The Flipping Pad

Topic: Financing, Law and Taxes / Top 10 Investor Financing Mistakes

This is really interesting post, thanx for a lot. I consider making a small investment in the nearest future, but I am not sure about anything right now. I have no idea how to choose a right field of industry to invest with. It is just thing seems so unstable now, I do not want to take out instant loans (you see the link below) and then lose this money over being badly acknowledged with the financial side of questions. Your post answers many of my questions guys. I will try to follow all of your financial advices. If you possibly have some more tips, please share it with us

Topic: Introductions & General Chat / Cheap Homes at Pinecrest Florida Real Estate

Thanks for sharing!

Topic: Introductions & General Chat / Newbie here

Welcome… am also a newbie

Topic: Selling Talk / A Good Interior Designer is no longer a Luxury

Very well said…

Topic: Introductions & General Chat / Hi Everybody! Don't you love social networks?

hey, man! totally love social networking! ciao!

Topic: Beginners or Bird Dog / Dying to Flip, but Scared to make 1st Purchase on Long Island

check out the place, man. It’s always relaxing to have a good neighborhood. Good Luck!

Topic: Foreclosures and Pre-Foreclosures / A Tip For Investors To Sell Faster!

No wedding dresses are going to look attractive on you if you don’t lose a good XX pounds!

Topic: Introductions & General Chat / Cheap Homes at Pinecrest Florida Real Estate

The Village of Pinecrest is among the most desirable residential areas in South Florida. Located 20 minutes south of downtown Miami and Miami International Airport, Pinecrest encompasses just 8 square miles and is home to less than 20,000 residents.

Topic: Introductions & General Chat / Newbie here

hello Corrin.. I would like to welcome your here.. I hope you would enjoy your stay here as I did.. :)

Topic: Introductions & General Chat / Newbie here

I am new here. So happy and excited.

Topic: Flipping Pad / How do you put youtube videos on flipping pad?

I’m thinking of it as well.. even if this post is old.. but I’m very much willing to help.. think I’d have to search for ways on how to do that.. embedding videos..

Topic: Selling Talk / A Good Interior Designer is no longer a Luxury

They provide creative space solutions, liaison with your carpenter, plumber, contractor etc., save on precious time and stress.
Most of us dream of a house in Cochin that is right out of a designer manual. In case you secretly desire the same, we suggest you hire an interior designer. Interior Designers come in handy even if you want to simply revamp your available space and find yourself at loss when it comes to creativity.

Like it or not, interior designers, due to their training, are more professionally equipped to provide creative and technical solutions to your space problems, not to mention the knowledge and good advice on decorating your dream house in Cochin.
Not too long ago, interior designers were considered a luxury and their client base mostly came from hotels and restaurants. Today, however, things are different.
An interior designer reflects the needs of the client. The main challenge for an interior designer is to see how different textures, colours and furniture combinations would create the best ambience for your house. Interior designers must be able to understand the blueprints and they should be aware of the fire escapes of the building. Designers regularly have to work in close coordination with architects, electricians and building contractors to make sure that designs are safe and meet up all the construction necessities. That’s a lot of trouble saved in our fast paced lives.

Topic: Selling Talk / Guidelines and Advantages of Buying the Best Leadville Homes

If you have decides to buy a home in Cochin, there is no doubt that this is something that needs a lot of time to plan and organize for. Many hours are spent before one can finally settle on what they are looking for and the area that they want to live. There will be need for a lot of consultation and fact finding before one decides to settle for a particular location.
For people that are fervent about nature, the Leadville area gives this advantage. The homes for sale in Cochin also have the benefit of having all the advantages that also comes with living in a metropolitan area. The real estate business is also booming therefore, living there will make economic sense.
Many people usually have no idea where to begin to start looking for their dream home in Leadville. These people should not worry because the area has many realtors that have worked in the area for so long.

Topic: Introductions & General Chat / The right connection to list abroad

Dear All,

I hope I’m making proper use of this forum space.

I’m looking to connect with a real estate professional who is interested in listing properties from Costa Rica. We have quite a few properties available and I know that many people are looking to invest abroad with the right connections.

So if anyone can point me in the right direction for this endeavor, please write to me!

