Kristin's RI Journal

Hey Kristin,

Good Luck to you on your real estate ventures. I sympathize with you on the problems of getting a loan. I ran into that problem as well. The bank wouldn't give me a loan based on my only 2 months employment. After shopping around for a week or so I was able to find a lender through a friend that recently bought a home and I got pre-approved for an FHA loan(only 3.5 percent down instead of 10-20 percent!). Again, good luck, and don't get discouraged no matter what you do. There's always a solution to a problem you might run into!

-J

I live and work on Long Island New York. I am stoked and almost ready to pull the trigger.I am just about finished with Dean's latest book and very motivated. My question is has anyone in the long island market applied dean's principles? I am concerned that in New York lawyers are required for closings and it takes typically a minimum of 45 days to close. If this is a road block I have no issue with moving my plan to start up out of state however I would prefer to do it close to home where I am familiar with the market and neighborhoods.I have a very small amount of cash and looking to pick up a foreclosure and rent it out while I improve the property and wait for the market to turn to sell. Please advise

Thanks Jonny.

I was fortunate to find a mortgage broker who outlined what I needed to fix with my credit report, and even though it seems so much money to me, it really is not that bad and will take me about 6 weeks or so to get good enough to begin the loan process.

The home I have in mind is listed for $79,900 and needs about $10,000 worth of work and kitchen appliances. I am planning on offering about $55,000 and the FMV once repaired and taken care of is at least $130,000. Then I plan on taking out the equity as soon as I can to get a rental property to start bringing in the cash flow money.

Can't wait to get rolling. Also plan on doing some quick assignments to get the funds coming in since I have a whole lotta nothing in the bank. Already have one offer accepted on a REO and the papers have been faxed back just Friday. This is an assignment I am doing with my boyfriend and we hope to quickly assign it and make a fast $5-10,000. He already has some potential buyers lined up so we can move this quickly.

The hardest obstacle we have come up against was getting the proof of funds letters these REOs want to make the initial offer, but we had no money. Finding the link to Coastal Funding ( www.coastal-funding.com ) was a godsend and made this offer come together after about 4 weeks of running in circles. Using the proof of funds letter from them we also placed an offer on another property this past week and am waiting to hear back on the offer. Sometimes I think waiting to hear back from these banks and other real estate agents is the hardest part!

Kristin

I have no help for the Long Island lawyers question, but keep asking questions of anyone in real estate investing you can to learn what is available for you out there. Finish reading the book and use this site and the forums to help you along the way.

Best of luck!!!

Kris you show how important a RE broker can be, In finding ways to get that
credit...Done! J,The FHA is are friend...Thanks for reminding, Me! Design
buyer,Again...Thanks to remind...How important a RE attorney, Can be to the
team!!!
Just hearing...The words, You are typing... Yes i am........A REI!

Thank-you for your, Comments.

Randy

I just finished the book late yesterday and now had to pass it off to my boyfriend, and partner in crime. He couldn't wait for me to finish so he could get his hands on it.

He has been laid off from work for more than a year and is just determined to make this real estate investing work for both of us. He has more time than I do, so he has been our runner and researcher. We just hope to get our first deal completed soon so we have some capital to work with.

We currently have 3 offers out on properties, and one was verbally accepted by the bank. We are just waiting for paperwork to come back. The importance of a great real estate agent is key, because the one he was working with is just not updating us frequently unless he keeps calling her, and misrepresented a property as a REO when it was a short sale.

Our plan for this evening is to create an ad for Craig's List advertising for a real estate agent we feel comfortable with, and who will place the offers we want while understanding what we plan on doing.

Our first offer has been accepted and we are having the paperwork reviewed tonight by my sister's boyfriend, who also happens to be a real estate attorney.

The house is a single family foreclosure with Fannie Mae with an assessed value of $252,000 that we have locked up for $115,000. We have some potential buyers lined up and wish to move this house quickly so we have some working capital to continue with.

Have some concerns about being able to assign the property. The Fannie Mae addendum states we can assign with permission of the seller, but do not know if this will be allowed. We may have to do a back-to-back closing using Coastal Funding since we do not have any other financial backing set up yet.

Will update after the visit to Steve, the RE attorney.

lawyers in NY can close in under 45 days. The best thing to do is to interview only RE lawyers who have some experience dealing with reo's, shortsales, ect...Ck in Craigs list under real estate services... and legalmatch.com

As common for most of us, I let life and its everyday trials get me off course for a bit of time. But I am back in the game and rearing to go!

Have the newest book and am about 1/2 way through it, and then will reread the others to refresh my mind. The time is right to make my start in real estate and I am not going to fail this time.

