All Forum Posts by: Robert Blanchard

@Thomas Haskell 

 Are you a member of a Credit Union?  They sometimes have better rates for their members on Mortgages.   Since you are putting over 10% down on each property, they should be willing to work with you, even though 4 of the houses are Non Owner Occupy. 

@Clint Coneley 

From what I have read about crowd funding, is that you get investors to lend you money via a website.  Usually many people lend you smaller amounts of money.  Here is a good thread on BP regarding Crowd Funding along with a list of different companies that have websites up and running.  Read this thread and visit a few sites and see if this might be a solution for you, now or in the future.  

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/520/topics/117...

You also can use the search box on the upper right side of this page on the blue bar to search for other threads regarding Crowd Funding.  

I am tempted to do it so I can start flipping houses sooner.  Where I live, a basic  3/2 house runs over $200K.  In B or C neighborhoods they run $160K. Just the carrying and closing costs adds up quickly when a houses costs that much.   I am envious of the people that post that they buy  houses for $40K.   

Good luck in whatever you decide to do.  

Rob

@Clint Coneley Have you looked at a crowd funding site? There a couple of posts on this site regarding them. Have you attended a REIA meeting to find a partner to go in with you? Have you considered doing a few wholesale deals to get some money to get started with doing flips. I do not know how the market is in your area of TX, but from what I read, it is is pretty good and you should be able to find a few good wholesale deals if you can scare up $2-5K to do a few yellow letter campaigns or other advertising.

While 6 months is not as long as  most military deployments, it is still time away from your family.  Is your wife on board with the idea of you working away from home?   Are you going to be working on a oil rig in the gulf?  Is there any risks to the job?  I suspect since you are an inspector, you will not be a regular roughneck but still will be working 12's and making lots of money with all of the overtime.   If there is internet on the oil rig, or oil field man camp, you could do face time or skype to contact your family.  I suspect that you will be able to save over $20K just in 6 months doing those long weeks away from home. 

You will hear from many more experienced RE people on BP with some other suggestions regarding how to get started doing flips.  

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

@Clint Coneley Have you looked at a crowd funding site? There a couple of posts on this site regarding them. Have you attended a REIA meeting to find a partner to go in with you? Have you considered doing a few wholesale deals to get some money to get started with doing flips. I do not know how the market is in your area of TX, but from what I read, it is is pretty good and you should be able to find a few good wholesale deals if you can scare up $2-5K to do a few yellow letter campaigns or other advertising.

While 6 months is not as long as  most military deployments, it is still time away from your family.  Is your wife on board with the idea of you working away from home?   Are you going to be working on a oil rig in the gulf?  Is there any risks to the job?  I suspect since you are an inspector, you will not be a regular roughneck but still will be working 12's and making lots of money with all of the overtime.   If there is internet on the oil rig, or oil field man camp, you could do face time or skype to contact your family.

You will hear from many more experienced RE people on BP with some other suggestions regarding how to get started doing flips.  

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Have you checked to see if it was an investor that bought it?  Or maybe the buyer is waiting for their house to sell before spending money on this one.  After a few months, they might realize that they might not be able to handle a total rehab and you could offer them $4500 cash, just to see if he or she will counter less than $5K.

@Caleb Mclamb Post like this will help me graduate from analysis paralysis and go find a deal.  

Someone once said "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Each step that we all do to become a full time Real Estate investor will be one step closer to being able to quit the JOB and sit back and watch the fruits of our labor bring monetary returns and financial stability to our life's.

@Nat C. 

 Your welcome.  Keep us updated when you buy more properties in this area. 

A filter change and water heater inspection every 90 days does get you into a Property. My Father just got a SFH that had the same renter in it for over two years. The renter said that he had no pets when he moved in. Since my Father had moved out of state when he got remarried, he did not inspect the property on a regular basis. Of course, they did end up getting 2 larger dogs that they did not let out or walk very often. The wife was very sick and recently passed away. They were away for days at a time while the wife was at the hospital. The person that bought the property told my Dad that the carpets looked clean but if the house was closed up for over 4 hours, the stench of dog urine was very bad. The new owner had to tear out all of the carpet, pad, and put kilz down on all of the floors to get rid of the smell. At least dogs do not spray the walls like cats sometimes do, or do they?

You could always employ a bird dog or tell people on that block that you will pay a finders fee if they find a property coming up for sale that is not on the MLS (yet). Money can be a good motivator for get some people talking to you.

Craigslist could be another method to locate properties. If you find a listing for a rental or for a property for sale, the Owner might be willing to sell to you vs renting it or it might not have made it onto the MLS yet.

Since you are in FL, they might still have block parties in the winter months. Again, this depends on how Ghetto the area is.  Find out when and where and make sure you attend with a nice table of food or rented inflatable bounce house for the kids in the area.  Not sure if this would get you in with the parents or come off as the "rich" neighbor that could afford to pay for the rental.  They do not have block parties where I live, but my Church had a big fourth of July event and rented two inflatable things to keep the younger kids entertained.  They were a big hit. 

Good luck on your hunt for more properties. 

If you are limiting your RE investments to California, I would spend money on a Direct Mail campaign to get some wholesale deals done.   Some of the monies could be used to do a double close if you find a really good wholesale deal where you need to keep your purchase price a secret from your buyer.  I do not know how much bridge loans cost or the closing fees associated with them.  After doing several of these types of deals, I would consider doing a regular flip as you should have over $40K at that time.  

Are you planning on doing some rehab yourself to keep some of your rehab costs down?  Do you posses any skills pertaining to remodeling?  I like to be the one doing the work as I am just starting out and would need to save some cash by not writing checks to contractors.  

Good luck on whatever you decide to do.  Keep us updated on how things progress.