All Forum Posts by: Bill P.

@Mike S. 

I don't mean to sound cold, but you are not the International Red Cross. There are a lot of people with a lot of problems and some of them can't be fixed. If you try, you will go broke. However, with that said, always make a detailed analysis of any home you can make a deal because one of them will be a home run. But make sure the numbers work as mistakes can be unforgiving.

@Bill Gulley 

Well said!

@Edward F. 

 Still a buyer's market as Tampa, Orlando, Miami are still working through the tough times. It has gotten a lot better over the last 2 years but there are soft areas all over the place. Also some strong places where zero discounts are made. I've been looking at Riverview, Brandon, Bloomingdale and Valrico which are all on the east side of Hillsborough county. Good luck with your move and thank you for your service to our country.

@Shequann Burrwell 

 You also must comply with knowing your partner in regards to their source of money. You don't want to become an unwitting participant of a money laundering scheme.

@John Richardson 

Part of the problem may be that your area's cap rates may be skewed to the low end. That happens in a lot of areas with a limited supply and a lot of investors. Since I do not know your area, you'll have to decide if investing in other areas can be more prudent for your goals.

@Tammy Wise 

 It is always prudent to be able to make individualistic decisions, however, as you acquire more property you will find that it is easier and more judicial to make blanket policies for ALL your properties so that discrimination does not come into play. With that said, we no longer allow certain breeds because of the risk/reward ratio. Better to err on the side of caution.

@Tarek Saad 

I am currently reviewing several software packages and have found that so far they are lacking in the accounting function. However, I am starting my trial of Buildium on Monday and still have Appfolio, Rent Manager and Zakona to do later in the year. Most of the reviewed programs aren't very sophisticated and could be ran better as an Excel spreadsheet.

Dennis-

My post would have been exactly as James Wise above. Reality of running any investment asset has costs, risks and benefits. Only you can make the judgment since only you know all the facts.

Ryan-

Real estate is one area that you need to spend some money to make bigger money (most of the time!). We had similar problems a decade ago and decided to use a virtual office setup at HQ (now Regus) although there are other firms today. It cost us $100 a month for a business address, a mailbox, a live person answering our phone and 4 hours of office/conference room time per month.

In most cases, when I start a new venture today I do the same thing although now I use a company called Intelligent Office and it costs me $150 to 175 per month depending on the city.

Your results will be better and because it just takes one sales/investor/home/tenant to be swayed by the live answering, it is hard to justify using voicemail.

Scott-

I also would wait to file the sub2 docs (quit claim, etc.) after Wells Fargo bank files any final modifications docs with the county so that your assignment doesn't interfere with the proper order of their filing. If it does, it may have a higher incident of DOS since Wells Fargo will actively be aware of the sub2 assignment.