The property we had an accepted offer on last year (which then fell through since we didn't have the funds to lock it up) is once again on the market. Learning from last year's mistakes, I will get into it once again and see how our numbers will work and if it is worth making a second try at this one. I do not have much working capital, and the relatives all think I'm nuts (as usual)so no borrowing from them, so I may have to scrimp and save for enough to lock up the property.

There are others in my area that have been on the market for quite some time, but no longer show on MLS. Off to town hall to check out the records and maybe chat up the town workers there. Can never have too many friends or contacts in the right places!

Busy day today checking out a lot of details and will be meeting with someone tonight who may become the first on my buyer's list. Or perhaps someone I can borrow funds from??? Will see later tonight.

Finally took the plunge tonight and posted an ad on Craigs List for a real estate agent to be a part of my growing team. I used the questions in the book and personalized it for me and will now hope to get responses that I can follow up on.

I am a former Realtor myself and have decided that if I cannot find someone that will work with me and understand the DG way, then I may just retake the licensing test and find a broker to work under. I truly enjoyed the real estate market, but got out to pursue work with benefits and a steady paycheck. I may get myself relicensed and possibly be able to assist others in real estate transactions in RI and MA if I take that test too. A definite thought to keep in the back of my mind.

Have located several interesting properties, all of them REOs in my area which puts them within range to actually realize a profit. This week is for building the Buyer's List so I have that well on its way before making any offers on properties. Not having an end buyer in place is how we lost that deal last Spring. But the same property is once again on the market at the same price with the same listing agent, so maybe the second time around it will work better with a bit more knowledge under my belt.

Just one response to my posting on Craig's List, but he seems sincere and answered my questions briefly in the reply email. I have continued with my forward progress and made an appointment to meet him at the real estate office this upcoming Thursday.

Tomorrow is for getting the Buyer's List moving forward. I plan on posting another ad on Craig's List and will also contact some local "We Buy Houses" ads in my area.

Hi Kristin, mt name is Jean and I am also from RI. I live in Westerly and am looking for another DGer to work with. I saw that your family is not supportive so if your looking for someone to bounce ideas off let me know.

Great tip on the lending source Kristen! I will put that in my file.

Had a meeting this morning with an agent I found by placing an ad on Craig's List. Come to find out we had already met at a property last year, and he is a friend of a former co-worker of mine. Rhode Island is definitely a "Small World!" I liked him, he has no problem with placing low offers, is an investor himself, and has REO and short sale experience. Bingo!!!

He already sent me emails of the properties matching my current criteria only, which I like since I do not want to be bombarded with too many properties to weed through that I don't even want. And we are getting into the most interesting property Monday morning. Off to a great start and he also provided the name of his mortgage person to meet with.

Things are moving in the right direction for sure.

I am anxiously awaiting my 12:30 appt to view 3 properties today with my new agent. This will get me into a few properties and also be able to see how we work together. I am seeing a multi-family that would cash flow beautifully (depending on the inside...) and 2 single families in great towns in my area. One is a 2 bed/1 bath and the other is a 4 bed/1 bath that has been on the market for more than a year and all are REOs. There may be more to this one, but I will have a better idea where I stand later today.

I also called the mortgage broker that works with my agent and he gave me an appointment for tomorrow evening. Excellent response time with setting up the appt, and all done through email on a Sunday. I was impressed. My agent is quick with getting back to me too, so far at least, and I like that. As we all know, Time is of the Essence!

I also signed up with Roberts Credit Group to repair my credit and make me more attractive financially to those with funds when I want them. My first deal or two will probably be hard money loans, but I am keeping a very open mind for all possibilities. One of them will work for my situation.

Will update later today with my diagnosis of the properties.

Hello Kristine,

Five years ago I had this same problem with credit and worked with a company called the lexington law firm, goggle them. They brought my scores up a hundred points in six months. I then played the credit system from their and learned what drives the score up and/or down. I have fives years at this and it can be done. I was able to buy my first property with no money down and walked away with 1500. at closing.

One majoir thing with mortgage companies is revolving credit. Most preferred lenders want to see at least three revolving credit cards on report. Now I started with a fee credit card only 59.00 and once a year, which is al it took, and it helped me to move onto now having ten cards and with some excellent rewards with them! If you use things correctly, like don't spend what you can't pay off the next month and keep your ratio at 33% of your credit limit you will be fine. Good Luck, jennifer worthy

Thanks for the details Jennifer. I started last year with 2 small cards and added a secured credit card with a small balance that I have had for almost a year now. I don't charge too much and am trying to get the balances clear right now. Let's see how it all goes. My credit is not too horrible, but it can definitely use some help to improve.

I had tried posting this the other night, but my computer froze as I was trying to post and then couldn't get on all day yesterday. But working fine today.

