All Forum Posts by: Sathish Sekar

Usually in those types of auctions, you can get out of the deal by not paying earnest money. The seller usually won't go through the litigation cost of forcing the buyer to perform. 

At the 3 day event, there is an attempt to upsell you on their coaching program (starts at $10k). 

However I have been to the 3 day event and found it very informative. The 3 day event is valuable on its own. You will get valuable information you can use in RE investing. The event is definitely worth the price of admission, especially if you are new. 

I found Fiverr to be an economical source of skip tracers. I have a freelancer who does my skip tracing. Feel free to PM for details. 

How may entries are in your list? 

LoanDepot. They have loan officers who specialize in 203k. They underwrite a lot of these loans so their process is even more streamlined. check out their website. 

I wouldn't recommend doing an open house or giving out flyers until the rehab is finished. There is no real reason to give your neighbors access before then. You are just satisfying their nosiness. 

When the rehab is finished (or close to finished), I would consider an open house. But even then I'd recommend working with a realtor. The realtor can expose your property to the qualified buyers who are willing to pay retail price for a rehabbed house. 

$1200/mo is a stretch, especially with no parking. I would likely advertise for $1000-1100 depending on the condition of the unit. 

Be sure to paint, clean, and fix any small items after current tenant moves out. That way you will make a good impression when you show the unit to potential tenants. 

Dana, first I would ask this:

Is this deal worth it if you have to borrow the down payment of $50,000? 

You may be trying too hard to make this deal work. And if for some reason this deal is unsuccessful, how would you pay back the $50,000. Usually deals where you need to invest your last penny are not good deals to make. 

If you have trouble getting a tenant, you may want to relax the income requirement. Lower from 3x gross income to 2.5 gross income. But even have that be flexible based on what type of employment the applicant has. 

Also I would ask for a previous landlord reference. 

Zack, you touched on an important point:

There is no way to fix a high purchase price. 

If one pays too much to acquire a property, then no amount of rehab or strategy will make the numbers work. You make your money when you BUY the property. The rehab and resale/refinance are a byproduct of a prudent purchase price. 

How were you able to finance the purchase with only 4% down? usually those terms are only for owner-occupied properties.