All Forum Posts by: Curt Smith

@Jose Valdez assuming a rental, start out with a top notch landlord policy co, nreig.com . I dumped the nationals as they pulled bone head stupid things on me.

@Shannon Schlappi please connect with me ill send my subject to training pdf! Thus so difficult and can get the bank all wound up for no reason. Please!

Yiu need a Poa, power of attorney to manage the bank, insurance, critical steps and necessary docs at closing and steps post closing.

Closing into a trust is nice but not essential, the Poa, seller affidavit etc are key and needed. Then the steps post closing setting up auto pay, landlord insurance policy etc.

Hi Drew,  I'm no surprised.  Part of the motivation for congress writing Dodd Frank was to clamp down on the investors offering preditory terms re  rent to own and seller financing and that view has carried into craigslist rent to own adds and you say zillow.  I do / done many rent to own (contract for deed) and a few seller finananced deals where I keep the note.

Why not in parallel use a flat fee listing on MLS too? Often $500 + a small percent of the listing price. Well worth it IMHO given poor performance of RTO/seller financed zillow listings. Buyers don't look for financing and its foreign so they don't jump on a forsale listing on zillow.

I've had the best (only) luck with zillow rental adds,   starting with the pitch;  rent to own, live in a great home while you pay off owning it.  Down payment amount varies and more you put down the highre you will be in the queue of applicants, also down payment varies per your credit...

Dodd Frank IS in play!!

I can't give a tutorial re how to originate a note today, selling a house with financing in just one post.  Its doable, I've done it many times.   And I did not use a MLO/LMLO who would eat 1% to 1.5% of the selling amount.  Mainly LMLO's are rare, almost non-existant.  

Post Dodd Frank sellers have continued the same bad practice of selling houses to occupants with financing at selling prices that are way high, can't be justified via any type of 3rd party valuation (appraisal, zestimate, tax value, even recent sales in the same area). Plus new folks do a very poor job of screening the buyer for Ability To Repay (ATR) which involves pulling full doc and calculating the borrowers DTI, honest income, honest debt payments, prior debt payment histor (FICO) etc etc.

Plus shockingly (or shocking to sellers) if you bought this investment house, fixed it, then are selling with financing you are selling "inventory" and y9ou owe taxes on the gain in the year of sale, you are NOT able to use installment sale to spread out paying taxes. I know gurus who tout the contrary and I'm 100% certain they are wrong. To qualify for installment sale you must selling an investment property, it was a rental for at least a short period. For me >12 mo for long term cap gains. IE rent to a tenant for >12 mo, dating before marriage, no late payments then with a down paymetn (long story here) I'll sell on either a contract for deed (typically mobile homes on land) or a note and mortgage (regular nicer houses). But I pull full doc, screen screen screen the buyer. Newbie sellers don't screen good enough. Think of this; if the buyer can't qualify for a bank loan,,,, why the heck should you stick your head into a note and mortgate noose?? At least a contract for deed is just an eviction. But in the South contract for deeds are not liked by the RE attorneies, where up north CFD has state statute validity (which states?). Join your local REIA to know more.

etc etc etc.   Good luck.    BTW connect with me I like to help folks through subject to or seller financing since theirs so many problems one needs to get right.   I have training pdfs I don't mind sendiing out.

Hi Joe and others. I was emensely helped by my local REIA, real estate investor association. REIAs pre date BP and meetup by decades and its my current view that the long time experience and help is in the local REIAs. Google: city REIA see what comes up. Look in meetup.org.

Masterminds are hard to find, they don't want to be flooded (diluted) by low experience. I've been invited into 2 via a current member who knows me and my REI work for a few years. A master mind is where you GIVE help 50% and recieve help 50%. If you can't give (credibly) ...

Everyone will benefit from putting time and effort into your local REIA. Get to know the "doers" and ask to go to their rehabs etc. My local REIA, GaREIA has a google group where folks ask / give help 24/7 and get contractor referals etc etc. Not every REIA has an email list but most have gone to zoom meetings. I'm a member of an Ohio REIA, coree (Vena Jone's gig), GaREIA and a few master minds that have gone virtual. The master mind is limited by by-laws to 25 people, another problem with joining a master mind. Some master minds have up front costs as a proof you are up to the level of the other members.

Search in meetup, and google for REIA. Good luck! The local groups are where I got my helps from experienced folks in my local markets. It was key for me. Best of luck.

@Dorys Prentice hi dory and others, my screening criteria that has highest predictor of good tenant is not fico, but bank balance. Ie send screen shot of your bank app showing your name, date and balance, to proceed with screening. I do this up front.

