All Forum Posts by: Ryan Blake

@Jon Shoop I agree 100%. Get a GC who is insured. They may cost a bit more but I am sure the quality of work will be much better. I have seen so many properties sit on the market or sold at a loss because people cheap out on the contractors.

@Michael H. Not to say your GC won't do a great job. It just tends to go smoother with someone insurance who pulls permits for at least the big stuff.

Best GC that I have been using is @Jason Coyle (does work all over the metroplex but based in Tarrant County)

I have had good luck with @Kyle Mccaw.

Also would recommend @Sherry Patterson.

@Angelina Essuman That is a great question. I wish I had a better written out response for that but here is my stab at it.

Do you lend directly to an LLC?

Some lenders will lend directly to an entity if you add in a personal guarantee. Others will not lend to an entity at all. See what is possible.

Do you allow transfer of deed from a personal name to and LLC?

You will want to make sure you can hold your rentals in an LLC. Liability protection is key!

Do you offer refi/consolidation of loans?

This isn't key until you have 5+ rentals. Then you will want to start thinking about packaging loans in to bundles that will be held with one commercial note. I am not a long term lender but I believe Fannie Mae limits the number of loans an individual can have to 10 (this would include a primary residence). This is just for conventional government backed loans. There is no limit to private mortgages.

I know there are tons more great questions to ask and I hope that some more qualified long-term lenders can come along and offer their advice.

... Hint Hint @Andrew Postell

@Quentin Davie Can you elaborate so we can all learn? What was your experience? I know they charge a $3,000 fee that is for "access to their education" that can be applied if you get a loan approved. Is that where this stems from? I would ALWAYS be careful with any lender that requests a commitment fee of any size especially over $100.

@Nagendran Manidas This is a much bigger issue than most people realize. That is why it is nice to have the option to close in your personal name. My guess is most people using the HMLs that require the LLC are not refinancing or have established the LLC enough to get a commercial line of credit with or without a personal guarantee. @Wayne Brooks

@Wayne Brooks is correct as to why many lenders will prefer the LLC, to keep it from being owner occupied. The companies that do not require an LLC will normally make you sign a document at closing stating that you will not owner occupy so that it can mostly absolve the HML of liability if you choose to break your word and move in.

@Doron Mizrahi For your price point you are going to need to look at 2/1 properties probably under 1,000 sq ft. On the Tarrant County side look to White Settlement and the Stop 6 area of Fort Worth. In Dallas county look for properties out on Military Parkway and Buckner on the Southeast side or South Dallas/South Oak Cliff area.

Warning, these are all neighborhoods that are high in crime and tenant turnover. Know you will have a higher chance of late payments, squatters, and damage to property. All that being said, you can make a decent return in these areas.

@Travis Fairbairn I like the River Oaks area more as rentals. If that is your strategy. You are right, Castleberry ISD is a downside to the area. I say this as one of the founding members of the Castleberry ISD Education Foundation. The district is impoverished and every school in the district is on Title 1 funds. That all being said, it is great for rentals and so-so for flips.

@Jamal Fontenot All HMLs will have an LTC number (the loan to cost that they are willing to fund upfront). Most companies will be between 85% and 100%. You can get 100% financing on your deal. They will also have a maximum LTV (the loan to value that they will cap out at). Most companies will be between 65% and 75%. You can get up to 75% of the ARV in your loan.

Example of terms: If the LTC is 90% and the LTV is 70% on a deal with a purchase of $50k, repairs of $25k, and ARV of $100k the deal would look like this:

MAX Loan based on LTC: 90% x $75k = $67,500 You take your total costs (purchase + rehab) and multiply it by the LTC number (90%) = your max loan based on LTC.

MAX Loan based on LTV: 75% x $100k = $75k You take your ARV and multiply it by the LTV number (75%) = your max loan based on LTV.

Every hml that I know of will do these calculations and then lend to you on the LOWEST of these two.

I hope this example makes sense. If you have questions, post in the thread. Me or others that know even more than I can chime in and help.

@Account Closed is an amazing lender that works on the west coast and has been a podcast guests a few times. He has been investing for years. From the lack of info in your profile and your new account doesn't build confidence in who you are. You may truly be Robert Berg, managing partner at Xpress lending but it would be very difficult to verify.

I work with a lender that has been around since 2008 and has never charged up front fees. You say you do commercial lending. We are talking about fix and flip loans in this context not just pure commercial lender. Hard money lenders are not charging a a commitment fee as a whole. If you are unaware of this then I would say you should preform a SWOT analysis for your company as you are not looking at your competition as a whole. My advice that MOST hard money lenders do not charge an upfront fee is very factual and verifiable. It is NOT the norm to charge a commitment fee. I never said  you were a scam and find it odd that you would personally attack people on this site for saying that your company is doing something very openly against the norm.

Some other investors said they felt the program was fishy. Not me, not anyone who didn't know anything about your company, but someone who didn't feel comfortable about moving forward with what you had to offer. Instead of finding out WHY they said this about your company you choose to attack them. Very strange. If I was a managing partner I would want to contact and interview someone who felt that way, not belittle them. I would want to know why they didn't feel comfortable borrowing from me.

In the end, I think you are going about this very poorly and it looks bad on you and your company.

@Lerone Blatch I suggest you start with reading up on some blogs/articles on this site. Free, pretty reliable, and quick. Then I would move on to books. I think a great one is Flip: How to Find, Fix, and Sell Houses for Profit. That is has been a tried and true resource for many flippers over the past 20 years or so. It is updated every few years so it remains current. There is also a great store on this site with book offerings. The final step (this would normally be one of the first steps but not with COVID) is to attend local meets ups. Not sure what Delaware is like but Texas is starting to have meets ups again. Network but know that there are a lot of snakes out there who will pretend to be big time flippers when they maybe struggled through one deal. Just be sure with all the info you get from podcasts, books, and especially from networking and forums, VERIFY. You need to double check everything. Never just take someone's word.

I wish you luck on your adventure and hope you get started well.