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Hi all; I hope everyone is well and ready for a good Thanksgiving holiday (soon)! I have read everyone's opinion's on sending out documents. I had another "can you send the docs for my attorney to review?" line. I of course will not do that. However, I know some on the posts watermark their docs and fax them to the seller. How does one do that? Is there a simple way to do so? Thanks for any tips! Eric

Hey Bill Thanks so much! I appreciate the help. Eric

Hi all I am partnering with a friend to buy a home for a rental. We were going to form an LLC to put it in. Does anyone have some examples of partnership operating agreements that I could use and tweak? I know that document has to cover all the contingencies (what happens if . . ., exit strategies, and so on). I would appreciate any help. Thanks! Eric

Here's what I would do and have done. Again, this is for a CA, which doesn't really matter, but just letting you know. I tell the agent, that I can pay them a fee of $1k (or if the numbers work the first months payment which is what they would get on a straight lease) and we can normally turn the deal within 45 days or so so they would get paid fairly quickly. If they want a commission when it sells, that's between them and the owner. I'd also tell them "Hey, if you have listings that you just can't get action on, let's partner up here and I bet I can at least get you some fairly quick money since I can get you the first month's payment which is what you would get on a lease anyway, except this way you don't even have to do anything" John; Thank you so much for your comments and advice! You are always willing to share and we all appreciate it! I understand what you have done. On the flip side, how do you deal with buyers agents offering to bring a buyer for your houses? Just curious as to how to work the numbers, etc. (ie bump up the price to compensate for the fee, or whatever if it is one you have alone, or leave it up to the seller if it is a listed property). Thanks again! Eric

Hi all; I hope everyone is having a great summer and that business is good! I know there have been some threads about this but I wanted to compile all the answers to find the best solution: What is the best way to work with realtors on listed properties? I don't see how to do the Wendy Patton approach (splitting up the option fee etc, as she states she gets 5-10K option fees, etc. I am lucky to get 3-4k from buyers, and the owners always want some, etc. not much to spread around). I understand some leave it to the seller and see what they have worked out. Some will pay some (say 1k upfront) and let the realtor double dip on commissions when it closes in 12 months or so. However, how do you adjust price? Do you knock the price up to cover our fee and their commissions? Will realtors do this? I know John Jackson only markets to listed properties; I just want a uniform approach to offer the realtors and owners. I appreciate any help and suggestions! Thanks! Eric

Hi all I hope everyone is doing well! I was wondering if there was any way to get expired listings other than from the MLS. I am not a realtor and the ones I know haven't been able or willing to help out. I will renew my efforts there and didn't think there was another way but am open to suggestions. On the same topic, has anyone been successful sending postcards or other diret mail to FSBO's or listed properties with a lease purchase type of message? I know John Jackson does this but I don't have a good template to use and have thus far avoided listed houses for the same reason MC does. Anyone willing to share some messages or ideas on this? Thanks so much and enjoy the rest of summer! Eric

Hello everyone; I was playing around with a new (new to me anyway) site for capturing leads, ie a squeeze page. Also good for email campaigns. All of you tech savvy guys and gals are probably ahead of me but check out www.mailchimp.com. Free for lower volume usage and seems pretty easy to use. I just started playing around with it; have fun! Happy investing all! Eric

Welcome to my world! Hi Ray, Yeah, speaking for myself, Craigslist is such a big disappointment these days.. I've even heard rumors they're gonna be bought out. I think the mistake they made was to allow people to flag other people.. that's stupid in my opinion because that's what started all the issues to begin with. Anyway, aside from the obvious, here are some overlooked methods that works good for REI and any Biz for that matter. The first one is Yahoo Profile which can be used to share your updates (houses you have available, etc) Include a link to your information so all your Yahoo friends can see your updates automatically. Make sure and use 2 different Yahoo email addresses. One for Searching for FRBO / FSBO and the other for getting T/Bs Use the appropriate email address to communicate with each of your T/B or FRBO/FSBO. This way you can add them to your Yahoo Profile's friend list and keep them updated. http://profiles.yahoo.com/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo Chat-rooms is another good source (or any chat where they have local chats) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One of my favorites is YAHOO Groups! They are local or you can choose ANY city u want. Do a search for your local Yahoo Groups dealing with houses for rent or for sale by owner, free classifieds, real estate, housing, etc. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- But we all know the power is in the "YAHOO! Answers" section..if u participate there daily, (correctly) I can almost guarantee you'll get a deal. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I know I've been saying this for years but MySpace and FaceBook are excellent for both T/B and FRBO/FSBO MySpace has a free and powerful classified & forum section. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here are other similar social sites (with high PR) that also works well and are free www.bebo.com http://www.mybloglog.com/ www.livejournal.com www.multiply.com http://my.opera.com/community/ www.slashdot.org http://www.meetup.com/ ( I LOVE THIS ONE) http://www.yelp.com/ www.secondlife.com www.43things.com www.ryze.com And a gazillion others..... This should help a bit, BEV! Bev; Great post! I was unaware of those sites; I will have to check them out. I have not used myspace and mainly use FB to network with other investors, not with sellers and buyers. Same with yahoo; how do you go about doing this? Thanks again and take care. Eric

