All Forum Posts by: Mark S.

So..., back to the original topic: what would your next step be?

My buddy's girlfriend lives in a 4-plex. They recently realized she has bedbugs in her bedroom. She immediately called the landlord to report the issue and the landlord scheduled pest control to take a look the next evening. The state is Kentucky. Questions: 1.) Who is responsible for the cost? 2.) If "it depends," where is the burden of proof? 3.) About how much is the all-in cost for treatment, on average. Thanks. 3.)

I recently heard an (non-BP, don't know if I'm allowed to say where) REI podcast where the guest talked about investing in international coffee farms (in Panama). The pitch was basically $15,000 for 0.5 acre parcel on an under-performing commercial coffee farm his group acquired with the expectation of a conservative 13% annual yield. There would be a 3+ year minimum hold and the opportunity to sell later, if desired. His team apparently hires the coffee farmers and provides them a good job, fair wages, health and pension benefits, etc. Often, they simply re-hire existing talent that have already been working on these farms for many years, just under new, better-capitalized management. It sounds great at first glance, but I feel like I might be missing something. Have you ever invested in anything like this? What questions would you have about it? I like that it's turn-key, cash-flowing, and I will not have to deal with tenants. By the way, I like the BP podcasts much better (this one is always a bit "salesy," which is another reason I am skeptical).

I'm mad at myself for taking the time to read and reply to this thread. Do people really not know this stuff? Wow.

Thanks.

I have recently been asked if I'd be interested in purchasing a mobile home park for $69,900 that produces $1,900 monthly income with 5 more spots available.

I have no clue where to get started and what questions to ask.

Please help me in where I should get started regarding mobile home park investing.

Thanks!

So, I have a really nice agent that I really like personally, but real estate is also a business (albeit, a people business). He has a lot going on lately in his personal life, so I'm trying to cut him some slack, but am wondering if maybe I'm being too nice. Here's the gist: Last Monday (Labor Day), I found an REO property that I was very interested in. I actually took the time to drive by it and get a sense of the neighborhood. I emailed him, asking when we could see it and that it would become open to investors for offers in the next day or so. I told him I realize it's a holiday, so feel free to respond tomorrow. The next day, I still hadn't heard anything from him at about 11:00am, so I sent a text to confirm he received my email. He says yes and that he's trying to get it set up. This was Tuesday. Wednesday: nothing. Thursday: nothing. Friday mid-day: he realizes he never got back to me and wants to see if I can view it Sunday afternoon (today!). I respond later on Friday, suggesting Monday/Tuesday (figuring, at this point, if it's that good of a deal, it probably already would have been under contract). No further response on Friday. Saturday: I text him with an additional property (same listing agent) down the street that if also like to see and ask if that's possible. No response. Sunday: here we are at almost 11:00am on Sunday, still no response (even though when I suggested Monday/Tuesday, I told him if he couldn't do either day, I'd make myself available today). What would you do?

Thanks, everyone that's posted so far on this thread. I made an offer not too long ago on a duplex and got beat by $3,300 on the offer price. Other investor paid $100 over asking price, all-cash. Found a nice little 2/1 SFR that I'll be taking a look at shortly. The numbers aren't as good as those for the duplex, but I'm just eager to get something under contract for crying out loud. I'm going to start getting more active looking on Craigslist, too. Something's gotta give!

In reference to the comments, albeit about 11 months ago, regarding interest rates on cash, I am currently getting 3% on my checking account at a credit union (it was 4% about a year ago). The kicker is that you have to jump through a few hoops to get that and it's capped at $10K. Not too shabby though for a small sum of liquid cash just sitting there. Also, online savings accounts are paying 1% if you know where to look. Neither is a great option, but we all have to keep some liquid cash, right? Why not earn a tad more if we're able?

Scott Meyers , very interesting approach. Would you recommend self-storage for an individual investor (vs syndication)? I know, I know, "it depends," but, say, in Kentucky. About how much would one be looking at for an "average" amount of storage units? I guess what I would like a rough breakdown of would be: - average purchase price for a facility with "average" number of units, let's say on the smaller end. - General down payment requirements as a percentage - 5% down, 20%, 50%? - return expectations? Also, how are you measuring returns (NOI, cash on cash, is it similar to MF investing?)? I'm not trying to steal your course for free or anything, I'm just a new REI that is trying to decide if residential real estate and tenants are really what I want to deal with or if there is another way, as you're mentioning here. I'm trying to figure out if that's possible for me. Thanks in advance.