All Forum Posts by: Thadeous Larkin

I'm looking for information from hard money lenders and folks who have used hard money lenders before:

What, exactly, is the process for securing a hard money loan for a fix-and-flip?  Are hard money lenders looking at the specific property (that is not yet under contract) before deciding whether or not to loan?  Does the property have to be under contract first?  Are you only talking about hypothetical numbers with the property?

Basically - do you have to have the property in hand first, or will hard money lenders make the loan contingent upon the property going under contract?  

If the former, how do you even do that?

I'm getting a little wrapped around the axle on this one, and anyone who can help me out will be richly rewarded with my eternal gratitude.  Thanks in advance!

@Tom Chen - I'm currently in Colorado (I'm in the Army, so they ship me around), but I'm born and raised in Central New York.  Wanted to check in on your journey AND offer myself as something of a local guide.  I have lots of friends who live in Syracuse who act as my neighborhood scouts and I'm talking to a potential fix-and-flip team to tap into.  Send me a PM and we can chat!

@Ed Blackshear - Dude, I am LITERALLY wearing my Utica Comets t-shirt right now.  The first house I lived in was on Waverly Place.  Shoot me a message, I would love to connect.

And, to totally hijack your thread, Tom, I'm also looking for fix-and-flip opportunities in the Syracuse suburbs.  Anyone who has some leads, feel free to message me!

BP Community,

My housekeeper in the Colorado Springs area (COS, Woodland Park, Monument...) needs more work than I can give him.  So if you're selling and need a clean-up, host short-term-rentals and need someone to manage turnover, or have some other general need for housekeeping, he's your guy.

His rates vary after initial consultation, but for my generally well-kept house he charges $15/hour (WAY less than those big companies that average $40/hour) and he charges 20% AirBnB turnover management (cleans up, puts out the little gifts, washes the sheets, reports back that nobody has broken anything).

He's a trusted guy with great references and a super hard work ethic.  He's a college student who does this, auto-detailing, and photography all as side-hustles (personally, I have a lot of respect for that).  Send me a direct message if you want more information and I'll put you in contact with him.

@James Carlson - Thanks, man!  My fiancee lives in Denver (LoHi...she's way more hip than I am), so I'm up there from time to time.  Let me know if I can ever buy you a coffee or a beer or an organic fair-trade hibiscus kombucha and we can chat real estate.

@Ernest Chamblee - I lived in NoVa for a short period of time, too.  Spent 8 years in Virginia total.  I'm going to take you up on your offer of getting together.  PM headed your way.

@Kyle Doney - Headed to his REIA event tonight (unless I'm ordered to stay at work late)! I'll be sure to say "hello." Thanks for the heads up.

@Mike Robb - Thanks!  Just PMd you.  San Diego, huh?  Sounds like a hardship assignment.  Hope you can slog through it.

@Warren Barnett - Saw you posted this a month ago.  Any updates on where you're at?

@Tyler Mullen - Well, when you put it that way it makes perfect sense.  Thanks, man.  

Wasn't that basically what Al Pacino said in "Scarface"?  "First you get the money, then you find the deal, THEN you get the offer."  I'm pretty sure that's what he said.  Something like that.

For those of you who have been in the game so long you've forgotten what it's like to be new and know nothing, here's a peak inside my head while I was trying to sort it all out.  My thoughts went something like this:

"Oh, that looks like a good deal.  Now how can I verify that it's a good deal?  Well, I have to contact the seller to see if those details are correct.  But I don't want to contact them because then they'll want to talk about the deal and I don't have any financing.  So how do I get financing?  Well, I'll have to see if somebody is interested in going in on this property with me.  But how can I present them with information about this property if I don't know if it's verified or not?  Well, I have to contact the seller to see if those details are correct..."  Cue infinite loop.

So again, thanks Tyler and @Aaron K..  I'll adopt "The Scarface Solution" (I'm not copywriting that - feel free to use it in future explanations) and get the money first.

@Aaron K. - wow.  +10 points for the fastest reply ever to an initial post.  Thanks!  

I should clarify - I don't have enough cash on hand for even the down payment, so I'm depending on other people's money to get this deal off the ground. (I'm so poor. So very poor. And I hate it. Thus my initial motivation for getting involved in Real Estate Investing). Also, I've used my VA Loan already (so there goes the "no cash down" bit) and can't move into the property I'm looking at anyway.

Hey BP!

Just introducing myself to the community!  I'm an active duty Army officer just getting started in the real estate investing game and am having SO MUCH FUN so far!

My partner and I are looking at buy & hold and fix & flip properties in the greater Colorado Springs, CO area.  We're open to other markets if the deal is right.

I love meeting and getting to know people, especially positive people committed to success...and BP is full of just those type of folk.  So I'm looking forward to chatting with you!

Hi BP!

This may be a silly question from a total newbie, but I'd appreciate your guidance.

Hypothetical - I find a buy-and-hold property that, when I run the numbers, looks like a great deal (12% Cash on Cash ROI, ~$1,000/mo cashflow). Color me interested, right?

Now, here's my chicken and the egg issue that I'm getting stuck on.  I don't have the cash on hand to purchase, and I don't have financing lined up.  Do I:

1)  Open a discussion with the seller to get more information about the property itself?  That seems to lead to negotiations where I'm not yet financially prepared to make any offers.

or

2)  Present this potential deal to potential financiers half-cocked with not a lot of information?

or

3)  Something else.

I'm getting all spun around the axle on this one and it's stopping my forward momentum.  Any and all help is appreciated!