Topic: Beginners or Bird Dog / Kochi Real Estate

Some of the causes that can be attributed to the unexpected raise in the real estate in Kochi can be the low rate of interest offered by banks. The real estate business has not been affected much even during recession and even the prices were start to be quite stable. There was a very minimal drop in prices in 2010; from INR 3000 to INR 1900 but soon the rates were again at a rise of INR 5200 by 2012. The demand for property in both residential and commercial sector has been increasing so much so that it has exceeded the supply.

A variety of reasonably priced housing projects are also been launched in the city and along the borders, many developers have grabbed this opportunity as there is a lot of unused land accessible for purchasing.
The rentals in Kochi have been increasing since 2010; the rates have moved from INR 9000 to INR 15000 for a 3 BHK, the rates can go up if the house has a parking space and if it is close to the commercial area of Kochi.

Topic: Beginners or Bird Dog / INVESTING IN FORECLOSURE PROPERTIES

In today’s market, finding foreclosure homes is not difficult. Foreclosure homes in Cochin can be incredible business investments, especially if one is capable to find a house below market value then gain immediate equity upon achievement of the purchase.
Short sales do not present as much risk as other options; however, less return is gained. When a bank consents that the home owner may sell the home for a lesser amount than is owed to the bank by way of avoiding a foreclosure, the outcome is a short sale. In other words, lien holders agree to take a short payoff. One pessimistic feature of this kind of sale includes that buyers will have to tolerate waiting, and this sort of sale is usually not concluded for many months. Additionally, there is a likelihood the bank may not give approval in the end. Estimates show that one out of three short sales close. Those that do not close typically end up in auction.
At public trustee or sheriff auctions, the bank bids less than is owed. This allows the depositor to obtain a property at far less than market value, leading to high profit margins. These sales typically can be flipped at market value. Buyers have to be able to purchase in cash, having certified funds on hand for the entire amount of the property. The day before the auction, bids by the mortgage holder are posted. This allows a short time frame to study the property.

Topic: Beginners or Bird Dog / Commercial Real Estate's Perfect Storm: What Lies Ahead?

For the last few years we’ve enjoyed a perfect storm in commercial real estate. There has been a simultaneous occurrence of stabilizing rents, improving fundamentals, and really, really cheap money. The commercial real estate in India remains strong, although not as great as it has been in the last few years. Since late 2001, revenues have steadily increased, with investors pouring more money into the sector.
The commercial real estate market has been on a tear in the last few years. Banks, insurance companies and institutional investors funneled money into the market because its returns, in an environment of low interest rates, exceeded those of alternative asset classes. This segment of the broader real estate market typically includes office, retail, multifamily and industrial properties.

Topic: Beginners or Bird Dog / Is Commercial Property Still a Good Investment?

These are wonderful times for commercial real estate investors. Having fallen into a deep slouch with the ending of the Internet boom, the market has come surging back.
Over the past few months, a number of main institutional and private investors have been selling off large mass of their collection of prime commercial real estate. These investors, which include Calpers have been taking advantage of what they see as a frothy market. They are putting the sale proceeds into less pricey real estate or into other assets entirely.
To be sure, for every seller there is a buyer, and other investors have hurried forward to buy these properties, often at record prices. But as the consensus builds that the housing market has become seriously overvalued, some are asking whether the same might be true of commercial property. The answer matters not just to the individual and institutional investors who are committing ever-greater sums to real estate, but also to the growing number of companies who are using their valuable property to obtain cheap financing.

Topic: Beginners or Bird Dog / Outdoor Living

Before the discovery of the telephone, air conditioning and television – and heirs: cell phones, smart wiring and the Internet – when a person would walk to where they wanted to go, porches give a place for leisure and entertaining much different than today. Aside from a school dance or church social, porches were institutions for community togetherness. Now you can see these porches in house in Cochin. However, with the post-World War II rise of soda shops, backyard barbecues and widespread media came the refuse of porch parties, as they were known.
In the past few years, people have back to spending more of their relaxation time at home with their family and friends, taking their once personal backyard functions around to the front, reconnecting with their community and re-establishing that neighborly conduct they witnessed or heard about as a child. Of course, some communities will be a witness to never losing this friendship, because they exist in mostly rural areas or are derived from a population whose families have spent generations in one neighborhood.