Property 1 was the multi-family - 2 buildings on one lot with 2 apts in each. This is a definite keeper. Needs your basic paint and flooring, some appliances, and finishing work around doors and windows, but priced right and can make money. It has a 2/1, 3/1, and 2 6/1. This is in a great town with an excellent school system, and getting tenants should not be a problem at all, especially if we finish up the apartments with care and decent materials. Not looking to recreate the Taj Mahal, but it can be done right to appeal to renters (and I should know since I am one as we speak.)

Property 2 has been on the market for more than 600 days, and we certainly found out why. It is a single family 4/1 in the same town as the first with the river in front and a nice double lot. But inside is another story. I am short at 5'2" and I felt totally compressed in this house. The ceilings couldn't be more than a little over 6 feet and the rooms, except for the kitchen, were tiny. Someone went in and gutted all the plumbing so this would need to be a cash sale. But there wasn't much to work with. The upstairs bedrooms were under the eaves and I had to get on my knees to reach the built in bureaus. But this property has appeal if we can get the current price of lots in the neighborhood and possibly tear down the building. This is a newer subdivision with family homes rather packed in closely on 5000 sq ft lots and this is a double lot. So will check out that angle.

Property 3 is in the next town over, where I live, and is a 2/1 in the older part of town where I grew up. The lot is quite small but has been well taken care of and is actually quaint with nice brick walkways and mature landscaping that looks as well as it can in the dead of a New England winter. Inside it was actually livable with cosmetic improvements only. Some updating would improve the appeal but totally rentable as it was. The upstairs actually has 3 rooms but you must pass through one to get to the next so it doesn't count as a "real" bedroom. But someone with kids would be happy to use it as a bedroom for sure. Basement was dry too. A nice large screened in porch off the kitchen is an added bonus. This one is priced to move by the bank (since it is an REO) but I may not have the funds to do anything with it.

That's because what I do have is possibly going to be tied up...Met with the mortgage broker last night and he thinks he can have us a pre-approval letter by later today to put in an offer on the multi-family. My partner will actually live in the 3/1 making it owner-occupied. I am so excited and can't wait to see if everything goes through.

Sorry for the mini-novel but I had some catching up to do. For those still thinking of what to do next, all I can say is that is where I was most of last year. I decided to actually move my butt and make those calls and appointments and I am truly shocked at the progress I have already made. I didn't think there was a snowball's chance in h#ll that we would get an approval, but the deal is a money-maker and the rents will pay for the property with a conservative cash flow of $1000 monthly. Gotta love that. So get out there and talk to people and see where it may lead you.

Kristin

Well, don't count those chickens before they hatch is a great saying. The mortgage broker informed the agent and myself that their company cannot extend a mortgage to us based on credit. I was aware of what was in my report, but I do believe my partner has more on there that he hasn't been keeping up with. I have signed up with Roberts Credit Group to improve my score, but just did it this week and am waiting for the first set of reports to get to me. I am disappointed, but this is just one route. I may see if I can contact a hard money lender and go from there. Anyone recommend one in the New England area? (Rhode Island.)

No luck putting out a LendingTree request as recommended by my real estate agent. Wasn't expecting much there anyway. But I also contacted a web site that connects people with hard money lenders in their areas and am waiting to hopefully hear back from someone (anyone???)sooner rather than later. With money being an issue I may have to focus on bird-dogging and possibly assignments. I prefer the REOs right now since I don't really want to deal with folks losing their homes, but it may be the way I need to go to get some deals under my belt and some cash in the account. Working on the credit report with Roberts Credit Group will also be helpful.

My request to be contacted by hard money lenders only got me an email asking me to sign up for some website with access to real estate training. That is not what I'm looking for. Guess I will just need to locate individual HMLs and email them directly. I am also playing with the idea of trying to partner up with someone with funds to make a deal actually happen. But I am not sure how to structure this kind of deal and how it may play out in the future. Still thinking furiously about my options which seem to be very limited at this time. But I'm still working on it...

I see you're making some progress and taking Action. Don't forget you can birddog those properties as well and get a small fee from that. I am not sure about hard money lenders in your area. I do know many do a search on Craiglist for the we buy houses ads and that is one way to build your buyer's list. Take care and best of luck to you. Oh one thing I am planning on doing is to sell my current home (not much equity to rent out right now) and purchase a duplex and live in one side while renting out the other. Oh too don't forget FSBO, you don't need a letter to put in offers on those and you can assign them. I should take some of my own advice. I feel as though I do better telling other people what's possible instead of myself, haha.

Blessings to you,
You Go girl!
CAthy

I am so lucky to have joined up with another DGer here in my little state of RI. We met today and chatted for 2 hours and found we have a lot in common. Totally enjoyable and we may even find that we can help each other in the near future. She gave me plenty of great tips to help me along with my growing business, and I hope I shared with her too. Having someone one I can call and bounce ideas off of is just fantastic.

