All Forum Posts by: Rich Weese

I hate to throw water on your fire that you are a lot of obstacles ahead of you. You didn't mention what kind of knowledge or experience you have in real estate. That is very important.

Employment situation is not good for you. It appears you have no job currently and will start as a trainee later this year.

I have looked at real estate during various vacations in the UK. I was shocked at the prices for what you got and had no interest. I think it would be a big obstacle for you trying to purchase something in the United States and living in the UK.

REITs have taken a beating and I have never been a fan of those. I have preferred to do a hands-on approach but I have the knowledge and experience to do that.

I can't answer the other things as to whether it would be a good investment are not because you didn't list anything. I'm unable to tell you what would be the minimum amount to save or what you should have in reserve.

I would suggest you spend some money and purchasing real estate books to gain knowledge first. If you gain knowledge you may find other individuals that would be willing to place money with you as a partner and you would not have to wait so long.

Good luck but I would tread lightly.

@Chad Wimberly

I haven't done this in quite a few years but I had a real process going. I built a couple rental houses in St. George, Utah using several different general contractors. It didn't look that difficult! I had already owned many rentals and had seen a lot of rehabs. At the same time I was having these homes built, I was also visiting other construction sites for single-family residences and picking up business cards of subcontractors. I also took the time to interact with them and ask if their pricing would be any different if I was building for cash and did not have to wait for disbursements from a lender on a construction loan. That seemed to get them excited. All they needed to do was complete the job, get it signed off by the inspector and then come turn in their bill and get their money!

I was also running into general contractors that were also working in other fields. I remember three specifically. One did pest control, another was a framer and another one was a Master electrician. Each of them had a general contractor's license in addition to what they were doing full-time. I asked each one of them if they would sign on as the general contractor on the building permit but then allow me to oversee the day-to-day responsibilities and hire my own subcontractors. They told me they would do it for a flat fee as long as all the subcontractors held licenses and insurance was provided. I believe the flat fee I paid at the time was $1500-$2500 per house which was much less than 15 to 25% of total costs to a GC. They looked at it as receiving additional income without needing to take time to do the work. I did give each of them the job for their specialty such as electrical, framing etc. When one decided to increase the price, I moved on to another sub that was licensed as a GC. I built for cash and did not use a construction lender. Subs knew they were going to get paid quickly. It did make a difference.

I was very successful using this process and moved on to an additional benefit. I owned multiple condominiums in Cancun, Mexico. When the subcontractors would furnish me a bid for their job, I would ask them if they would consider taking a week of use in my condominium and reduce the cash portion of their bid by the same amount. A typical bid from a drywall contractor might be $8000 of which 25% might be profit. The week in Cancun was valued at $1500 unless it was the holiday season. The subcontractor realized receiving $6500 plus the week in Cancun was better than having me go to a different subcontractor that was willing to do the same deal. If his Profit was 25% or $2000, He was still receiving some cash plus a vacation that would make his wife very happy! If I was able to propose this same deal to the wife, my success ratio increased tenfold. Most wives of contractors or subcontractors very seldom see a vacation!

I don't know what the current laws or regulations are and certainly don't know other states but this was very successful for me in Utah. I did some where over 50 bread-and-butter type homes and detailed this in a chapter of a book I wrote.

I've never been involved in that segment of investing. Houses, apartments, Development and storage units Have been my cups of tea. I also live in an area that is in comparable with any other areas. The villages in Florida is one-of-a-kind. Top-selling retirement community for the past 10 years! I would assume hospitality would be management intensive and I have no interest in getting my hands involved.

Good luck

I am in the middle of seeing a huge change on multi family finance. I have a transaction involving 128 units in the Dallas area. The loan was supposed to close the 27th of this month. The borrower received a loan commitment from a lender that has now changed the terms on two items.

1. The lenders shaved $1 million off the loan amount.

2. Lender is requiring the buyer to leave $725,000 in an additional account to take care of the mortgage, taxes and insurance for 12 months.

This is a $13 million transaction that is now on life support due to the extra amounts required by the lender. The attractiveness of the transaction has been reduced considerably by the lender and buyer is having to eat both those items.

This is a very old thread! I do not have any remaining contacts to refer. I have not been involved in Mexico for a few years. Good luck but tread lightly and slowly.

I'll play, kinda bored. I LOVE Texas "hyper" inflation. Purchased a Dallas area apt. building for 25% down on 6.2 million. 2 1/2 years ago. Received unsolicited offer for 12.6 million Today. What is my inflation rate or ROI not counting all the cash flow? I expect other higher offers. Glad I exchanged into 2 buildings at the same time. Pretty high annual rate of return.

