All Forum Posts by: Scott Schultz

Does it need to be rezoned to multi family? many times the zoning in areas that have homes like that are R-2 or similar (check your zoning codes) meaning residential 1&2 family vs R-1 single family only. Multi family zoning usually only applies to 3 or more units.  it may just be a matter of asking the right questions in the right format. I find government will not guide you, they do everything possible to obstruct you, so you need to dig in to what the rules are, you may find out they cant prevent you from making it a duplex, and dont need a zoning change. 

Check with Ginger Campbell of GC Painting she did a great interior job for me, and does exterior as well. She is in Oshkosh and works all over the Fox Valley   I will DM you contact info as the forum wont let me post publicly 

@Marcus Auerbach gives great advice!  I would add if you have boots on the ground near the property that would charge a reasonable rate to make the repairs after closing, you could negotiate a discount more than the cost of the repairs, giving you more control of how the repairs are done, but either way the items will need to be addressed. For me I would rather have the discount and control, but if you can get the seller to do the repairs there is nothing wrong with that, the terms of asking for repairs should include "Licensed contractor"  and "in a Workman like manner"  if you have the seller complete repairs.

Depends what you want to get out of being an agent, and what your future goals are. I wanted to get into investing in distressed properties, so I worked for a brokerage that specialized in Foreclosures, Short Sales, and Relocation. 

PM shortfalls tend to relate to communication,  especially with owners, I think many of the problems can be avoided with up front expectations and follow through with those expectations. 

In Wisconsin most utilities are not municipal and lien able other than water and sewer. I have never had problems with electric turning them on, even as a listing broker for banks, I have literally done this hundreds of times, they have to chase the customer that the bills name was in, not the new customer, the one exception is if the utility supplier is a municipality.   I have only ever called, I identified myself and told them I just purchased the property, and they set an appointment to unseal the meter. I have had to put an application on file with a few CO-OPs in rural areas, and had to put a deposit down once, but never a problem from a previous tenant or occupant.  

@Alton Williams I started with about $40K saved up, I spend my first few years Flipping houses, building up the pile then graduated to rentals and continued flipping, I havent done a flip in over a year now, but would if the right one came along.  Having a solid foundation is key, adding significant value to every deal allows you to grow,  I would say with your $50K go out and do a rehab and make $30K on a flip so you can add $20K to your $50K  ($10K set aside for taxes) do it a few times so you have a great launching pad and rehab experience for the rentals. dont buy turn key rentals, always buy below value, and push the equity with a rehab, and right now in the market cycle, only buy great deals, marginal deals will burn you when this market changes. Good luck!

I would recommend developing relationships with small local banks vs HML's you may be surprised what the Commercial lending departments can do for you, there are a wide range of offerings from bank to bank, some are ultra conservative, and other are fast and loose. ranging from 70% loan to cost to 80+% of ARV based valuations. If you have decent credit and some money saved, a local bank is the way to go, if you dont have any money saved and/or your credit is bad, you need to fix those problems first before you start investing.

look for a local bank or broker with low cost to do the loan, most places do secondary market loans, and they are pretty much all the same. if you plan to do FHA, USDA or VA you will need a more experienced lender that does these types of loans, but cost to do the loan varies widely, if you are doing a conventional Fannie or Freddie loan you should be able to find cost around $500 and you will see some mortgage brokers in the $2k-$2500 range for the exact same loan.

good luck

@Account Closed the problem with sites other than Realtor.com is each real estate office has to opt in to send listings to say Zillow, trulia, Redfin ect. Many bigger brokerages do not send their listings to certain ones due to contracts and conflict of interest due to partnerships, Realtor. Is the feed from the National Association of Realtors and affiliated with almost every MLS, I found you are after comps, Realtor.com as much a small I I don't care for it (I am a Realtor) it is the most comprehensive without direct access.