Topic: Wholesaling / Are You Interested In Ohio Wholesale Properties

Hello my name is John Glover and I have some of the best deals on wholesale properties in NW Ohio.

If you’re interested please visit my site at http://toledoinvestmentdeals.com

Thanks and happy investing.

Topic: Introductions & General Chat / Hello Flipping Pad Members

I’m a former General Motors employee who has been a full time real estate investor in NW Ohio since 2007, specializing in Wholesales, Subject 2’s, Rehab flips, working with Private Lenders and web based marketing.

Looking to connect and network with others.

Topic: Selling Talk / 25 Ways To Find Motivated Sellers

I’m Giving Away My Ebook For FREE
“25 Ways To Find Motivated Sellers”
http://toledoinvestmentdeals.com/ebooks/

Topic: Introductions & General Chat / New Website

Hello Flipping Pad Bloggers! We just got a new site on the web. Check it out and give me your thoughts. www.sandiegorentalpropertymanagement.com

Topic: Other Stuff! / The Reality of US Property Management...Part 2

As promised here is the 2nd posting of The Real Truth in PM.

This posting will focus on marketing, and more specifically the strategies followed by almost all companies, as discovered during my research/investigations.

In a city where over 40% of 2.2MM residents are actually renting, it’s a little hard to wrap your head around the idea that your property is actually vacant. When you read the following message, you will probably understand it a little more. It’s not that there are no renters, or even enough qualified renters, what I have found is the fact that the properties are just not being marketed correctly.

Please read on!

When marketing a property for rent, what I have found is almost all companies operate with the exact same strategies. In my experience, most company executives know that business does evolve, and you should as well if you want to maintain success. What I am seeing is the exact opposite of this, they are not evolving at all, they are relying on the same techniques of a different era, where gas prices and the economy was considerably better than now.

Their strategies are as follows:

1. Sign In Yard – BAD BAD BAD IDEA! Why? I’m glad you asked! The issue with signs in yard is the fact that gas prices in my city are hovering around $3.50-$3.60 per gallon. So if the average vehicle can hold 15 gallons of fuel, that is around $50 or so for a tank of gas. Now this may or may not seem like alot of money to most of us, but I can assure you that it might as well be 1 million dollars to most tenants. These tenants usually put $10-20 in their cars at one time, they DO NOT drive neighborhood’s just looking for their next rental home. In fact, my exit polls with tenants have discovered less than 15% of tenants use this method. Those that have answered that they found the property by a sign in the yard, was only because they happen to be on the street.
The other major issue with a sign in the yard, it advertises your property as in FACT being vacant, and invites break ins!! I see this time and time again, rental houses with yard signs, having their front/back doors being kicked in. It’s just a bad idea!

2. Craigslist Posting – Before someone yells at me, I strongly support CL ads, when they are done correctly! What do I mean by this? When posting rental properties on CL, you have to run that ad, no less than 3x per day, if you want it to gain momentum. The very reason we post on CL (millions of users), is the very reason it can defeat your intentions. The average ad takes 15-20 minutes to go live on CL, in a section like Apts/Housing For Rent, you will literally have 1000s of post every day. What happens to your ad is quite simple, it goes live, and within 30 minutes it is buried on Page ___! To properly use CL, you must fully understand how CL works, this means creating intelligent ads that CL will not FLAG, and a good understanding of marketing. How do you get your house to stand out among a 1000 others?

3. NON Employee Leasing Agents – This is just a terrible idea! You can bet, if your company is using this method, and many many companies, in fact, utilize this strategy almost exclusively. Here is the only problem you need to know about this. I can promise you and almost guarantee you, there will be absolutely no background checks run on those tenants.

Here is how this strategy plays out. Most independent leasing agents, will charge anywhere from $350-500 per tenant. If your property is renting in the $600-800 range, and your agreement calls for 75% or even 100% of the 1st month’s rent, who is going to pay for the background check? You can bet not the leasing agent, and the company will not be happy with $100-$300 to place a tenant, this drastically cuts into their profits. So to reduce this number by another $30-100, just not going to happen. A thorough background check should cost around $30-50 per adult! And they should be pulling a background check on ALL adults!

