All Forum Posts by: Travis Thornton

I'm seeking private funding and was told by someone with Funding Bridge LLC ( www.fundingbridgellc.com ) that they could loan me the amount I need. But, I can't find any reviews on this company. Has anyone ever heard of them? I've never taken a hard money loan before and definitely don't want to get scammed. Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks

Hello all, awhile back I reached out to this RE investment company that's been super active in my area, buying up the ugliest house, making them look awesome and selling. I reached out because I own a cool house in the area that needs rehabbed and could potentially sell for a great profit but I lacked the rehab costs and the experience (it would be my first). I asked the guy if he'd be interested in partnering with me on flipping the house. I let him know that I had about 10k of my own money that I was going to put into it myself. We met for a drink a couple times to get to know each other a little. Seems like a nice guy, definitely has more experience than myself. BUT, when it came down to it he kept trying to get me to invest my 10k into a project he already had going that was near completion in exchange for 10% roi. I explained that the money was really all I had and that I didn't think it'd be worth it for me to do it. I was a little taken back by it all.. I mean, I approached him about investing in a project of my own and instead was encouraged to invest in one of his.. I'm curious what your thoughts are on this scenario? What does these actions say about this person as an investor? Is it common practice to try to "flip the script" like this? Would you have taken him up on his offer? Do you think he was trying to take advantage of someone less experienced or actually offering me a shot at something bigger? All thoughts are welcomed, thanks a lot for your time! Travis.

I don't know what your financial situation is or the potential of the area but 5k for a house is pretty sweet.. I bought my first house in a similar situation, rough area, abandoned houses everywhere. But I bit the bullet and paid 10k for it. Everyone told me I was crazy but I saw the potential in the house, but more importantly I saw the potential in the area. I fixed up one room and moved into it. Yep a live in gut job remodel... Lol. I actually still live there today and now everyone says it was a very smart buy. The area is blowing up! It's very close to downtown and there is tremendous growth happening right now which is attributing to the growth in all the neighborhoods around it. 

You could by it and sit on it and just wait for the area to come up...

Or buy it, fix it just barely enough to live it and stay there rent and mortgage free..

Or hell, you could wholesale if you wanted. Buy it for 5, sell it for 10. Nothing like a quick double up. 

Just some thoughts, good luck!!

Travis.

Hey John! Just thought I'd quickly share the experience I had when dealing with the wholesalers I bought my properties from. Now, we're talking only 2 properties here, I'm no professional by any means.

They were both really easy going and the dialog back forth felt just like any basic price negotiating situation. The first one was up for sale for 15k (rough area, lots of abandoned houses). It was a really cool house with a lot of potential. 1725sqf built in 1925. Needed a total gut job. After creating some rapport, I offered half the asking price. 7.5k. My limit was 10k. That's exactly what he came back with and I agreed and that was that. I was happy, he was happy. 

The second was in the same area. It came up for sale for 19.9k.. I kept my eye on it as it was also a cool house, about the same size and also built in 1925. This had a totally different style to it, I liked it. It set for a month then the price went down by a thousand.. Set a little longer and it dropped again. By this time I was getting the itch.. I called and set up a time to check it out. When I went to see it there was another potential buyer there as well. I wasn't deterred, it seemed she was thinking it needed to much work. By this time the asking price was 17k. Again, created rapport and came in with a 9k offer. They came back 14.5k, I offered 12k and they agreed. And again, everything was good and both parties were happy. 

Now, I'm sure high dollar deals can be far more stressful and complicated. But these were just my own two personal experiences. 

I was also concerned about offending with what may come off as a low ball offer. So one line that I used both times was "I know you're asking (x) and that's not a bad price at all, I'm sure it could sell for that eventually, but I can definitely offer (x) right now and we could close as soon as you'd like".   Hope that helps in some way, good luck and happy investing!

Travis.

Hey, thank you all so much!

@William Hochstedler, that's precisely what I had in mind, but like you said I'll have to look more into it to find out the nature of the lease. Thanks!

@Curtis Yoder, Thanks a lot for your input, I will indeed speak to an attorney before pulling any triggers, good looking out! 

@Joe Calderon, the lease to own thing is basically at the end of a lease the tenant is given the option to buy the property. If you do a quick search on craigslist for lease to own you should find a lot of examples of what I'm talking about. Thanks!

@Brian Gibbons, You know, I hadn't even considered doing a JV with the seller. But, that's a great idea and certainly worth looking into. Thanks for the advice!

Tulsa, OK

There is a nice property in an active area that's a lease to own.  They want 93k for the house. $1500 down, $975 a month. Homes around it have sold recently for 100k-150k.

Would it be possible/legal to take them up on the lease to own, then theoretically, put 5k-10k worth of work into it and sell it for more than the initial 93k while still leased to me? 

So again, theoretically of course, and for the sake of using round numbers, I lease to own it for 93k, invest 10k into it, sell it for 123k, for a profit of 20k minus closings ect.. 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

Travis.   

No worries, Ron. I didn't make that clear at all in my initial comment.

@Ron Drake, thanks for the reply.

The area is kind of a hot spot for investors and end buyers right now so you'll find houses that have recently sold for as low as 6k and as high as 200k. The zip code is 74106 feel free to check out the area on Zillow or something. I don't think I'd be interested in splitting the profit, though. But, I'd consider more of a return if the investor were there with me everyday working on it. I do own the home outright with no debt on it of any kind. I don't know if that makes any difference or not.

Hello everyone, So here's the scoop. I have a home in Tulsa, OK near downtown. Cool area. My estimate is that it needs about 25k in renovations. New roof, new floor, new layout altogether. There's a house just a few doors up that's for sale for 87k. And that house is not as big as mine or as updated as mine will be. I have the 25k but that's all I have at the moment. So my concern is putting all my money into the project and not having any left over for living expenses in the mean time. So my question is, if I were to seek an investor for the 25k do you think a 25% return on investment would get someone interested assuming the project could be completed in about 2 months? Thanks in advance!

@Kyle Critchnau - Thank you both. And yes, that's exactly what I learned last night, that the title co will be the one that gets the mortgage co squared away at closing. Makes a lot more sense now.. I was just over thinking it. But, I'm now waiting to hear from the seller to find out for sure if he's wanting to move forward. I'll get back with you guys and let you know how it goes. Thanks for reaching out!