seat. Any idea you have for a deal propose it as a "what if..." question. (ie. You probably would hate this idea, but what if I made up your arrears mortgage payments & took over your mortgage payments?--a "subject to existing terms" deal). Anxiety on your part is good.

Jamela & Ned both gave good advice. In reference to Ned's advice of finding comparable values, use recent comparable sales prices (zillow) to estimate current value--be cautious of props that sold recently needing repairs/rehabs.

When talking with sellers--before making offers/discussing money, find out their motivation for selling & try to build a rapport (commonalities you have) as you tour through their property and find what their REAL needs are respect to the price (ie. bal. on mortgage, if $$ is needed for down payment on next prop, selling to settle divorce, selling as they inherited prop they didn't want, moving out of town, etc.), and whatever dollar amount the seller mentions, you restate it as a range working in your favor. Once, you settle on an amount with seller in front of you, figure what the seller's take home amount will be once a Real Estate sales agent takes their 6% commission of the sale amount. Then you should have a lower actual sale "amount" instead of the "price" the seller was asking.

How much does it take to form an LLC? Can I do it online? Should I buy my next prop (3rd SFH/MFH) and so forth through my LLC?

Thx Jean

Hello all,
Joined BP a few weeks ago & found a lot of good info here. Bought a 2nd prop--duplex of which I'm renting out 1 unit while living in the other. Also, own a SF that is rented out as well. I'm interested in owning commercial rental props--be it in NY/PA/MD.

Should I buy & wholesale what I find as low-priced SFs & MFs that could possibly use some cosmetic work or rent them out for a yr speculating that housing prices will increase in order to gather up a down payment for a commercial prop?

[b]Other ideas for acquiring commercial property are MUCH APPRECIATED.

Regards,

Paul

Thanks for the quick reply Ned.

Is Lauraville a good/decent section of NE Bmore?

I'm actually heading down to Bmore this weekend to tour around...Is Lauraville a good/decent section of NE Bmore?

Thanks Jim. I'm actually planning to visit around Baltimore this coming weekend, and around Philadelphia the following weekend. What do you think of NE Baltimore?