Hi all; I hope everyone is doing well! I was curious if anyone has changed how they do things in the contracts with the new HUD rules. I read that they are only allowing 3% seller concessions instead of 6%. This would decrease the amount we could offer (option payment and rent credits, which usually are applied towards the price, or to seller concessions, preferred by a lot of lenders). Of course, the owner financing rules will likely effect a lot of things for those who buy with owner financing, and sell with owner financing. I would love to hear what all the sages of the business think about these two items. Thanks and happy investing! Eric

Hi all; If anyone knows of some property managers or individuals who need a good deal here in Columbus, OH: 1. 3/2 condo with an assumable loan; only $600 to take over payments! Or LO. $1016/month. 1300 square feet. 2. nice, 2100 square foot SFH, 4/2.5, for land contract. owner financing for 3 years, $1550/month, with 6K down. Any buyers out there, I will pay a finders fee! Thanks. Eric

Hi all (and Pilot as this especially applies to him) For those of you who do a lot of CA's, the fees you receive for these are considered active income and therefore subject to tax at your individual tax rate, correct? I have a single member LLC for this, and I know this is simply pass through taxation. I didn't know if there was some way to cut/save on taxes by doing a lot of CA's and/or not to be taxed as a dealer, etc.? Thanks! Eric

Hi; That's what most do here, and what I offer, although like MC says, it depends on the lender whether or not they will accept the rent credits as going towards the down or the price, etc. However, how does everyone deal with the price of the house? I, and most, typically adjust the sales price upwards to reflect the option payment and rent credits, so the lender really isn't getting a better LTV as you mentioned. If the seller asks 100K and you sell to a t/b for 108K or so, the end purchase price is 100K; unless I've been doing it wrong! Eric

MC thanks! What if someone just wants to pay the assumption fee and assume, why would I still do the lease, rent credits, etc? could I structure it both ways?

Hi gang; Just had a quick question on how to proceed with a deal or two. Have a seller who just wants to sell for what they owe. They have a FHA loan, $600 to assume it, owe 107 K, $1016/month. Didn't know if it would make sense to structure the CA the usual way, or just to assign for the $600, plus a fee for marketing (Advertise the 1016/month only and say $2600 to take over loan, keeping 2K for myself, or something like that). Also, just wondering if anyone has had success doing Doug's approach with the hybrid CA? Just curious as I have a seller who owns a property free and clear and wants to sell in a year or two (I could lease it for 1-2 years and then cash her out). Comps are lower than what she wants though, so not much meat for a SLO. I could probably cash flow on it, so I thought of Doug's method and how to do it, and how to do the paperwork for it etc. Thanks! Eric

Hi all; Just wanted to get some thoughts on how to get a seller sold on a CA or SLO who wants to buy a new house. He is already pre-qualified to buy a new house, with the understanding/numbers that his current house is sold. Obviously, it is not yet, that is the one I want to work with him on. numbers look good: owes 166K, wants/worth 185-190K, payment $1400/month (PITI). I wanted to find a way to assure him that doing this would work out and perhaps with a SLO or sub 2 I could present his lender with enough documentation to ensure he is no longer paying on the loan, etc. Any other thoughts would be appreciated! Thanks! Eric

MC; Thanks big guy! Wow that is a lot!