Now for facts!

60+% of current tenants DO NOT have consistent access to the internet! They simply cannot afford it.
80+% of current tenants DO NOT and WILL NOT drive area’s looking for their next home! This used to be the norm, but gas prices have changed all of that! It’s time to evolve!
Over 95% of tenants literally live check to check, extra money is out of the question! Why do I bring this up? To help their bottom line, all companies I researched, charge anywhere from $20-40 for an application fee! What’s wrong with this? It’s really about economics, the very tenants that cannot afford to pay any extra money for an application fee, that they stand a 50% chance of being denied, will just look for those companies that DO NOT charge for applications! ME!!! What does this mean for me and my clients? I see considerably more applications per property than any other company, as they say safety in numbers! I choose from an average of 12 tenants per property, instead of 1 or 2, which odds do you like better?

There are companies that have connections with Section 8, and are allowed to market within the Housing Authority. I have no issue with Section 8, as long as you do a background check, and a very very thorough previous landlord interview. I won’t post the story here, but if you all would like to see why this is important, visit my website and read the story of a Section 8 tenant!

All companies I investigated DO NOT run any checks on Section 8 tenants, this is simply foolish! It may be guaranteed rent, but IT IS NOT guaranteed good tenant, major difference.

To summarize:

Make sure your company is in fact evolving with the times, this economy has changed the way ALOT of us conduct business. You can bet if it’s effecting our bottom line, it’s killing the tenants. Your company should be savvy enough to detect this and make changes where necessary.

NO SIGNS IN YARD! They simply are not as effective, and they cause more problems than it’s worth.

CL Posting – Consistency ,Consistency is the key! Learn CL, so that you can manipulate the results. For example, I use video links in my ads of the properties. Why? It creates an automatic counter for me, I can see actual results of my ads, and not have to guess on their effectiveness. This is marketing!

Independent Leasing Agents. Just a bad idea PERIOD!!

I want to thank those of you that have read my previous post, and this one! I hope this information will help all of you experience a better opportunity, in any market. These methods are tried and true, and backed up with actual data from tenants!

Topic: Other Stuff! / The Reality of US Property Management..Part 1

I am often approached by investors from all over, not just the US, that have invested in properties in Kansas City. The common problem that seems to concern them is property management. I would really like to say that it’s just a misunderstanding or lack of communication that leads to these problems, but unfortunately in most cases this is just not what is happening.

I have been managing properties on an exclusive level for over 4 years, and usually only managed those properties that my company was involved with every step of the way. I found this to be the most productive way at maintaining a professional approach with my clients. I currently manage just over 80 properties and just don’t have many problems with the tenants or the properties. I decided to do some undercover work to find out exactly what is going on with property managers and why they are unable to find qualified tenants in a market that is full of renters.

Please keep in mind, this research was conducted over a 2 year period and consisted of data found primarily in the Kansas City market only, though I did ask some of the same questions to clients that have properties in other locations, to see if this was being followed in other markets.
I am in no way, saying this is the rule for all markets, as I am confident that not every property management company operates with this amount of incompetence.

What I will post over the next few weeks is data that has been recovered over this 2 year investigation in to what is wrong with property management companies, and why they struggle to perform.

The first topic discussed is the placement of tenants.

What my research has made ever so obvious is that most PM see this business strictly as a numbers game, now this might sound like a statement of the obvious, until you read deeper. When you consider most PM’s charge anywhere from 0-100% of the first month’s rent to “place” a tenant, and then anywhere from 7-10% of the monthly collected rents after that, you can begin to see where the problem lies.

If your paying for office space, internet service, office supplies, insurance, gas, marketing and of course employees and your “net” gain on an average rent of $700 monthly is around $60, you can clearly see the need for ALOT of properties to pay these expenses. Since its more profitable to “place” the tenants than it is to collect the monthly rents, the background checks ran on most tenants are just non existent, due to the cost. The end result of this of course, is more often than not you are getting a very questionable tenant and most likely will result in an eviction within the first 3 months or so, obviously not the goal.

