All Forum Posts by: Stuart Birdsong

Nicholas, Congratulations on making the move. While I am not in Commercial real estate I am a real estate broker in Colorado and have enjoyed the move. Best of luck to you!

Stuart

Manolo,

In my experience, a local bank will most likely be the best option. I have a couple local banks, in Colorado, that will do construction financing into a perm once all units are rented out. However, they generally will only do commercial loans or shorter Amortization loans, 20-25 years, as Fannie and Freddie require 1 year seasoning from completion of construction for conventional financing with 30 year terms. This means that most banks will loan 80% of Loan to Cost in the first year, but will loan 80% LTV following the 1-yr. seasoning. This has been my experience, I would love to know if others have found different lending solutions to clear this hurdle.

Michael,

       We have had an extremely competitive market in Colorado for the last 3 years. Many multiple offer scenarios, and we are frequently confronted with the cash vs financed offers. I agree with George Hermann that Ease of sale is the reason that cash, usually wins out. But don't let this deter you.

     I do have a couple of recommendations for you though; Ask the listing agent ' Is there anything aside from price that the seller would prefer to have in an offer,' such as Specific closing date, or a lease back so that they may find a replacement property, etc....I have found this to be a very effective way to extract some of the seller motivation. In many cases we have out competed cash offers because we have met the sellers other needs. In addition if its, a good deal at 145k or even 147.5k then just put your best foot forward if it is the right property. However, if the numbers don't make sense to bid over asking price then just move onto the next one. 

Off market will provide you more opportunities without the competition. 

I hope it works for you!

Stuart

Devin, 

     Truthfully, it is not going to be worth it if your website is not a lead generating website. I have learned this the expensive way. Most personal websites are just expensive business cards. that get passed over quickly no matter the content. You can blog, do youtube videos, etc.... to help with your SEO, but is this the best use of your time and resources. I was told when starting as a broker that a personal website does not generate more business for you. In my experience that has been the case.

You can hire a company such as Boomtown, Kunversions, or Tiger Leads to build you a personal home search website, and they will market it for you. This will, at a minimum, cost you around $1,000/month for the whole package. Depending on the service it will generate somewhere between 20-30 leads/month. I currently am starting with one of these companies to build the website, but outsourcing the ad campaigns as I can get a higher number of leads through another source. $1,500/month will generate 120-150 leads/ month. I, personally, can't service this many leads, but will have other buyers' agents tending to them. I realize these dollar amounts seem high, but given our median home price, this means I have to do 3-4 deals a year to break even. Typical Internet lead conversion is somewhere between 1-2% or better depending on how hard you work them.

Having said all of that, if you are trying to generate business from your website I recommend going this route, as it will provide a better ROI. If you are just looking for some exposure in your marketplace, then Adwerx or Global Media Advertising can be more cost effective ways to gain exposure. Even Facebook ads, are cost effective ways show up more often.

    Best of luck to you!

Stuart

Congratulations, Wesley! Best of luck moving forward.

Jhansi,

     I imagine this is not the advice you came here for, but it's probably best you discuss with your attorney. I have heard that California is not always a landlord friendly state and squatters' sometimes have rights to remain on property. I hope this all works out for you.

Stuart

 Fernando,

    What specifically are you searching for? Is it a specific type of lead, aka probate, tax lien etc....?

Krunal,

Have you inquired about a HELOC?

Max,

     Welcome to BP! You will certainly find a lot of great tips here to help you successfully find and purchase your first Multifamily. Best of luck to you in your endeavors'! 

Stuart 

Robert,

Most banks have a 1 year seasoning period before you can refinance for 80% of appraised value. That said if you are just trying to take out 80% of your invested cash there most likely are some local banks who would allow for a cash out refi. The other idea is a HELOC, although banks have varying valuations for investment properties. Start by talking to some banks and see what you can make happen.

Cheers!

Stuart