All Forum Posts by: Garrick Solberg

I was at the REIA meeting as well, and I thought it was very informative, as well as a great medium for networking. I generally dislike the guru types, but Ron LeGrand had a bunch of interesting tips at the REIA meeting, so I decided to check out his seminar this weekend (since it was free, afterall). I knew it would be an up-sell, but I was hoping the sales pitch would be interlaced with good information to take away from the event. I just left the seminar about half an hour ago. The first 3 hours were extremely basic, and more time was spent showing pictures of previous students and their big checks. That's great that other people made money in real estate, but I don't really care about them, I care about me making money in real estate, lol. Anyway, I was planning on leaving at lunch and not coming back, but then Ron was going over his 5 day program and was having somebody draw from a deck of cards to see what his discount would be. That was the final straw, I couldn't believe I was wasting a Saturday to watch such nonsense. So, I'm off to the beach.

Conclusion: Ron's intro seminar's are the proverbial all sizzle, no steak.

Wakefield,

By the way, I just wanted you to know that the 2% rule appears to not work in Rochester. I analyzed a few properties for sale and discovered that they only break even because the property taxes are insane in that town. I think for a decent profit you should be looking in the 3+ range

John T Reed spoke of markets identical to what Rochester is apparently facing right now:

[i]"So how do you achieve positive cash flow ethically in the real world? You need to buy in the rare market where high cap rates are the norm. Such markets are usually severely depressed like Anchorage or Oklahoma City in the late 80’s. The reason tenants are willing to pay more to rent than they would have to pay to own in such markets is that they believe property values are falling or level, in which case not owning is a good idea in spite of the high rent.

Even then, the positive-cash-flow situation is typically a brief window that lasts only six months to a year. Positive cash flow is so rare and so desirable that it attracts out-of-area investors. Their coming into Anchorage or Oklahoma City or wherever drives the prices up so that high cap rates are no longer available."[/i]

I'm not sure if historically the condition will truly last for only 6-12 months, as I have been to Niagara Falls a couple of times. It's very depressing to see the American side because it is full of grand, old homes that have been completely run down. It looks like it has been in that condition for quite some time.

Of additional note, CNN Money rated the most overpriced and under priced cities in America. Rochester was 9% under priced, but some parts of TX hit the 10-20+% under priced mark : http://money.cnn.com/2005/12/29/real_estate/buying_selling/handicapping_housing_markets/index.htm

Wow, you're not kidding. I just checked the Rochester craig'slist and this is one of the ads:

[i]
"$90,000 or Best Offer. Three family home in Rochester NY,

There are two 2 bedroom apartments, and one three bedroom apartment.

The 2 bedroom apartments rent goes for $625

The 3 bedroom apartment rent goes for $700

Making it a total of $1950 a month.

Two of the three apartments are rented out.

Mortgage I pay $700 a Month"[/i]

And I found that in two minutes flat, holy crap!

At the very least, his explanation of positive cash flows in rental situations is pretty darn close to what BP vets follow as well:

http://www.johntreed.com/positive.html

Yeah, I suppose that's true. I just feel bad leaving her hanging. I don't want to be a financial advisor working for free either, but I was hoping I could at least refer her to another entity, such as the builder itself for a buyback or something.

Anyway, my voicemail just received another lead, so it's on to the next one!

No, the payments are current right now, I thought that might prevent any discussions of a short sale as well.

Hey all,

Got my first lead today. It was from an out of state owner that purchased a condo with her husband (at the time) as an investment. Unfortunately the condo business in Florida is taking a real hard hit right now, so their mortgage is now $14k more than what the builder is asking for new units. On top of that, she and her ex-husband have just gone through a divorce. She was extremely nice and I feel really bad for her situation, but I just don't think there is anything I can do for her. Does anyone know of any creative ideas where a profit could be made here? She and her ex husband are prepared to take a loss of $25k (loan is currently at $174k). They have it listed at $160k right now with 3 months of HOA fees paid, but unfortunately the builder is offering at the same price with 2 point buy down, 1 year of HOA's ($300/month) and a year home warranty included. If it sold retail RIGHT NOW for 3% below that amount (has been on the market for a couple of months now) they would probably be at around a $32k loss after everything is said and done. The one saving grace for them is that the real estate agent was involved in their purchase of the property, so the agent feels bad and won't be charging comission on the resale. Although I think I heard once that the broker will still collect their 1.5%

If there isn't any way I can help her, does anyone at least have advice I could give her as to her best route out of this problem? Is it legal for me to do so?

Hey, another Jacksonvillian, nice to meet ya. I actually just ordered some cards myself. My cards contained this info:

We Buy Houses and Solve Problems!

Name
Real Estate Consultant

24 hour, no pressure info line:
800 number
email address

No Obligations or Fees
All Situations Considered

I tried signed up for their free trial, but was having issues with the comps they provided. Even though I tried adjusting the parameters, the closest comps it was giving me was 8 miles away, and this is in the heart of Jacksonville. I'm not sure if there was something wrong with their site or if the free trial is limited in some fashion.