All NY recs are at the bottom of my long ad. 1sr is must be long term tenant, typical is multi years. I have ave around 6-7 yrs

Nikk, partnerships run the gammot.  Talk to an attorney who creates LLCs re what he/she's seen in 2 party real estate partnerships.

Just my experience and what I'd do going forward, having the luxury of not NEEDING more income or hassel and certainly not being tied to potential PIA partners.

- I have the deal, I dictate the terms, period.  

- money is easy to find, if the deal is good.

- I get 100% control over operational decisaions.   Money person can take a walk if this isn't acceptable, which shows their hand if they walk, its good news actually.

- Cash flow and equity split is 50/50 as well as tax implications via K-1s from the 1065 partnership return. OBTW a multi member LLC files 1065 every year from the date of formation. A 1065 does not pay taxes, it flows own to the members 1040s via K-1s.

- You can listen to the more experienced money partner but ONE and only ONE person makes decissikons.   My partnerships did not have good enough decission making clause(s) in the op agreementy.   I was sooo glad when that 5 yr hold deal sold, a mobile home park.

- I think a BP poll of how happy partners are with the partnership they enter, its no higher then 10%.  Meaning 90% are unhappy and would have opted to not enter the venture.   I was very unhappy but the gnashing of teeth for 4 yrs of 5 proved financially beneficial.  But it was for me;   the 10% of my cash invested gave me between 40% and 60% of my frustrations.   I learned to treage and cut that scenario off from thought.

- I also learned I hate active businesses;  anything commercial, airbnb ish, etc.  I really like our rentals, very passive little to do.  Long term rentals are easy.  Read the paper I hooked to my BP profile; bullet proof portfolio.   Learn how to be the maytag landlord.   Read;  Landlording on autopilot.

- I you really are low on cash, learn creative deals.  I focus only on buying subject to existing financing.   Theres also lease option to buy/control etc.

Good luck to all.

@Dilini Peiris No need to DIY the application process. I use Erentpayments.com for application credit check and then rent collection.

Others have said use one of the websites catering to landlords which I completely agree. What I like about errand is that the rent collection has excellent reports something you will need desperately desperately if you get tenants that partial pay or late pay you'll need a way to add up everything they've paid monthly and then annually for taxes. Cozy has poor reports last I checked.

@Charlie Massey Hi Charlie I'm glad to hear from folks including agents who have had luck finding deals for themselves as agents or for others as their agent.

Please be aware that in any given area only 10% of the licensed agents do any a number of transactions a year most are licensed in Name only.

Of the licensed agents that actually are doing a transaction or 2A month a small percentage of them actually know what an investor deal looks like even if you told them explicitly. You will get sent crazy high price deals that the agent wants to sell as opposed to fitting your requirements.

I'm glad to hear that there are agents out there that know what a deal looks like. I have never seen or heard of an agent in my areaThat I could say I could just sit back and they'd send me deals....... Which is what it sounds like you're asking for.

I've bought my rentals by setting up zillow bring up zillow filter alerts and realtor.com filter alerts.. And so I found my own deals using the automated tools built into the listing websites. Then I got some great information by calling the listing agent directly without using a buyer's agent using a virus agent. Regardless of what you hear of what a listening agent can't say if you ask enough questions different ways they will tell you everything. There probably will be negative comments on what I've just said I'm only telling you that I've learned how to talk to listing agents directly and I've gotten some great deals by finding the listings myself through zillow and realtor email alerts and then calling the listing agent myself.

Also figure out this way any any situation where you're depending on someone else to give you what you need puts you at a disadvantage versus you knowing enough on how to find whatever it is you're looking for yourself.

But I tell you what I have done anytime I see a deal that's close I call that listing agent and then I text them my contact info and I say if you ever see a deal that looks similar to this contact me. So in that way I am enlisting agents but it's reverse I use listing agents to send me deals that they're about rated a list and a contact me and no doubt others with so called pocket listings because I reached out to a bunch of listing agents. :)

@Nikk Wong As others like Steve have already said. It deserves repeating. The person with the deal has the stronger hand and gets a majority of the income. Money is easy to come by. If the deal it's good.

@Tim Cornwell Hi Tim I was a member in a group that recently sold a 70 pad park in Southern Alabama for 2 million. Which puts your 50 pad park for 700 as a fantastic deal.

To everyone looking to get into mobile home parks like Tim I wholeheartedly agree that taking Frank and Dave's mobile home park University course in person is a is a must do. Frank is a fantastic storyteller where where the story is stranger than fiction and you learn so much.