All Forum Posts by: Shera Gregory

Hi @Peter Aziz -- great job on this. I have a similar approach to CapEx planning and I fully support this method. You did not mention how you plan to cover these costs especially during the first few years when it can take time to build up reserves. If you have those reserves to begin with that's great. Some people pay for a home warranty in the first year or two as part of their strategy to cover costs. I try to keep six months worth "in the bank" and then continue to set aside these amounts each month with the back-up plan to use some of my HELOC money if a big ticket item comes due before my reserves are replenished.

I agree that for a sale you will have good exposure to cash buyers by listing it on the MLS. You said you "just want to be done" and I understand that frustration. However, you could consider getting a private money or hard money loan if there is only a little bit left to be done. Roofs can be expensive (shop around!!) but don't tend to take a lot of time. If there is a lot of profit potential by getting that last 15% complete you do have options other than using your own money. If, considering that, you still want to sell and "be done" then that's 100% OK too .. it's your project and your decision.

I checked on meetup.com and there doesn't seem to be any real estate meetup on that site right in Roanoke. The closest one is Lynchburg .. Lynchburg RE Meetup

@Anthony Yannuzzi -- since you are looking to buy an owner-occupied home you have access to some good resources for getting advice on your credit. Call some of the small banks or credit unions in your area and ask what programs they have for first time homebuyers. Those folks are used to working with people to build their credit. If you need to do some serious "repair" of your credit they might refer you to another agency that helps with credit repair and that's usually about $100 per month for their assistance. It doesn't sound like you would need that. So let the bank/credit union person know up front that you are not looking for credit repair but rather just to build your credit.

@Anthony Yannuzzi -- do you know what type of deal you want to do? Flip, rental, create a 50 unit subdivision, etc? Also are you focusing on single family or some form of multi-family? Are you in a position to consider buying your own property to live in and rent out part of it (i.e. house hacking)? Are you looking to buy in your local market or elsewhere? If you are focusing on single family homes in your local area then it would be a good idea to get inside some of them. If you are looking to flip then checking out some open houses would be a good way to see properties without dragging around a real estate agent if you aren't ready to buy yet. And, of course, you might not buy off the MLS at all so this would be more to check out examples of the finished product from some flips in your area.

Hi @LaRaye Alderman -- I'm not sure if you meant to jump into the post that Anthony created about just starting out. I don't know about the settlement process in Maryland, but in Virginia the assignment fee is paid out of the closing proceeds. So it is correct that you would have to wait until closing but you would not need to attend the closing and that the funds can be wired to you if you provide wire instructions to the settlement agent in advance. Also be aware that the timing of when the funds are distributed can vary. It may be that the funds are not sent out until after the transaction is recorded. Someone in your local market can give you more specific information about the typical practices in Maryland.

Be aware that there are fees involved for wire transfer and that there is the risk of wire transfer fraud. That's normally something of more concern to someone who is SENDING funds by wire transfer as opposed to receiving, but still something to be aware of and learn about.

To me this is not good or bad, just a personal preference thing. Pretty much every landlord is going to charge a pet deposit, but it is also possible to have "pet rent" which adds some amount to the rent each month ($20 to $40 range). Tenants who have pets know that it's hard to find a good rental that accepts pets so it's also possible to have a longer term tenant if you accept pets.

I would say that you should plan on having to replace the carpets, but you will probably want to shift over to all hard surface flooring anyway for a long term rental. A lot of folks (including me) like to use LVT flooring in rentals. 

Newer than 1950. Our market has tons of homes in the 1910 to 1925 age range. For me, these have too many high-cost unknowns -- rewire all the knob and tube? deal with plaster repairs? re-do outdated HVAC? .. the list goes on.

I have not personally borrowed from them but I know quite a few investors in the area who have. Mike is usually at the Richmond REIA meetup and sometimes at the RING meetup too. If you go to either of those you should have a chance to meet him and also to talk with some other investors who have worked with him. I can send a separate PM with some names of folks you can talk with.

Mike Krumbein with Richmond Mortgage Inc is a local hard money lender with a lot of experience in the Richmond market.