I found thru investigations, that most, if not all KC property managers were either NOT running a background check of any kind, or only focusing their search at a LOCAL level. This is just not a good idea, tenants move from one city to another with no regards to financial intelligence. They usually have family or friends in that town, thus you could run a local search on a tenant and find absolutely nothing wrong. If you were to run them nationally, you would see a whole different picture. The problem here of course is it takes money to get a nationwide criminal check, where as most states now have their court system online and are either free of charge or cost very little. I can run a search for all of Missouri for free, where as if I run for the State of Kansas it costs me a dollar per report. The problem here is of course, if they have never been to court in Missouri or Kansas, then its not going to tell you all you need to know.

Insist on a nationwide criminal check!

Just as shocking as electing to ONLY run a local criminal check, is the fact most didn’t even pull a credit report. This one stunned me, as there is information on the credit report that is very valuable in the decision to rent to a tenant or not. The credit score is one thing, but more importantly is what is on there to bring that score. If your renting to someone that has judgements from the utility companies, guess what this means for you, either you will pay the bill sooner than later, or your going to get a call from your PM saying that the tenants never got the heat turned on and now you have a swimming pool in your basement or living room(if no basement), and you will need to wire 10K for repairs. The other issue is if your renting to someone with a judgement for child support, their freedom could be over anytime. It’s likely they have a warrant for their arrest if they are not paying their child support, and that means an eviction if they get caught and hauled off to jail. These are not that rare at all, especially the utility judgements, I see them quite often.

The last topic for now will be the decision to place, and well you will see is the shortest explanation as found in the investigation.
This probably shocked me more than anything. My research found that most companies make a decision to rent to a tenant based on 3 factors. 1. No evictions ( Thats good) 2. Verifiable Income ( Keep in mind, no mention of the source of this income, I will explain in a bit) 3. Verification of Employment and Rental Reference. What could be wrong with that? Let me explain if you will.

If you are basing your decisions on nothing more than those topics, here is where you will run into trouble.

1. No evictions - well that’s great, but what else is there if anything. Have they been arrested for drugs, inappropriate relations with a child or any other serious crime. Again if you are only running local searches this information might not be available, but you better know it or you could end up in a legal struggle for your property if ceased for drug use, law suits for moving in an offender, or thousands in repairs for someone “running” with the wrong crowd.

2. Verifiable Income – Great! But what is the source? If its unemployment, you better not accept it, it WILL expire and usually its 27 weeks, don’t bank on it being renewed, as this is not a given. If it’s SSI or some other government benefit, better confirm it’s renewable and just not a one time occurence for the year. Is there a ratio being applied to the rent vs income? You better be asking for a no less than 2x the rent, or you are in the “gray” zone with that tenant. It could come down to them making a decision to stay warm or pay the rent, most often they will pay your rent, get the gas turned off and freeze up your plumbing, then bail when the water lines break causing you thousands in repairs. Ideally you would want to see 2.5 times the rent in verifiable and reliable income.
The other NO-NO in income is personal day care, first off it’s just a law suit waiting to happen in your home, the 2nd is if this tenant is moving more than 5 miles away, most of her current clients are not going to follow her, as they can find someone considerably closer, thus leaving your NEW tenant with no income. Just a bad idea all around.

3. Verification of Rental & Employment References – Again all good. But here is what I found, their rental reference usually only went back to their current landlord. Are you joking me? When questioned what they were asking, it usually came down to these few quesitons:
a. Are they leaving on their own terms?
b. Did they pay their rents on time?
c. Would you rent to them again?
Hardly a professional interview. And why only the most recent landlord? You need to go back at least 3 and preferably 5, to see if there is some pattern being exposed. Are they tidy tenants? Did they tear the house up? How often were they late? Any problems with the police visiting? Anything else I need to know?

Verifying employment is a pretty straight forward process, but most PM’s were only going back 1 year, again WHY? If they are job jumpers, this almost always leads to an eviction (unless of course they are in school, then this is pretty common as their class schedules change like the weather). Why so many jobs? Do they have a career path laid out? What is their average time on any one job?

To summarize this posting.
1. Insist on nationwide criminal checks
2. Insist on credit reports ( not just 1, but all 3)
3. Place restrictions on the Income ratio, and actually perform professional interviews from landlords, and not just 1 or 2.