All Forum Posts by: Salvatore Lentini

Hi Bo-  it all depends on the scenario.  There are lots of options and you can get as creative as you want.  You can have full seller financing or a seller 2nd.  Do you have any deals in mind or just asking in general to start your education on the topic?

Hi @Martha Rodriguez - I would get an umbrella policy on top of your landlord policy.  And your umbrella policy can cover all of your properties as you add them to your portfolio.

@Dennis Perry - you need to factor in lender fees and closing costs.  That 75-80LTV doesn't come free of charge.

@Jordan Gitch - Not sure what your question is.  Depends on what you need.  Need down money?  How's you credit score?  Do you have W2 income?  Your personal and financial situation will affect the way you need to go about financing.  I work with a variety of investor friendly lenders but they all have different requirements.

Just putting this one out there because I know a lot of aspiring investors are searching for ways to get started.  How did you get started in real estate?  For me, I read a popular real estate book that motivated me but because of Analysis Paralysis, it took me another 9 years before I got started.  I started with wholesaling and after a while decided to keep one of my wholesale deals for myself.  So I started doing flips and after a while decided to start keeping them as rentals.  Then I scaled up from single families to multi families, then commercial and land development.  I LOVE it!  Well, some days are challenging but overall, real estate gets my brain going and I love the mix of long and short term benefits of this business.  I've also formed great relationships along the way.

What's your "origins" story?

@Annie R. -

1) I know a lot of FT Professionals that do real estate on the side.  There are a multitude of ways you can do this.  You can buy notes, tax certs, be a private money lender, be a silent partner that gets equity, buy turn key properties and/or have rentals and hire a property manager etc.

2) You could throw a dart and hit a partner "willing" to allow you to be a passive partner.  Go to a local real estate group and start getting to know people.  It will quickly become apparent who the experienced investors are.  I work with lots of private investors that either invest as interest only loans or as equity partners.  Finding them is done over time by building relationships and word of mouth.

3) Referrals. Also, look at some of their projects they've done or that they are currently working on.

4) Not sure what you mean by realistic returns.  On private lending interest only loans?  On equity?  You can message me directly with further questions :)

You have a good plan but it is long.  Nothing wrong with a long plan (mine is 10 years) but 4 years of saving to buy 1 property?  I think you should rethink and try to accelerate it.  You'd be surprised at what you can accomplish in real estate if you just set the goals (even if they're a little crazy) and map out a plan to make them happen.  In this case you came up with a goal and a plan but I know you can push yourself a little more.

Research ways to build credit and improve your credit score.  Having a good credit score is one of the easiest ways to get favorable financing.  4 years is a long time to wait and $20K won't get you very far.  I would think of ways that you can get started sooner.  Seller financing, get a money partner, private money, hard money, lease option, subject to.... or figure out ways to save more than $400/month.

@Tyana Blackledge - I've never created a business using funding from SBA but I can't imagine they would loan money that you then planned on using as a down payment on real estate so you can then take on the remaining part as a loan.  You'd be 100% leveraged and the SBA would not be comfortable with that.  Also, with no experience, getting any significant amount of money from the SBA for real estate would be difficult.... especially with how inundated they are right now with EIDL loans.  I would focus on joining a local real estate group (message me if you need help finding one).  You can then figure out if you want to partner with someone, do seller financing, private money, hard money, subject to, lease option etc.

@Stephen Bethel - It's hard to find a mentor because the majority of real estate investors are busy.  They either do it part time (so they have a full time job PLUS real estate) or they do it full time in which case they are busy doing real estate.  I created an online course for aspiring investors because my day is so unpredictable that trying to mentor investors one on one would be way too time consuming and disruptive to my daily routine.

Think of something you could offer in return for a mentor.  And maybe don't pitch it as a mentorship at first.  Join a local real estate group (message me if you need help finding one) and get to know some people.  You may find out you don't need a mentor just some relationship building to help answer questions you have along the way.

@Joshua D baker - not sure I understand your question.  I'm not flipping properties so a 30% correction in real estate values wouldn't affect the number of rentals in my portfolio.  Renters still pay their rent when real estate prices drop because they are renters not buyers.  Yes, in theory, if prices dropped a lot more renters could become buyers but it also depends on the economy, rates and the average renters' savings.  In the last real estate down turn, landlords did well if they weren't over leveraged and didn't have adjustable rate mortgages.

So, it would affect my net worth not my cash flow.  If anything, if there was a 30% correction I would be very interested in increasing my number of rentals.