All Forum Posts by: Oscar Macal

Hi guys,

First off, thanks for your advice and sorry I'm just now getting back to you. January has been a crazy month with family in town for my sisters wedding, etc. 

Unfortunately, the home has not yet sold and I had to drop the price from $139,000 to $135,900 last week. Of course this means, that I am now losing money on this house even if I sold it for full price today.

Therefore, I am determined to turn this potentially bad situation into a positive one and rent it out. However, I have been asking around with a couple different mortgage lenders and they are telling me that I have to have at least 6 months to 12 months before I can cash out refinance the home. The problem is that, if I can only refinance it and now get any money out of it, I have zero funds to invest in another property. Any more advice you guys could give me?

I bought the house for $90k and all in, with closing costs, holding costs, repairs, etc, I am currently at $129k. With realtor fees (3% for the buyers and 1% to my selling agent), I make $1k assuming it sells today.

Any advice on what to do or who to contact in the Houston area possibly that could help me out?

Thanks.

Hi guys,

I currently have my first flip on the market to sell that I bought a couple months ago. However, I have a question and hoping someone can help.

I unfortunately am not going to make much, if any, money on this home. The repairs went way higher than expected, and assuming it sold today and closed in approximately a month, I'd make about $4k. Therefore, not wanting to take the risk that it doesn't sell soon and having to extend a hard money loan (which as you all know if extremely expensive) come March, I'm considering keeping the home and either moving in myself or renting it out. However, all my liquid funds are tied into it and I'd like to tap into those to get rolling on another project and then sell the home in a year or two when it has gone up in value a bit more. 

The question is, could I cash out refinance it in order to get my liquid funds out of the property? Are there any "seasoning" requirements that would prevent me from doing this?

Thanks for your help and advice.

Oscar

Hi everyone,

What are good websites and/or strategies for locating homeowners that have moved? I am knocking on doors of homes that are in preforeclosure and came upon a home that is abandoned and going to auction September 1st but I cannot locate the owners, which is obviously impeding my ability to even speak with them. Any help and advice is appreciated.

Oscar

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to get in contact with a homeowner right now who is currently in foreclosure for May 5th auction and looking to get them to sign the Warranty Deed, subject to, to me and then file it at the County Clerks to show I own it. My two questions are, first, assuming I get this deal done, I am essentially "taking over their loan" which will still be in the owners name, correct? And second, if that is correct, how would the process be different to sell the home? Since the loan is still in the original owners name, but I am the owner because of the deed, will my buyer simply get a new loan and payoff the old loan with Warranty Deed being my proof that I own it and I am to be paid for the equity in the home?

I hope that makes sense. 

Thanks in advance.

Oscar

Hi all,

I'm trying to decide what the "best" business entity and/or strategy would be to purchase rental property? I have saved up the funds I need to buy my first SF rental property and want to know what is the best way to protect myself as I continue in the future to purchase more rentals and eventually plan to get into commercial properties. 

I'm a natural analyst, so I run through every possible scenario, good and bad, and want to be prepared for anything. "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst" mentality. My two biggest concerns are the following:

* Keeping my assets protected - If I get in a car wreck and sued, or something of the sorts, I want to be able to keep my rentals "hidden" away and not brought in as an asset that could potentially be taken from me, as I plan to have them provide for my retirement.

* Protecting my personal credit - I have worked hard since I got my first credit card 10 years ago, to keep my credit flawfless and to this day, it is. Zero missed payments, zero collections, etc. Since life throws unexpected curve balls, I want to be prepared. If for whatever reason, worst case scenario, I lost all my tenants and could not pay the rental mortgages with my job income, how can I protect myself from ruining my credit?

I have thought about buying all properties in my name and then transferring them into a business name (LLC, S/C corp, etc), but need to know which one would be the "best" choice to transfer them into that would help to address my concerns?

I understand that there is no perfect answer, but any guidance or suggestions are appreciated. 

Oscar

Hey guys,

The deal is, I was looking to buy my own house to live in. The property was new construction, but long story short, because my job has a base plus commission pay scale, and I haven't been there 2 years, they could only use my base to qualify me and my base was not enough to qualify for the loan I needed for my home. Not wanting to "settle" for a "lesser" home than I want, I'm switching up my game plan and want y'all's advice.

I've decided I should stay at my parents for a while longer, but go ahead and purchase my first rental property with the loan I've been approved for. I've been approved for $138k, but have NO intention of spending that much on a rental home. I'm thinking something more along the lines of $70-$90k purchase, with $20-40k of equity. I figure I can get a tenant in, and on a property purchase for $90k @ 6% for 30 yrs with 4% tax rate(which is on the high end of the area I'm looking at), would give me a monthly payment of about $840+ insurance and misc. = $950, I could profit about $100-$200 a month (nothing spectacular, but it's still income). Do this for about a year and continue saving money, and see about selling to pocket the equity or if I can, keep the property and cash out refi it, so that I can purchase my own house with the equity as a down payment and hold onto this one, if possible?

Any flaws in my plan, or can I do something more effectively?

Any input is appreciated?

Thanks everyone for your replies. Your time is appreciated.

Matt, as much as I hate to admit it, I know I'm beginning to fall into that trap and trust me, I'm trying to avoid it as much as I can. I do just need to get out and do it!

Thanks again everyone for your input and advice. Best of luck to all of you.

As always, I'm trying to learn new investing techniques and right now I'm looking to learn about wholesaling. My understanding thus far is as follows (Not necessarily in this exact order):
1) Find cash buyers/investors and find out what property types they are looking for and where.
2) Find the properties and negotiate with sellers for a price below the local comps and FMV's.
----3)---- Now here we'd sign a purchase contract of some sort, but what all does it need to entail is one of my questions? Does a lawyer write one up for me with proper verbiage to allow me to assign it?
4) I would "assign" the contract to whichever buyer is interested in the property and make my "assignment" fee.

So, this seems to be the process in a nutshell, but what are the more "in depth" steps I'm missing?
---Maybe I need to have a title check done on the property before signing the contract with the seller?
---Do I handle everything with my "assignee" by just giving him the original contract with some sort of "assignment clause" giving him my full rights to the property and he writes me a check for my fee or do I need to get a lawyer involved?

It seems to be a pretty straight forward strategy, but just want each of your opinions, input and advice to see what I'm missing or what could be beneficial to me to know.

Thanks!

Thanks for your reply Don. I appreciate it.

Anybody? I'd really like to know what my options are. Thanks.