I may be posting this property on BP but have to remember what level of member I have to be..

Good luck always.

Jessica,

I did receive your request for my book and it is in the mail headed your direction. Let me know when you receive it and what you thought of it when complete.

Mike,

In a perfect world, some of the items you mentioned would prove true. Unfortunately, Mexico is a different animal. You make a great deal of assumptions without knowing my situation. The developer that originally handled the construction of my units was one of the richest families in Mexico, the Riojas family. They had already built the same type of condominium project in Acapulco and I believe the other was in Mazatlan or Puerto Vallarta, with multiple condo buildings. Their development company was called playa sol and this was the third building to be built in Cancun on the same parcel of land. The Carisa and Palma were the first 2 and my building was called Girasol Norte.

The only two hurricanes that caused any difficulty in Cancun during my 40 years of ownership were Gilbert in 1988 and Wilma in 2005. The building had already been completed for many years.

I'm not a rookie in real estate or property development.  I was also a licensed employing broker in the state of Colorado and California when I was dealing with condos in Cancun. Once the building was built, everything was okay and I actually picked up five additional condos over a 30 year period.

If someone is interested in getting into this type of project, don't just take my word for the Potential problems. The Internet is an amazing asset! Just look up problems or people that got screwed in investments in timeshares throughout Mexico, houses in Baja California and housing specifically in Cancun, and the three cities previously mentioned.

The cruise lines have an unbelievable budget to research and study the ports they feel comfortable and safe with. I don't know what the status is this year, but recently there was only one cruise ship that was Still serving the Acapulco-Puerto Vallarta corridor and it was 33 years old and part of a company I guarantee you have never heard of, that was put in service for basically the domestic travelers Of Mexico because foreigners stopped going to those ports due to all the problems and concerns of safety. I have traveled to all three but it helps somewhat to speak Spanish fluently.

I will stand by my concerns and attitude due to my experiences. I hope you are successful and that all your assumptions prove true. I see so many holes in your prospective projects that I would not invest anything. You mentioned that your fiduciary company belongs to the country's biggest insurance company. That does not necessarily impress me. My fiduciary was Banamex, largest banking system in the country of Mexico. They are like any other bank when problems develop and I lived through those. I wouldn't want to assume the economy of Mexico is only going to boom and not have additional problems. I would not bet my investment life on that proving true.

I wish you the best of luck but I will not change my attitude because I have already lived through the experiences in real time. Good luck.

Jessica,

No need to tell me how comfortable a fifth wheel is! When my wife and I finally got rid of ours last six kids (!!!) we left three days later to become full-time RVers. We did that for six years and absolutely loved it. I had a step down family room with fireplace, desk and surroundsound television! I think it had five slides  and included central vac, skylights,And most of the other comforts of home.

As I mentioned in a previous response, my contact information is on your pockets and you may reach me in private if you would prefer.

If not, here are some additional thoughts. I have thousands of posts on their pockets covering most subjects that you would have questions on. It is good to get different viewpoints and I am quite stubborn in my beliefs.

For example, I would not recommend jumping into multi family as your first foray into real estate! This is a different animal with completely different sets of rules, requirements and concerns. I currently own over 300 units and recently sold 152 units with the help of bigger pockets. There are tremendous benefits owning apartments but I would compared jumping into that with being a racecar driver. I don't think any driver would start with a 200 mile an hour Formula One vehicle! Most would start on a go kart track or dirt track or some other learning facility. I look at real estate ownership the same way.

If interested, you would be able to research my previous posts and get lots of examples of why I urge you to take it slow. I would certainly not purchase an apartment building and use all of my money for a 20% down payment. There are too many problems that can arise and they are multiplied greatly when you have multiple units. You would need a sizable reserve account and then double it!

I think obtaining your real estate license has more advantages and disadvantages, but there are some of both. I was a licensed employee broker in both Colorado and California DECADES ago. There are many posts on myself and others on their pockets that will help you understand the possible disadvantages.

I would be more than happy to look at your plans once you have firmed them up. Be sure to be flexible as Mike Tyson said, "Everyone has a plan until you get punched in the face."

Tell your dad that uncle Mike said hi again. ( I've gone by my middle name for a long time.)

@Ned Carey- Thanks for remembering me! I'm not on bigger pockets very often but when something is directed to my handle, I do try to respond back. Hope all is going well with you, Ned. I'm pretty happy doing what I'm doing!