All Forum Posts by: Matt Jones

In addition to the CAP and vacancy rates we would need to know the purchase price and yearly insurance cost to help you arrive at an accurate valuation.

Until you have done a few deals and established a relationship with your contractor they will probably not want to bid or walk through houses unless you already own them or at least have them under contract. I'd recommend getting a deal under contract and then getting estimates during the inspection period.

@Jeffery Jones First, welcome to the site and to RE investing!

Second, it might be helpful if you shared something about yourself and your goals.  Even an excellent RE investor might make a bad mentor if they have different goals and motivations than you.

It sounds like you are forgetting to account for vacancies or any kind of capital expenditures.  I think your actual cash on cash return would be much lower in reality.  Check out some of the calculators and run your numbers a few times to get a more accurate picture.

I agree with the posters above, the lot rent sounds high and $4k is a lot for a 2/1 that needs to be gutted.  MH is a great place to start investing but you don't have to jump on the first "deal" you hear about.  Run the numbers on this one for practice and keep looking unless you are convinced this is an amazing deal. 

Check out www.lightstream.com it's a division of Suntrust bank and offers unsecured loans up to $100k for people with great credit.  Lightstream has helped me finance a few deals while I got them ready to refinance with a bank and the terms are similar to the ones you mention above.

That depends on your area but I would suggest you be looking for deals through multiple channels if you are serious about finding a deal. MLS, wholesalers, people you know, Craigslist, foreclosure and pre-foreclosure list, ect...

I'm under contract on a fourplex with Fannie Mae right now.  They sometimes offer really good deals but they can be very difficult to deal with.  That said, some of my best deals have been on foreclosures where the seller was difficult to deal with.  It actually saved me $15k on the house I live in because the bank scared off the other offers.

Looks like it is going to be a great property, good luck!

Start hunting for deals and practice analyzing them, keep reading and listening to BP content, start talking to people about your real estate interests and start thinking about how you can make it work financially.  Those are the steps that worked for me anyway.  After "house-hacking" my way into some capital I bought my first flip in February and am in the middle of rehab.  I found that one through my uncles neighbor because I had been talking about my interest in real estate I was his first call when he needed to sell his parents home.  I am closing next week on my first four-plex which I found through Fannie-Mae.  There are still some deals in my area on fannie mae properties and I check Homepath.com at least a few times per week.  The hardest thing for most people is taking that first step but if you have been learning and analyzing deals you will be ready!