All Forum Posts by: Chris Clothier

Ted Akers makes a great point here in that the 'anti-flipping' deed restrictions do nothing to actually prevent an investor from flipping a house. It only increases the cost of the transaction. Another example of the absolute short-sighted solutions that banking executives, and gov. institutions for that matter, come up with when they do not consult those that are actually doing the business.

David Robertson - I like the fact that you made the offer, regardless of outcome. As always, this is a game of numbers. We bid on 100+ HUD homes each week and it takes less than 20 seconds to make each offer. I would tell you that we may make an offer at 1/3 of the listing price or several thousand over listing price - it all depends on what price are we paying in that neighborhood. That was the one other point I would make about the renovation costs. When you concentrate on one particular area of town you can develop a reliable model for average costs on properties both for renovation and purchase. This allows you to make a lot more offers on properties.

Best of luck

Peter Haymond - I know this post is from a few weeks back, but I just came across at the bottom of another thread and I wanted to add a major point that may have been missed.

It is very difficult, if not impossible, to get a loan today on an investment property purchased without work being done. In the scenario you laid out, you cannot get a fnma 20% down loan and then do $16,000 of renovation unless the property is already in liveable condition. IMO, you should never purchase from a Turn-Key company that lays out a scenario like this. They are operating, it appears, on your cash. The only other information left out on your post was how they deliver other services. Are they using 3rd party vendors for renovation and management? It can make a huge difference in the performance of your property and how accurate your expense calculations turn out in the end. Management is really the key for holding costs to a predictable and calculable number each month.

Patty Nelson - It goes without saying that you should always stick with reputable people only. The scenario you are laying out is crazy. If it sounds crazy it is...

NO telling why he is doing what he is doing, but it sounds possibly illegal, definitely unethical and in the end absolutely desperate. Good luck with the resolution, but as several have stated on here, i would continue working with your client and forget about the investment specialist.

Mike Jakobczak - Yeah please come by if you are there and if you decide to go feel free to grab one of these passes. No sense in paying full price if they are offering a discount.

Take care

Michael Lerch - Can they purchase identical properties for $5k-$12k? You found this one for $14k so it does not seem unreasonable that they could find other similar properties in this area. If you are wholesaling the deal and selling as is, then make sure you are truly selling it as a good deal for the buyer. I would see it differently if you were substantially changing the property or had the ability to purchase it for $7k when everyone else is paying higher. Then you would be creating value by providing something they cannot get elsewhere (price may be the same but buying from you is much less hassle than paying the same price at auction). Hopefully that makes sense. None of us can tell you if it is a good deal based on the info, but I can tell you that based on that info. it does not appear that you are providing a reason for them to buy from you. You are just buying it first and then adding $10k to the price. Paying closing costs is not a convincing reason to get someone to bu - IMO.

Best of luck with the deal.

David -

I give the benefit of the doubt with your last post in response to Jon and assume that you don't really mean that the difference is irrelevant. Comes across as if you are saying as long as you can convince the borrower that you are not a perceived bad lender, then they must perceive you as being a good one. If the terms are the same then most investors do not care. If you are asking because it is better to market as one or the other, then, I would say that Hard Money lender has connotations that may make some investors nervous where private lender does not.

Jon Holdman or anyone else - any legalities that you know of to what a lender can call themselves?

I wanted to extend these passes to all of our Canadian friends on the Bigger Pockets site and simply place the invite.

I will be hosting one of the stages at the event and am going to be speaking at the event about "Using Social Media As A Real Estate Professional". They contacted me and asked if I would like to give away 10 passes at about a 40% discount. I think the regular cost of attendance for the two days is $378 and they gave me 10 tickets at $250. If you are interested in attending and have not purchased your tickets - you can register at:

1-855-283-2721
[email protected]

and mention the code - IFMEMPHIS

I am also one of the judges for their Investor Awards, but....I've already voted so using this discount won't help you any!

All the best and if you attend please come up and say hello to me.

Chris

Andy Chu - You ask a question that is asked everyday by investors, and in fact, every small business owner giving responsibility to someone else in their organization. We pay 3 site supervisors right now and then they answer to a supervisor over-seeing the whole operation. We also pay them very well, but they may work 12-14 hours some days to make sure everything is done.

It took years to show them the detail we wanted, but in the end, one phrase answers the question about quality and speed. You have to inspect what you expect. Regardless, you are going to have to be int he houses for a while and a site supervisor has to know that you are going to inspect his work and make sure he is meeting your expectations. If you take a few days and are not in the houses, then you can bet that corners are being cut. Over time, you develop super reliable people that know you are going to pay well and always be very up front with what you expect. Knowing that you are going to inspect their work will keep them honest and paying well will keep them loyal.

Eric James - There are a few different trade magazines for real estate investing, BUT there is a huge caveat to be aware of. Most magazines in the space are considered marketing magazines. So the stories are focused on companies that pay for the story or advertise in the magazine. I have advertised in several and there is nothing wrong with them, you just have to know when reading them that the point of the magazine is to provide marketing space for companies.

One that I think provides great content from real estate investors is "REI Voice". While the content covers all of real estate investing, a lot of the content comes from California contributors and its distribution is mostly northern cal.

"Realty 411" is another one that is published by Linda Pliagas and while it is a marketing magazine, the articles are written by professional writers and the topics are usually good.

"Canadian Real Estate Wealth" is an excellent magazine and don;t let the name fool you. The articles are very good - written by professional writers - and they cover a TON of different topics. They don't just concentrate on one type of investing which makes it a great magazine for learning.

I would start with those three as, In My Opinion, they are the best magazines for actually learning about real estate subjects and concepts.

Good luck