Freedom First REIA, Ltd.

Real Estate Investing tips from Tarl Yarber

The following information is sourced and summarized from a SJREIA webinar by Tarl Yarber on 9/2/2020. For the full conversation, visit the resources tab at www.SJREIA.org.

Whether you’re just starting out in real estate investing or you’re looking to expand your current portfolio, having systems in place is one of the most critical components to a thriving business. Mistakes are part of any learning curve, real estate investing included. Tarl Yarber offers his insight and experience on how to learn from mistakes, create systems, and ultimately thrive in the real estate investment world.

Learn From Your Mistakes

“Crap will always happen in this business.” Take the time to be self-analytical, self introspective, and take responsibility for your problems. Everything is your fault. Every decision you make for your business is up to you. You hire the contractors, choose the properties, select the design, and so on. When you accept that everything is up to you, you then have the power to change what is happening. From structural mistakes to contractor mistakes, it is the real estate investor’s responsibility to take ownership of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Book recommendation: Extreme Ownersh
Read More...

 Please see https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-moratorium-covid-related-residential-evictions-will-be-extended-until for complete and continued updates on the moratorium on residential evictions.

Continued from the previous post, we are highlighting basic questions and answers a potential landlord may have. Whether you're a new landlord or have interest in becoming one, there are no doubt questions that have come to mind! Here are a few you may want to know:

4. How often can rent be increased?

If a tenant has a month-to-month rental agreement, a landlord has the right to increase the rent with proper advance written notice at any time. If a tenant has a lease, rent increases cannot be made until the expiration of the lease if the increase is not indicated in the original agreement. A landlord must give at least 30 days advance written notice, be sure to check the current status of your state’s procedures surrounding this. 

5. When can a landlord enter the rental unit?

A landlord must give advance notice in writing before entering the unit. They are only able to enter during normal business hours. In an emergency, and other specific circumstances, advance written notice is not required- keep up-to-date with NYS standards.

6. What happens to the refund of a security deposit after the sale of a building?

When a building is sold, the selling landlord must do one of two things with the ten
Read More...

When someone has an interest in becoming a landlord, there are a few things they’ll want to consider. The potential landlord may have some questions around common-placed terminology that a seasoned landlord is very familiar with. Because of that, we’re going to dive into some basic Q&As:

This is probably one of the most important and foundational questions and answers a landlord needs to know. Most people know what this is, even if they don’t know the exact definition. A lease is a legal contract that a tenant and landlord are bound to until it expires — it outlines critical information such as monthly rent, security deposits, rent increases, and tenant or landlord responsibilities. Most issues can be avoided by following the lease, and most tenant questions can be answered by the lease. Requirements for a lease agreement may vary by state, so it’s important to stay up-to-date with the current standards before going into an agreement.

Here’s another question that landlords may be curious about, especially if they’ve never been on either end of the tenant-landlord relationship. A sub-lease is a separate rental agreement between the original tenant and a new tenant who m
Read More...

“Do not do to others what angers you if done to you by others.” -Socrates

So yes, this is real, and it is happening.

But it's also not something that means "instant apocalypse" for landlords, nor does it mean that every renter can simply and legally stop paying rent and " just tap their heels together three times and..." and pocket it as savings.

That's because, of course, there are caveats, provisos, etc. So, let's dive in...

First of all, the authority the CDC cites to establish this rule is the Public Health Service Act of 1944, which is also being cited in a variety of contexts over the course of the past 6 months.

Might there be legal challenges to this? Oh yes.

But that doesn't mean it's okay to ignore this eviction moratorium. It's on.

Per the ruling, the eviction stay is in place until the end of the year (for now).

But good news/bad news, this doesn't mean that anything goes.

Tenants must:

• Earn a documentable AGI (Average Gross Income) of less than $99,000 (single) or $198,000 (married filing jointly),
  AND
Read More...

If you're a landlord, you'll want to listen to last week's Real Estate Round Table from Boylan Code! The discussion navigates around the current state of evictions and legal limitations surrounding this topic. The conversation also touches base on potential steps to take:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA767uSr8Tc&feature=youtu.be

Mortgage rates continue to be at an all-time low as we near the end of the third quarter of 2020. Will this continue as the uncertainty of the rest of the year remains?

Freddie Mac’s chief economist says that “these rates continue to incentivize potential buyers and the home-buying season, which shifted from spring to summer, will likely continue into the fall.” This is a positive prediction for those that are continuing to invest in real estate in the near future.

Though interest rates are low, it is still important to weigh the pros and cons before making your decision about an investment. The best way to go about this is to have a team of experts or a mentor that can guide you to make the right choice alongside your options and goals. Are you planning on renting out your property? Flipping and selling? There are different risk factors with each approach and looking at those specific factors coinciding with your personal objectives is essential.

Last week we talked about traditional seller-financing scenarios. In those cases, the buyer actually bought and owned the property while the seller became a lender. Lease options are the exact opposite. The seller retains ownership of the property and become a landlord.

Firstly, sellers will need to be comfortable with becoming a landlord. But once that hurdle is overcome, these are great deals. It starts with the seller signing a master lease with the investor. A master lease is one where the tenant (in this case, the investor) can “sub-lease” the property to a standard tenant in a standard lease who will actually occupy the home. Normally, there is a spread in the monthly rent where the investor is making some cash flow.

This takes responsibility for maintaining the property off the hands of the seller, which is the reason most sellers go for this deal. It also provides some cash flow to them, and may defer taxes in some situations.

The second half of this deal is the option to purchase. The option agreement gives the investor the right, through an option fee, to purchase the home sometime in the future. This can lock down a good price in an appreciating market.

A lease option “sandwich” is a deal where once the investor has a master lease and option, he then subleases the property and assigns the option agreement to the tena
Read More...

Last week we discussed a situation in which an investor partners with the seller on the project, which is one way to have the seller help “finance” the deal. In this blog, I’m going to explain what I call “Traditional” seller-financing because it’s the more common way to structure seller-financing deals.

 Traditional seller-financing is any situation where the investor actually buys the house and takes ownership through a closing. Then, in some way, the seller is helping to finance that purchase. I break traditional seller-financing into 3 sub-categories. Note: These descriptions are how I speak about them. Other investors may use different terminology. I separate them because, structurally, they are different.

The important point to distinguish traditional seller-financing from the others is that the buyer will actually own the property! And, anytime a mortgage is staying in place, there will be due on sale clause risks.

• True Seller-Financing: This is a deal in which the seller owns the property outright with no mortgage. In this situation, the seller simply becomes a bank and “carries” a note and deed (mortgage) by exchanging his equity for the promissory note. The money doesn’t change hands as it’s all on paper. The seller earns some extra money on the interest. The investor gets a better rate than other lenders. All y
  Read More...

 
See full content here: https://www.keepingcurrentmatters.com/2020/07/31/where-is-the-housing-market-headed-for-the-rest-of-2020-infographic/