All Forum Posts by: Sharon Rosendahl

Experience is likely to mean a lot to a potential investor. I know that many hard money lenders give a lower rate for more projects under your belt. Do you have construction experience? Business experience? Real estate experience? 

I have also noticed that a lot of hard money lenders will do 10% down on purchase price and 100% rehab cost. A part of the solution would be to go for a lower cost market. I live in the Seattle metro and fixer in the 700k range are not an option for me. I tend to buy further east where homes average $200k.

How bad do you want it? Making the assumption that you have skills that will make a lender happy and they are willing to loan to you with the 10% down, what can you do to come up with that money? If you really want it, there may be sacrifices you can make to get there. Let's say you need 10k for your down, closing and to begin rehab (you often won't be able to get rehab cash until you have completed a phase of construction, likely depends on lender). Can you get a part-time job to earn a little extra money to save? Can you give up something? Look at some frugal living websites to get ideas of where you might be able to cut.

House hack. It is easier to get a loan for your own home than for an investment. In some areas, there are first time home buyer funds. I know here in Washington, there is one that will lend you the 3% down on an FHA loan. House hacking may allow you to pay little or nothing for your personal living giving you an easy source for your savings.

The other day, I listened to a BP podcast with a lady from Detroit who was a waitress and single mom. She managed to get into investing out of sheer determination to make a better life. I thought it was quite inspiring.

@Julie Marquez I work in Mount Vernon so Anacortes isn't too bad. Although, part of my problem is that I am up at 4am to go to work. I'm old and need my sleep so generally am in bed about 7:30pm to chill and read. I really need to buy a few more rentals so I can quit my day job. It really interferes with my business but sadly is what currently supports us.

@Mike Glatzel Ask the contractor to give you another receipt. I try to never pay with cash since a cashed check can go a long way in proving an expense.

@Chris K. Does silent lien mean I wouldn't find it if I searched for liens against a property? I have been looking at auction properties along with other distressed sales which sometimes involve deaths/inheritances/foreclosed reversed mortgages etc.

I personally track my mileage for business and take the standard IRS per mile amount. I do this since I only have 4 houses right now. I don't use a vehicle often enough to make it worth tracking my personal mileage and deducting that from my total mileage and claiming the vehicle as a business owned vehicle. Make sure you read up on what qualifies for business mileage vs personal mileage.

I had a tenant that I heard rumor that they were dealing drugs. Since the guy turned into a snitch the police wouldn't talk about it. I was really worried that I would end up losing my house yet I couldn't evict someone for a rumor. I was lucky that in the end they moved out under their own steam after the guy went to prison for just a couple of years as part of his deal.

I mentioned this later to an attorney. He said that it was unlikely that I would have lost my house unless I refused to address the problem after being alerted to it by police. In most cases, the seizures happen because a landlord refuses to remove the problem tenant after things are on record. Since there were no complaints and he wasn't charged until after he moved out there wasn't anything for me to act on. I would think that this would depend on where you live but again, if no one is complaining, there are no charges, no police are visiting your unit on a regular basis etc and you have a lease that hasn't expired or been violated, how would you evict someone based on a rumor? 

I used Cozy.co. I started using them last summer and so far am pretty happy. I don't feel like their background check is as good as others I've used and am deciding if the hassle factor makes it worth changing to a different provider for that. I feel like knowing a report is getting run keeps a lot of people honest and upfront about what I'm going to find. 

I do my applications through them so I have all of this stuff in one place. I also set up my ads with pics and then copy them to other advertising venues. Keeps me from having to do duplicate work, just do minor editing. Easy to track what is owed and has been paid.

Free although it takes several days for ACH to transfer to my bank. You can pay to get it faster but I have plenty of float that as long as I know the tenant has made the transaction I don't care. Also gives the tenant the option to pay me with their credit card and they shoulder the fee. Not that I advocate paying the rent with a CC but honestly, some people need to and other do it to CC hack and the couple of bucks it costs works for them. Not my concern as long as I get the rent.

Late fees can auto post. Other charges can be billed. Maintenance requests can be made and tracked. Renters insurance can be purchased by tenant through them too.

If you have a lot of units I would go for a paid service but for my few units it works fine. I do all my accounting in Waves, a free accounting program. I'm an accountant and so far have found it can do what I need for such a small business.

@Julie Marquez Keep us posted. I'm still trapped in my day job and can't go to Bellevue, Seattle or even Everett on weeknights. I work in Skagit County so would love to be able to do something around here.

You both have an incredible eye for design. I usually have nice but simple rentals so go with builders grade since nothing elaborate is needed. We are looking at doing our first flip and will have to work at our flair for design to make our house appealing to a buyer vs clean and serviceable for a tenant.

Yes, get preapproved for a loan. There is a first time home buyer program out there that can let you buy zero down. One of my kids talked to a lender about it but they couldn't find anything that they could really afford the monthly payments with nothing down.

Hopefully, someone here can help you find a good agent. I once got a referral on Bigger Pockets for a fabulous agent in another state. Talk to a few agents. As a buyer, you don't have to sign a contract with them so you can change if it turns out you don't like the one you first talk to, even if they show you a house.