All Forum Posts by: Bill P.

I have slowly migrated to laminate and porcelain tile except for carpet in the bedrooms. Nice compromise but it does look better for lease/option tenants and it wears better in the main living areas if they vacate. Sure, I have to replace the carpet in the bedrooms a lot of times if they vacate, but it also adds a "refresh" to the new tenants whereby I increase the prices anyway. So far so good.

I have a couple of condos that have a slight positive cash flow but I have subject2'd his 3% and 3.5% mortgages so my real payoff comes in the form of faster declining mortgage balances. I expect to hold 5 - 7 years and cash out when we have a more normalized housing market (Hope!!) I owned them for 3 year and currently have filled them both with long term tenants on a land contract basis. Don't know if they'll pull the trigger but in 5 - 7 years I won't care.

@Bryan N. 

Usually the biggest risk comes from the mortgage company calling the loan under the DOSC. An additional risk comes from how the insurance for the home is set up and is funded. That often times gives a signal to the mortgage company that something is going on that's not right. Next, the land trust has to be set up correctly with the proper language as to the trustee and beneficiary(ies) duties, obligations and ownership. Lastly, the fees for this type of arrangement can suck all of the equity advantage out of the process. Just be careful, read the documents and ask questions until you are satisfied.

@Nilesh Makhija 

A couple of quick thoughts. Will vacancy sounds nice to say 10%, experience tells me it will probably be more of a multiple of your monthly rent. $1300 or $2600 is more likely. While a 6% cap rate is better than a savings account, I think it is low considering the additional risk you have taken on with this purchase. I suspect better opportunities are around.  Lastly, we are going to be going in on an interest rate increase cycle. Your rate will rise and your profit will fall accordingly. Calculate your payment with 6% rate, 2 months vacancy and see where your cap rate goes to. Always plan for expected contingencies.

@Gary Marcotte 

The REOs are fairly price to what the market will support. However, REOs are more expensive now than they've been in a long time since foreclosure inventory is drying up.

@Jimmy S. 

How many properties do you have?

Did you become an "accidental" landlord?

Did you really want to sell your property?

I have used copycall, hosted numbers, ringcentral and halloo. I am switching everything to Halloo because of their set of features. (except I am keeping my fax at RingCentral since it excels in that function.) 7 phone numbers each forwarded to my cell phone with individual vm for after hours. When the calls come in, I know how to answer according to the inbound number.

Great job Rocky! I'm not lucky as you yet; I only get unexpected bills!! LOL

@Mike Landry 

Sometimes caution is the better part of valor. There is enough fish in the sea to go catch another fish. Sometimes karma is a *****. And you don't want to be part of "what goes around, comes around". There is so much fraud in the government system. And that leads to the real world process of you don't know what toes you'd be stepping on. Be careful.

@Account Closed is correct on the use of private mortgages. Start diligently using resources you can cultivate and then deal in the future with your track record. You will be surprised how many bees come out for your honey when you have a successful track record. The secret in real estate is to find investors, not properties. REI is a people business.