All Forum Posts by: Shawn Q.

I agree with the rest. Some specific action steps to take: listen to all of the BP podcasts, and analyze 100 deals in your area to see where the market lies. 

After doing that to educate yourself you'll likely be much more comfortable making the plunge. If I were in your situation I would but a 2-4 unit live-in flip to BRRRR.

I've used cozy.co - which is a nice hands off service. If you're just looking for criminal background, it's a little clunky. I use this:

http://champaigncircuitclerk.org/public-court-reco...

But it's a search by county, and it wouldn't necessary pull in surrounding counties or aliases. I've also tried this in a limited fashion:

https://illinois.staterecords.org/ 

Best option is probably to do a SSN search through a service.  State police has a similar search, but I haven't tried it our. 

Like the others I would encourage a deal that takes advantage of many possible exits. But it's important to remember that AirBNB is a vendor, not a strategy. I know it's pedantic, but AirBnB is only one outlet for your short-term rentals. If you have a working short-term rental in a high traffic tourist area, you also likely have a valid vacation rental (which as @Anthony Gayden said, have been around forever) and a likely long-term rental. As long as you're buying right and not counting on what seems to be the higher intrinsic cash flow of a STR you should be good.

In terms of long-term strategy and buying right, you can also run the deal in stages. Think about the likelihood of changes to the STR space in your market. What is likely to change immediately, within one year, within three years, etc. If you can buy as an STR and be well positioned in one year to weather any changes (because you've captured cash flow and paid down the property's debt, for example) to the codes, your longer-term strategy could end up being your competitive advantage in the space.

I always have them sign when I collect the deposit. I'm willing to do a future start-date (so, we're signing 01/15 with a 02/01 start as an example) but I generally collect the prorated first month at that time as well. Then it's just a matter of meeting them on the day to give them the key and let them start moving in. I would also collect the full deposit - if this happens frequently it sounds like the amount you're collecting is to small to keep them motivated. 

Have you had a conversation with the owner about what their intent is? A request to remove the listing can mean many things, so I would have a clarifying call to see what the intent is. I would try to get in an email crystal clear instructions of what your owner is asking you to do. 

Beyond the legal issue I would also view this through the lens of your brand/reputation as a property manager. If you have a tenant ready to move in (and it sounds like you do) and a HOA that approves of the tenant (sound like you might, or might soon) then you could easily take a reputational hit from the tenant badmouthing your company and/or the HOA doing the same. I would tread carefully, and make sure you have your instructions from the owner in writing and very clear. Anything you do could be subject to court scrutiny so a phone conversation won't provide the best form of documentation.

I would agree with the other posters - hard to flip (or run a rental in my opinion) remotely. I would find a local partner in your target market and proceed from there. Your money + their 'boots on the ground'. 

My answer to the thread question 'should I save money for a rental or use money to flip a home' is: yes! I wouldn't necessarily focus on the type of strategy at this point. I would determine: market, partner, deal, strategy - in roughly that order. If you can find a screaming good flip deal, you don't want to restrict yourself because your intended strategy is buying rentals. Keep your options open until you have a few deals under your belt. 

I have a few lathe and plaster houses, and this could be anything. My advice would be to get in that crawlspace behind the crack and see what you can see. With foundation issues I'd expect to see vertical cracking at the corners, or mid-wall at stress points, with spiderwebbing out from that. The crack at the ceiling on the left side of the entry door could indicate that. Given that you have horizontal cracks (most likely along the lathe if it's strung horizontally) that would make me think it's water more likely. 

When you get in that little closet/crawl, look at the board from the back and look up! Finding a line of travel for water infiltration could show you a roof leak covered up by the rehab. Poor venting from a downstairs bath into that space could be an issue as well. Don't be afraid to run your hand along everything (might be best to go after/during a few rainy days as well). Even if you can't see it if they drywalled the interior of that crawl, you might be able to feel moisture. Seepage will soak and distort the wood and cladding along the line of water infiltration, so you should be able to see deformation from the back. 

So I've been an investor for a few years - I bought my first rental in early 2015 - and I've been slow but steady since then. I'm now looking to relocate to the Seattle area, and I'd like to highlight my investment experience as an added skillset for employers through my resume/LinkedIn. How do you highlight your investing experience? 

I still maintain a W-2 job, and that's what I'd be looking for in Seattle. I also haven't set up an entity - my rentals are personally held. I know I could establish an LLC and call myself owner/founder of that business, but it seems a little silly to do that just for a line on a resume. Any advice you have would be appreciated!

I would definitely include the appraisal contingency. Personal preference, but I'd also shop for a new realtor for your next deal. I don't know if DFW is hot, but I don't imagine there's sales volume and price appreciation to go without appraisal, financing, and inspection contingency. 

Don't think of contingencies as weakening your offer (because they're standard in most markets and really don't weaken the offer on a good product). Think of contingencies as risk mitigation. If there's something wrong with the property it reserves the right to back out of the purchase without a penalty, but that doesn't mean you have to! I prefer to think of it as you're giving yourself and the seller a way to continue to make a win-win deal happen.