Posted by David G on May 13, 2011 at 20:11:41:
Banks make me barf. Ignorant fools.
Most are as stupid as most lawyers are evil.
Where Has Everyone Gone? - Posted by FrankIL
Posted by FrankIL on May 11, 2011 at 11:03:43:
There’s been a lot of changes in RE the past several years and even with this site. A few years ago I would make a post and by end of the day there were hundreds of others. Lots of great discussions and knowledge sharing. Of course those were also the days when anybody could buy a house if they had a job and many speculators made a killing in areas like Las Vegas, Phoenix, Florida, etc. Even my local investors group which would recycle the well-known gurus every couple years suddenly had no name speakers coming in with their success stories and courses to sell. Some were good, others not so much. We had one foreclosure ‘expert’ speak to us that had only been in the business 1.5 years. The guy made some bucks on foreclosures, but enough to be selling $800 courses. The material not surprisingly wasn’t as seasoned as the Joe Kaiser and other types who have been doing this for decades.
Now fast forward to today. The no name gurus are pretty much gone - I haven’t seen one at my investor club the past year and the longtime gurus are still going and making their rounds every 1-2 years at our club. But sadly, there has also been a correction on this site too as the number of posters had declined considerably and there is much less activity here - especially on the Main Forum. I hope we can get that back up again.
Re: Where Has Everyone Gone? - Posted by Chris in FL
Posted by Chris in FL on May 12, 2011 at 07:10:45:
Not sure about other areas of the country, but in Central FL this is the perfect RE investor environment. Competition has been thinned out (used to be every Tom, Dick, and Harry was trying their hand at RE), so good deals are much easier to find. Used to be a house hit MLS and had 20 offers on the first day (even at full price). Now only the very best deals get multiple offers. Cash flow was dead because of high prices - now it is easily the best I have seen in my 13 years. I know a handful of active investors that had their best year in 2010 (myself included), and are on track to do even better in 2011. I have one particular friend that told me in MARCH that he had already surpassed his income for any prior ENTIRE YEAR! Good times aren’t coming back - they are here and better than ever - if you do it right! Also, of the guys I know that are doing great, I buy and hold, one flips, and another wholesales (it all works, NOW)! Please, please, let everyone stay gone! All I need is another year or two of this, and I will be set for life (I bought 10 properties in the past 13 months, bringing me to almost 30, and the more the merrier, but even just 10-20 more should make life very comfortable in the near future)! Buying with 6-8 year mortgages from a private lender, and these SFRs still break even, plus in 5 years they start being paid for at a pace of almost 1/month! “Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty Momma”! Yeah!
Best wishes,
Chris in FL
Re: New Reality - Posted by Woody
Posted by Woody on May 11, 2011 at 11:59:40:
Let?s face it we are in the new reality. Waiting for those good old days to return, well, they?re gone and not coming back again like that decade. It was a false RE economy anyway and could only collapse of its own wait.
So, in away the good thing it has clean house and most of the “true” investors have survived. Even many of the well known gurus are behind in today’s market. A few are updating and understand that high debt leveraging is death, and no longer can one say that real estate never drops in price only goes up. The RE market has been raped and its wealth ripped off.
It will come back slowly, and I predict for what it?s worth, it will be more like pre-boom days. The Re market is tied to the realities of the economy now.
Re: Where Has Everyone Gone? - Posted by FrankIL
Posted by FrankIL on May 12, 2011 at 08:55:07:
Congrats on your success. I agree the market is great for investing now. I should have been more clear in my original post. The ‘good times’ I miss were on the board here - with lots of posts and information sharing. It seems dead around here lately - as obviously the tire kickers have all left. But I enjoyed the discussions, and even the ones where people messed up so I could learn from their mistakes.
Re: Where Has Everyone Gone? - Posted by Woody
Posted by Woody on May 12, 2011 at 08:44:24:
Nice Chris! Your right the deals are out there a bunch of them for sure. If I understand, you buy and hold and should have many of your properties paid off in 5 to 6 years. Very nice.
