All Forum Posts by: Zeke Liston

Hello, I am a beginner investor and thanks to all of you, we got our 1st long distance property contract signed. 

However, when do you recommend to visit property if your property is out of state? 

I live in CA and we are investing in Florida. 

We visited place, checked out a few properties, came back, made an offer, negotiated and finally property is under contract! 

Its cash offer so our real estate agent recommamded to close in 3 weeks. 

we have inspection scheduled this week. 

So I dont think I will visit when inspection is done. ( There is tenant living and propert looked well maintained. Just need some cosmetic repair of kitchen sink and bathroom sink to me) 

After phachase, we plan to furnish and do short term rental. 

Do I need to visit before closing? 

I trust my realtor, he seems very honest, so I am plaining to visit after furnishing ( we will hire someone to furnish my place) before picture taken and make sure furnishing is well done and be there for picture taken and do last work ( organizing or cleaning...) 

Howeve it is our first inevestment property and it is out of state, I am not sure if that is okay. 

Can anyone advise me? 

Thanks. ( We are using realtors inspector) 

My husband and I have been wanting to get into REI for a little while now. We have been researching and reading a lot (analysis paralysis!) and really want to take that first step. We live in Washington state, but we will probably invest in a couple properties out of state.

My question right now, though, revolves around a house that we own in California. I'm currently renting it to a family member under the agreement that he moves out in time for us to sell it within the 5 year window so my husband and I will have lived in it as a primary residence for 2 of the last 5 years (we moved up to WA a year and a half ago). We want that $500k non-taxed equity!

However, the house is in a decently rentable area and I refinanced during the low rate days at a 2.615% rate. I could probably rent it for $750-$1000 per month over what the standard monthly costs are right now (not including vacancy, maintenance, management company, etc). I haven't really run the numbers because until now I've never considered keeping it as a real rental. And my husband and I have both had *horrible* landlord experiences in California in the past, and we just don't want to deal with California's renting atmosphere. But the house is only 10 years old, it's huge, it's in a decent area that's still being developed (Eastern East SF Bay Area), and it has the potential to earn us some money.

Does the earning potential of the house make up for the headaches of renting in CA and having to pay a boatload of taxes on the equity when we eventually do sell? If we instead sell in the 5 year window, we could take that equity and put it into rentals not in CA and other investments. I just don't know enough to figure out what the right answer is and would really appreciate some insight and advice.

Thanks!

Sarah

Hi Everyone, I was under contract for a property but I didn't qualify for financing because the lender that provided the preapproval changed its financing source while I was looking for properties for a couple of weeks and as of now, they do not provide loans for foreign nationals anymore. 

They didn't tell me about that until I went under contract and applied for a loan. I wasn't able to find another lender who would require less than 30% cash and lots of points, so I didn't qualify with any other lender either and had to release the contract. 

Despite all this, the seller is not willing to release the EMD, he offered 25% of the $5,000 EMD which is insane considering that we had a financing contingency in the contract. I can prove that I had about 100 emails back and forth with different lenders and I also have a denial letter. My agent says that there is a clause based on which he can dispute it and then the EMD stays in escrow for 2 years.

Is the seller allowed to refuse to sign the release if he has no reason to base a dispute on?

I signed the purchase agreement of REMAX which also says this. 

1. EARNEST MONEY: In the event of a dispute between the Seller and Buyer regarding the disbursement of this earnest money, the broker is required by Ohio law to maintain such funds in the broker’s trust account until the broker received (a) written instructions signed by the parties specifying how the earnest money is to be disbursed or (b) a final court order that specifies to whom the earnest money is to be awarded. If within two years from the date the earnest money was deposited in the broker’s trust account, and the parties have not provided the broker with such signed instruction or written notice that such legal action to resolve the dispute has been filed, the broker shall return the earnest money to the purchaser with no further notice to the seller. The broker shall acknowledge receipt of the earnest money shown on line 28 to the escrow agent who shall credit that amount to the BUYER’S escrow account. Unless otherwise stated herein, the earnest money shall be retained in the broker’s trust account until after title transfer at which time it shall be applied against any compensation due the broker. Any amount by which the earnest money exceeds the compensation due the broker shall be remitted to the escrow agent.

Thank you for your thoughts!

Hi everyone, nice to meet you!

I’m an eager new investor working on getting my first single family househack. I plan to get a 3 bed with a garage which I will live in, and rent out the bedrooms. That being said, I was wondering if anyone knows someone who was able to invest with only a $40,000 salary? (I’m a teacher). Getting a co-signer is very possible. But I am single so there is no second household income.

I would like to be able to afford my whole mortgage at 100% vacancy in a disaster scenario, which puts me at buying houses less than 200k at the current interest rates including expenses and insurance. I also live very frugally. 

With these interest rates, good positive cash flow with less than a 200k property only seems doable outside the city (an hour outside of Austin) or in good cashflow markets like the Midwest or parts of the Southeast USA. Can anyone offer advice on whether it’s worth making the move to a large city in the Midwest or a smaller town in the state you live in? Specifically, do mid-sized to small towns outside of big cities have sufficient rental demand for rent by the room? And would you recommend it? What would you do if you were in my position? A lower income, but willingness to sacrifice comfort in order to set yourself up for an abundant future.

Any advice or insight is appreciated! I really am open to anything. I fully live behind the, “How can I?” not “I can’t.” mindset. Thank you for your time!

Hi all, I am doing my first BRRRR. Purchased a 4 plex in Cleveland in August last year and put a good amount of funds into renovations. I'm hoping to do a cash-out refi as soon as possible to take the funds back out. I know most lenders want to see a year of ownership but does anyone know if there are any exceptions here? Hoping to start discussions and see if I can complete the refi sooner than August if possible. Thanks in advance for the help.

Heyy. I'm trying to raise rent to fair market rent for one of my tenants. I have informed her through text and email. And heard no response. I texted again asking if she got my messages and if she had any questions. No response. I also texted if we could set up a time to chat on the phone. No answer. What should I do??

Looking to buy my first turnkey rental. What advice would you recommend?

I currently live and work in Chicago, however have a STR property in Florida. I am getting ready for my next acquisition, just exploring different markets, and which route I want to go (BRRRR, Turnkey, STR, LTR, how I want to Acquire/finance, Etc).

Without trying to sound like a dating website, I’d love to connect with like minded people on their thoughts and views of the industry and different markets - either in Chicago or elsewhere. 

Here are a few things for me right now:
-I have about $50K Cash to invest. 
-Do I invest in Chicago? Chicago is not always the best place to invest. If so, what are good areas/good property types? What method is best? (BRRR, Buy and Hold, etc?)
-I like investing in college towns, as I feel it provides STR and LTR opportunities. I also go to Champaign/Urbana for work often. How is this market? would a BRRR be beneficial?

- South Bend, IN also catches my eye for investing. There are a few good properties on the market that I feel have potential. 

- I have only ever purchased a turnkey property. I want to explore BRRRR. What advice does anyone have for someone who has not gone through this process?

I'd like to get started in real estate investing. Ideally short or long term rentals. I've got a 778, I own a house that I inherited when my dad passed, with roughly 350k in equity. I've got maybe 20k in cash. I'm a career bartender though that makes around 55k on paper. Do I have a shot at even qualifying for a mortgage with that income?

Hi everyone. My wife and I are looking into buying long term rentals in the Cleveland area. If anyone has a great real estate agent and property manager they would like to share we would greatly appreciate it.