It’s hard to get started in real estate-based investing. You have to raise capital, form a business entity, find property or loan opportunities, find lenders, find contractors, find real estate agents, negotiate prices, and on and on. Where to begin or how to scale up can be confusing. It’s hard to figure out where to turn.
The Institute Announces New Programs Read More »
If you’ve ever searched for homes on line, you know the feeling of looking at the interior pictures of a property and falling in love with it, but when you pull up to the property itself, you cringe. First impressions mean a great deal. You can spend all you want on updating a property, but if the outside looks like the Munster’s home, you can be losing potential buyers before they even get through the front door.
First Impressions Mean A Lot Read More »
It’s standard practice within the note industry to obtain a Broker’s Price Opinion, or BPO, to place a value on a property within an investor’s portfolio. When selling a note, it is expected from buyers that a BPO will be in the offering package, but how accurate are BPOs and do they add value to an investor when making a decision on buying a loan?
The 4 Ways that Lenders Make Money Read More »
It’s standard practice within the note industry to obtain a Broker’s Price Opinion, or BPO, to place a value on a property within an investor’s portfolio. When selling a note, it is expected from buyers that a BPO will be in the offering package, but how accurate are BPOs and do they add value to an investor when making a decision on buying a loan?
BPOs and Property Condition Reports Read More »
Many, if not most people, dream of building financial independence through real estate investment. The vast majority of people that want to start investing don’t have enough money in the coffers to buy their first property outright. Banks usually aren’t willing to finance a fix-n-flipper or, as one banker put it, “a rental jockey.” Hard money is usually where people turn to start building their dream, but what is the impact of borrowing on real estate investments?
The Good and Bad of Leverage Read More »
A borrower with weaker credit asked a question about getting a business line of credit where the bank required someone be added to the loan as a “co-signer”. The questioner stated that the bank is requiring the co-signer to be added to the borrowing entity…something that the questioner wasn’t sure if he wanted to do. Here was our response…
Business Loan “C0-Signers” Read More »
I just returned from speaking at IMN’s East Coast NPLs, Notes, and Default Servicing Forum in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and my mind is racing. It’s always a treat to hear what other fund managers, servicers, and investors are seeing in the marketplace. Whenever I come back from these conferences, I tend to by energized by the possibilities.
The Institute’s own Doug Smith will be speaking this week at IMN’s “NPLs, Notes, and Default Servicing Forum” at the Ritz Carlton in Fort Lauderdale Florida on Monday, February 10th and Tuesday, February 11th. IMN is excited to return to Fort Lauderdale, Florida on February 10-11, for our next NPLs, Notes & Default Servicing Forum.
Doug Smith Speaks at IMN Conference Read More »
You’ve just starting look for properties and you find a real estate agent that is willing to work with you, but they produce an exclusivity agreement that prohibits you from working with other agents. Is that something that is normal? Does every agent ask you to sign this kind of agreement?
Exclusivity Agreements and Real Estate Agents Read More »
It seems that it is becoming more and more difficult to find great properties to purchase to flip or rehab and rent. Anything that hits the MLS that is priced appropriately seems to fly off to an investor. If you are struggling to find properties to purchase, you are not alone. It’s the times we live in.
5 Tips to Dealing With Wholesalers Read More »
If you are not familiar with purchasing commercial property, such as retail centers, office buildings, and multi-family buildings, then you probably aren’t sure how professionals place a value on these properties.
Buying foreclosure homes at auction can be one of the most frustrating things that you do as an investor. It can also be very lucrative. The foreclosure laws are very different in each state. We’ve purchased most of our foreclosure homes…
Jane (not her real name) purchased a nonperforming loan where the borrower had not paid in years. She purchased it for a huge discount from the collateral value and immediately had her servicer try to work through the collection waterfall (see our previous article). When they got to the point of foreclosing, however, they learned that it was too late to foreclose on the property. How could this be?
Uncollectible Notes Read More »
Collecting on a delinquent consumer mortgage loan has changed dramatically in the last several years. Gone are the days of the Wild West where you could collect on a loan in pretty much any legal way you want. Unless you follow these steps, you can find yourself and your company in a world of trouble.
Perhaps the biggest single expense that will make or break a real estate investment is the roof. Can you let it slide with what is currently on the house or do you have to replace it? That’s a very good question. The answer is quite simple…it depends.
To Roof or Not to Roof? Read More »
One of the hardest parts of making a loan decision is determining the true cash flow situation for a self-employed borrower. If you lend money to borrowers, chances are that those borrowers are commercial in nature as consumer lending laws and considerably more stringent. That means that in most situations, you’ll be working with self-employed borrowers. Our members-only area has classes on cash flowing self-employed borrowers, but we wanted to focus on one area that can really throw a lender a curve ball…extraordinary events.
Lending, Cash Flow, and Extraordinary Events Read More »
It all comes down to modeling. No, I’m not talking about walking down the runway in a ball gown…I’m talking about putting together a spreadsheet that allows you to enter a handful of variables like purchase price, renovation budget, closing costs, and other costs that we have historically encountered on our deals.
You Should Start Modeling Read More »
If you’re new to the fix-n-flip or rental world, the question of where to get your cabinets, flooring, fixtures, and other materials to make a silk purse from a sow’s ear is one that will make you lose sleep. Don’t worry. In this short article, we’ll tell you how we do it.
Where Does an Investor Buy Materials for their Properties? Read More »
Generally, homes with repaired sink holes generally are safe, but further settlement can occur. The biggest issue with a home that has had settlement and sink hole issues in the past are…
Buying Sink Hole Properties Read More »
John (not his real name, but we’ll use John for this story) was referred to me by an attorney because he had gotten himself in a bit of a pickle. It seems that John had purchased homes in his local foreclosure auction for incredibly low prices only to find out that the homes were still subject to mortgages. How could this be? Doesn’t foreclosure wipe out subordinate liens?
Subordinate Liens at Auction Read More »
One of the newest trends in real estate investing is building single and multi-family homes for the purpose of putting them in a rental portfolio. There are many reasons why now might just be the time to jump in on this trend.
The Next New Thing…Build-to-Rent Read More »
Have you ever walked into a bank branch to borrow money in the name of your LLC only to be told that they don’t do that type of lending. Unfortunately, that is a regular scenario that pays out all across our country. Luckily, that is not necessarily true. There are secrets that most branch bankers don’t know. We’re going to share those with you right now.
Borrowing in the Name of an LLC through a Bank Read More »
So your friend is struggling to make her mortgage payments and you would like to buy the loan off of her lender at a discount. How did that go for you? Let me guess, they quoted you the payoff on the loan including back interest and fees with no discount. There is a reason for that.
Buying Out a Loan for a Discount Read More »
It can be quite confusing when you see a big valuation difference between the value that the tax assessor places on a property and the value that a consumer site like Zillow places on a property. Fortunately, there is a way to figure out what the approximate true value of the property is without hiring an appraiser.
Zillow Zestimates, Tax Assessments, and True Values Read More »
If you’ve been looking into commercial property investing, I am sure you’ve spotted the terms “Net”, “Triple Net”, and “Gross” at some point. It’s all very confusing. What do these terms mean?
Net and Gross Leases Read More »