You are leveraging debt with a private lender and breaking even today with payoff in a few years. Then off to the Bahamas 
Love it!
How much cash are you needing to come up with for these deals with a private lender? And how are you generating cash to buy? maybe other types of RE deals?
Re: Where Has Everyone Gone? - Posted by John
Posted by John on May 14, 2011 at 24:33:02:
I warned this board 6 years ago, but no one listened. Maybe some did. Now my dad’s dead. Send him some email. It’ll never be seen.
Re: Where Has Everyone Gone? - Posted by Chris in FL
Posted by Chris in FL on May 12, 2011 at 17:06:36:
I started off with some free and clear properties (been buying rentals since 1998). Private lender gave me mortgages against free and clear houses, and I used to go pay cash for deals. Once cleaned up and repaired, he loans against some of the ones I am buying. Some he is loaning almost all of the purchase and rehab; some I have a few thousand in, or as much as $10K. Just depends how much he likes the property compared to the price I bought and repaired it for. Still, because I borrowed from him in the first place (against my free and clear properties), even some of what I put into a deal might be money he loaned me (round about way). I figure my cash flow based on borrowing the whole purchase and repairs. I have to buy properties that cash flow in 6-8 years, so I have to really buy right, and mostly working class neighborhoods. I would love to find a lender with longer terms, so I could pick up a few nicer homes… I pay 8-9% interest, and never miss a payment. Very win-win for my and my lender!
Best wishes,
Chris in FL
Re: Where Has Everyone Gone? - Posted by Woody
Posted by Woody on May 12, 2011 at 19:20:26:
Nice Chris, thanks for sharing.
I do transaction RE investing now (assignments & options). In the past bought rentals in the late 90s. I am wanting to get back into buy & hold, maybe rehab and hold. Just not sure about financing & debt these days.
Good Luck to you.
Small Comm’l Banker - Posted by JOB
Posted by JOB on May 12, 2011 at 17:44:47:
You should go talk to several comm’l bankers at small to medium sized banks. The ones that KEEP their own loans, a portfolio lender. With your track record of buying for 13 yrs and record of payment history, you should be able to garner some attention from the bankers. Unless your credit is trashed, and in that case it could be a deal breaker.
If you are “bankable”, meaning you can qualify for credit with a 660+ credit score and the equity and cash flow that you have, again along with your track record, this shouldn’t be that tough to get 7.5% 20 or 25 yr amortization on a comm’l mtg. It may even be a 3 or 5 yr arm, but who cares if you can get the funds. Keep the LTV low, like 60-65% and it all should work. Good look. JOB
Re: Small Comm’l Banker - Posted by Chris in FL
Posted by Chris in FL on May 12, 2011 at 20:02:19:
Job,
Thanks. I will have to try again soon, to see if things have changed any, but I suspect I won’t have any luck until after 8 years when a bunch of mortgages get paid off (at which point I may not want to buy any more). I tried everyone under the sun 2-3 years ago, and nobody would consider me because of my debt ratios (too many mortgages/too much debt). Plus, the private lender mortgages I am doing now make my debt ratios even worse. My credit score is usually over 700, but they didn’t care. I told multiple lenders that my debt ratios were high, explained the situation, and they said “oh yeah, that will work fine, let’s do it”. Then, the second they run all of the numbers, “sorry, but your debt ratio is too high”. My thought: well, thanks for wasting my time - I already told you about that! I even tried the commercial side with a few, including credit unions, and got the same response. I was able to use credit cards to buy a couple houses after that (which the banks really hated!), and then a loan on my free and clear truck, but that was the end of what the banks/institutions would do… Get this: they wouldn’t loan me 50% on real estate, but they loaned me 80-90% of the value of my truck! Crazy! That is when I started searching for private funds, and eventually found the guy I am using now. Anyhow, I find a way to get it done, and I always will!
Best wishes,
Chris in FL
Best wishes,
Chris in FL