All Forum Posts by: Mark N.A

So if you already have rental properties under a managment company, let the management company handle your 32 extra properties until you can sell. If the properties are in another area, find a good PM there.

Were it me, I would try and sell the very best properties myself and keep the commission. List the others with a realtor to get the MLS exposure.

If you're looking for a fast sale offer the properties at a significant discount to market. Both investors and homeowners love buying something with 'instant equity'.

But I agree with the other posters here. It seems you have plenty of uncontrollable downside without much upside with this deal.

And really, it sounds to me as if you have enough resources to consult a qualified attorney and advisor. Although I'm sure we all appreciate your confidence in our opinions.

If you purchase a HUD or REO you will most likely deal with a broker.

Sounds like you'll be in college for a few years so here's a possible scenario:

Find a run-down house with lots of bedrooms. You'll be trading your sweat for future equity as you fix it up.

Rent these bedrooms out to other college students. You'll learn management techniques first hand, plus you'll be in constant control of the house. Read everything you can about your state's rental laws. Draw up a good lease for your tenants. Treat this like a business and don't get overly friendly with your tenants, you may have to evict one!

How do you find such a place? The old fashioned way! Many of those techniques are detailed on this site in other threads.

If you look hard enough, you may very well find a motivated seller who will finance your purchase, especially if he's having a hard time either selling it or managing it.

Come in with a plan. Be professional. Show him how you'll make the numbers work and make his headaches disappear. Offer him a win/win situation and provide solutions to whatever his problems are. Then follow through and make the plan work! Hey, he may have other properties; and he most certainly knows other landlords!

Good luck.

Creedog:

Pay no attention to the preceeding buzzkill posts! They are all LYING TO YOU!

Making large gobs of real cash money in real estate is really quite simple and people just like you do it every day!

I, for one, am NOT AFRAID TO SHARE THESE SECRETS with you! And I WILL DO IT RIGHT NOW!

Please write down each question you have on a hundred dollar bill and send it to me immediately. I GUARANTEE YOU WILL LEARN SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT!

But hurry! Supplies are limited and you MUST RESPOND NOW!!!!

Someone wiser than me once said:

"Give your children enough so that they can do anything, but not enough that they can do nothing."

In all my life I've never paid retail for a house, not even my current home of 19 years. However, I just bought a new home for myself, and since I WANTED it, I paid full retail.

Properties can certainly be had for 50% below market value. People here routinely find those deals. But as Jon said, these people make many many many offers and get almost as many refusals.

Finding a property at 50% below market is sort of the 'holy grail' of REI. Your competition will be just about everyone else who read Irwin's book, just about everyone here, just about every smart broker in your area, and so on and so forth.

People who find these deals routinely work very very hard at finding them. With the same hard work, and a little luck, you may find one yourself.

I assume this property has a broker's "For Sale" sign out front. I don't have much luck with MLS properties unless they've been on the market for a long time.

My last three purchases were an REO, a HUD, and a 'don't wanter'. There were no signs out front. Finding such properties isn't rocket science, you can read up on the various methods on this site.

Two of those properties were on the low-income side of town because that's where the numbers worked. These types of properties are 'management intensive' as a rule. But college rentals can be, too.

Finding workable college rentals is difficult where I live. My competition is doctor-daddies buying something for their little angels at outrageous prices, speculators betting on big appreciation, and 'hobbyist' investors who don't understand the numbers. I was talking with a professor last week who was just bursting with pride because he was going to rent his house out for $900 and the mortgage was only $800! I gave him my card.

Succesfully investing in real estate is simple. But it is in no way easy.

NC is a 'one party' state meaning I can record my phone conversations. Don't know the law in NY but you might check. Always nice to have a record of someone's threats.

Did you say _she_ has a motorcycle gang? Look, if she could reach out to you she wouldn't do it over the phone. Same with her son.

You know the drill: evict his @ss now.

Someone on these boards compared college rentals to 'waterfront property'. So location is very important, and can mean higher rents.

But any rent must be considered in light of operating costs and purchase price.

Consider that most students rent for only one year and move on, so turnover is generally high. If someone leaves in the middle of the school year you may have trouble renting to other students, who are locked into leases.

Here in my city when a college renter violates ordinances I am the one who gets fined. Of course I pass it on, but it's no fun getting registered letters.

Here in my city one cannot rent to more than three unrelated people, so four and five bedroom houses are not wise to own. Check your local ordinances.

Having parents' names as guarantors with the lease is always wise. But the only one who wins litigation is the lawyers. Oh, and not only do you deal with the students, but you get the parents calling about their little angels. And believe me, those little angels are never in the wrong. And some of the parents are attorneys, and most of them have deep pockets. What fun that can be.

Still, it all comes down to whether the numbers work. You can certainly find those deals, but the competition involves rich daddies buying property for their little angels, as well as 'investors' still betting on appreciation and willing to take on zero to negative cash flow.

But I like my college rentals, and am closing on another today. It's 'the devil I know', so I'm not uncomfortable with them. Other investors, however, tell me they would never invest in college rentals.

Interestingly, I find that my low-income rentals are good training for the students.

Good luck and keep us posted with your adventures.

Hey blm -

I've got some college rentals. Why are you looking specifically at them?

Students are similar to low-income renters in many of the bad ways. And you get to play 'parent' to them, too.

What doesn't change are the fundamentals of succesful real estate investing, i.e. equity at closing, good cash flow, etc.

Are you betting on appreciation? Here in my college town sfh rental prices are trending down as students follow the bus route to more luxurious apartment complexes.

Look closely at the numbers. They will tell you whether to invest or not.