All Forum Posts by: Zachary Betters

Off and running. Excited to say our first official flip is now complete! Feels great to share in all the great success stories here on bigger pockets. Though not without hiccups, the deal was a good success and am thankful for all we have learned, relationships built, and advice of the BP community and podcasts Happy to say we also secured 4 contracts within rock hill, Catawba, and fort mill the same day we closed. Excited to start the process over again and to move forward with a new portion of the business adding wholesaling to our arsenal. Though the Charlotte market can be tough, it's great to see that perseverance is paying off! Hope my story can lift the spirits of those struggling out there and be an inspiration to keep on keeping on. Zach

Please send me the details.  

Thanks

welcome Alexandra. Wish you and your husband the best.  The BP community is a great place to start

Patience is always a great idea. No matter what you do you want to fund the right property and a great deal. If you find a good enough deal you can build instant equity in, you could leave yourself with options next year. To sell and take profits with you. Or if you built equity you may consider a HELOC on your first property to pay your down payment on your second property. Or you could buy now then rent when you move to Charlotte while waiting to know the market and looking for your deal there. I would make sure you take some time to get to know both markets before purchasing though

Good luck 

First steps are often the toughest. Sounds like you are doing the right stuff.... taking action. I found starting out frustration in having too broad of criteria. The reality is, if the numbers work, I'd take ANY deal! However the reality of searching for properties and filtering what is a real deal can be overwhelming starting out, especially if your net is too large. Every city has it's pockets of goods and bads, and can take a while to learn, Let alone if you are spread between many large cities/areas. I might recommend narrowing your criteria a bit and focusing hard on one or two niches and perfecting that approach before broadening your net.

Secondly, knowing what a good deal is can be tough for a newbie, and you can easily second guess yourself based on others opinions. people you assume have more experience and knowledge than you have, so you must be wrong. CAUTION every deal that is brought to you, run your own numbers and stick to what you believe. Reach out to a third party you can trust to help you analyze a deal if need be.

Keep up the good work!

I guess I am confused as to what your goal and purpose is. Are you trying to joint venture with him or just loan him the funds. If you want to be just the supplier of funds I would set this up as private lending. You could form your own lending entity ( seek counsel on this and for ex set up an LLC). Then your company can loan him money. He finds the deals. Gets purchase agreement with seller and goes to you as the bank. You vet the deal to make sure it makes sense and draw up a contract through law office for repayment. You can set the terms and repayment to whatever you want. His name is on the deed. You only have a lien on the deed. This should protect you both. The terms are up to you... But I think you should be making SOMETHING.... Set a low interest rate per month... May defer his payment to you if you really trust the guy and you want to cut him a break Just my 2 cents

So sorry I missed it!!! Just getting home now, was stuck at project site putting out fires (not literal fires)  Hope everyone had a blast, and please keep me posted as to the next meeting. Have been looking forward to this meet up for a while, I always seem to be working

Update:

Deals executed, but not without their difficulties.

Caution: loan officers seem to tell you what you want to hear, not necessarily the full on truth. I remember @Brandon Turnertalking in one of his podcast about how front line loan officers may not know all of the Underwriters guidelines, or may not take these into consideration for your best interest. 

One of these deals needed quite a bit of work, new HVAC, had bare concrete floors in the house, extensive Sheetrock damage, and was a HUD home. The initial guy we talked to regarding the loan stated none of this was a problem. Fast forward 1.5 weeks prior to closing and all of the sudden they 1. don't do HUD homes, 2. need a working HVAC to close, 3. notes there may be a problem if there is no floor and/or extensive wall damage. None of this was a surprise, was all disclosed at the very beginning and we questioned him on all of these issues multiple times as I know many loan guidelines have these restrictions. Turns out the portfolio loan I thought he was quoting us, was just a typical conventional. Thankfully with days remaining to execute the contract we were able to pull together private financing and are now on our way to finishing the rehab :)

Not a rant post, just keeping everyone updated and  putting out my experience to hopefully help others who are growing and learning in this business. As @Don Harris always says; persevere.

Bottom line is to run the numbers and know what works! There is no telling what the final offer will ever be. I just closed on a house similar situation. I offered $10k less then the banks final offer and we went back and forth three times with no one budging. I forgot about the deal and three weeks later got a call from the agent. She said she kept putting in our offer and they finally accepted. Took me by complete surprise. This is a unique situation probably for sure. If the house comes down to a good enough deal in a good market, someone will buy it. If no one is buying then you have to think why. (Reasons are many). Thus why I say run and know the numbers, when it works pull the trigger. If the numbers don't work DO NOT change your numbers to make what the bank wants work. Give them your final and move on Good luck

Looks like my wife and I should be able to make it as well. Thanks @Dave Hurtfor putting this together, look forward to it!