Hi everyone; I was curious to see if anyone would share the online sites they are using to find FSBO's and FRBO's. I use mainly CL, owners.com, backpage, but haven't found too many others that have many listings. I found an older link here with a bunch of sites, but most don't have anything useful (at least anymore). I keep going back through these sites and I seem to have emailed everyone out there! I am in a big area (Columbus) and I would like to find more. Thanks! Eric

Hi all; Anyone doing CA's here in Ohio? Please let me know if so. I spoke with a local attorney about some other issues and the CA came up. He told me doing such assignments is illegal without a broker's license, etc. I have heard otherwise on the posts and from another attorney. I plan to speak with more to clarify but didn't want to reinvent the wheel if anyone here in the Buckeye state has already definitively heard otherwise (or has some proof it is ok). There are wholesalers all over the place (similar type of transaction) I cannot imagine that this is true. Thanks! Eric

Hi everyone This is a follow up to my previous post about the non-exclusive. The seller is an investor (has 3 houses he wants rid of) and has done LO's, flips on a limited term. He prefers the non-exclusive, I am ok with that if necessary. However, his main concern was timing. He wants someone in there in Feb. and on my short offer form I put march as the start date to give me some time (esp. now during the slow winter time). He didn't want a month with no one paying rent. He said that the contract reads that if I don't find someone by the lease start date then I start paying rent as the contract (MC's contracts) is a lease agreement and I have a legal obligation to pay. Obviously, with the cancellation clause in there, I can just cancel if I don't find someone by then. I didn't mention that at the time but I will make that clear. He said if we don't find someone in there by Feb. we can give it another month, but if I don't and cancel, I am sure he won't want to do it again with me. Just trying to make lemonade out of lemons. Any thoughts? Thanks! Eric

Hi all Hope everyone had a great holiday season! I have an owner (probably an investor) who has a few rental properties. He is open to my helping him to get his house leased and sold (I was offering a CA). He doesn't want to do an exclusive contract with me as he has had problems before with realtors doing this, etc. He gave me all the info I need to do some research. How can I protect myself so that I get something out of the deal and don't waste my time, or is that impossible? Do I still have him sign the agreements ahead of time ( I was going to do that anyway) and/or do I modify it somehow? Is there a way to ask some kind of compensation for my time if I don't find someone for his house before he does? Any thoughts/advice would be appreciated. Thanks! Eric

MC; Duplex for sale at 199K, owes 155K or so. He thinks the 199 is a fair price; comps are pretty close to that. Rent: 795 and 825 per side. Both are occupied on a month to month as he told the tenants he wanted to sell. Good area and school district. Thanks for any advice! Eric

Hi all; I had contact with a seller who has a duplex. How does one structure this to do a CA? Might be too complicated for a SLO. Would you use his total price and set the lease, etc. for each side or as a whole? Thanks for any help! Eric

Hi all; I may have asked this already, but I wanted to clarify. How many of you are doing CA's or SLO's in other cities? I was thinking of checking out other markets a few hours from here. How do you market these? Signs are a great way to market, but how do you get them placed far away? I know you can fax documents but many sellers are leery of doing deals with those they can't meet. Thanks for any advice. Happy investing! Eric

Hi all; I started well but have hit a slump. I seem to have hit/emailed every house on CL and the other major sites in my area. That alone is tough but I am looking at other sites and other ways to market. As with most others, when I initially elicit via email, people are interested, but as soon as I get to the point that I will not be the one in the house, or that I am going to sub-lease, the lose interest. I know it just takes practice; however, is there anyone who has any suggestions on how to segue into that aspect of the conversation? I mention all the work I am going to take off their hands, etc. but what does everyone else do to put the sellers at ease with the sub-lease/SLO aspect? Or even with the CA way? Thanks for any advice on verbage, tips, etc. Eric

Hi all; I have a motivated seller who just wants to be rid of her house. It is rented until 2/10. The only issue is her divorce situation. She was told she needs to refinance within the next month. She and her soon to be ex are both on the mortgage and title and in order for her to get him off both, she needs to refinance. She has been trying to sell quickly to avoid that but she is about out of time. She was told she cannot have him quit claim his interest to her. She could refinance but that would cost her several grand of course. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of equity but her payment is low. She owes 100K and it is worth 103-110K. Her payment is $856/month. She has had the loan for 4-5 years, not sure if refinancing would lower or increase her payment. Not a lot of room for a sub2. I approached her with the plan to do a CA or a SLO. I would appreciate any help with this one! Thanks! Eric