Spoke with the mortgage broker and he stated that he can definitely help me get into a property, using just my info. He does rapid rescores if needed, but I am having issues with job security since I am currently out on an injury claim. I visit the MD tomorrow and hopefully will have a better idea of where I stand.

Going to watch the first of my Empowering Conversations and may post again later this evening.

Congratulations on taking the first step with real estate investing. I ams sure you will have much success.

Thanks Build_assets. I am trying and that is all we can do to get moving. That Empowering Conversation with Jeremy Roberts was fantastic and makes me happy I already signed up with these folks to repair my credit score.

Who can believe that a bad credit score can cost you more per kilowatt hour for your electricity??? They want to make money anywhere they can, even at the cost of providing warmth and power for your family. Unreal!

Nothing definitive with today's MD visit, but I am still out of work and waiting for an appt to have a test for possible nerve damage in the wrist and hand. This leaves my current immediate future up in the air since I am considered without a "real" income, so a traditional mortgage is out of the question until after the next doctor visit. And even if she releases me to work, I am unable to return to my former position since that is how I injured my wrist in the first place. (I typed all day long - thank goodness for my speech recognition software!) So it would have to be a new position, and then I will not have time on the job to help with a mortgage app.

But I am looking at this as an opportunity to learn more and work on that credit score, and to research other ways to lock up properties. Going to look into bird-dogging to make some cash and then still trying to figure out if I can afford the Edge, and the Success Academy. And if I have to pick one, which one do I go with?

I have such a hard time getting up and moving in the morning and it is wasting so much of my valuable time that I could be putting to better use. Lounging in bed too lazy to get up is not accomplishing much. So I have made a plan to get up each day at 7:30 whether I want to or not and at least sit on the couch and boot up the computer to look at recent posts on the DG site or scan through Craigslist. At least I will be getting something done. Then I will try to actually get motivated enough to go to the gym...

Plans for today:
*Post ad on CL for bird-dogging.
*Get some cards made at Staples that will be ready for tomorrow night's REI meeting.
*Actually write out the buyers I already have on a set list.
*Make an action plan (Thanks Stacey and Joe!) to see what I have to do next.
*Try and locate someone to go to the Edge with - if anyone is interested in partnering up with me please PM me and I will get back to you. And it does not need to be someone in the New England area, man or woman is fine with me!

I attended my first meeting tonight and have to say that the presentation was great, but the people were not very friendly. We were welcomed when we came in and we stated that we were newbies to the meeting, but since the presentation went over the allotted time, the chance to introduce ourselves was passed over and when it came time to mingle for a few minutes, everyone who knew each other started chatting.

I waited next to a gentleman I had a question for, but although he looked at me, he continued his conversation with his colleague and I felt rather dumb just standing there, as though I was eavesdropping.

The only person I had a chance to chat with was a man late to the meeting who needed a space at the table, so I slid down to accomodate him. He gave me a great tip on using CL to get a private lender and I will give it a try tomorrow.

We did get a flyer about an opportunity to attend a hands-on seminar this Saturday with a pair of REI's from the meeting. They are rehabbing a home nearby and for $25 you can go with them through the home with a checklist of what to look for and the current estimated costs. It may be worth it for me.
Still looking forward to next month's meeting...

Kristin

I have decided to go to this event held at a property a pair of investors are preparing to renovate in RI. I hope to gain some insight into what to look for and how much it may cost. Here is the info on the flyer they passed out at the REI meeting Thursday night.

This meeting will be held at an actual property of theirs and will consist of a tour of the property and how to estimate the rehab of the property. This event will be a live, hands-on training of how to find, inspect, and flip a property. As a bonus all attendees will receive their proprietary rehab estimation guide as well as custom inspection checklist. If you are serious about building a real estate investment business you want to be at this event.

It was $25 if paid ahead online and $40 in person the day of the event. I am heading out and hope to learn a lot!

It pays to look at the flyer more closely! I thought it started at 11:30 and was ready to get my coffee and head over there, but it ran 10-11:30 and I missed it. Glad I didn't pay online.

No excuse, but I can try to blame my 9 year old son for taking a header off the top bunk last night around 1:30 because he decided to go down the ladder facing out and slipped with his socks on. Never thought such a skinny kid could make so much noise on a hardwood floor. But since he was 95% asleep, he whimpered for a bit and was fine. But I did make him sleep the rest of the night on an air mattress in the living room. Not much sleep for me last night after that!

He's fine today and spending the day with his sister at the zoo. I get the day to myself to do some research and drive around looking at properties. Also need to do research on buying a new laptop and leaning toward an Apple...