Thank you for the affirmation of the direction of REIN, to support Real Estate Investing & Real Estate Investors through providing opportunities for education, networking, and trying to influence legislation that could make it harder for the REIN members to provide affordable housing, create jobs, and overall fix problems one house at a time.

That is where I see REIN heading and understand in the past the decreasing revenue, membership, and brand recognition had many so focused on numbers that the impression was made that it was all about the numbers. Anytime you have a group, business, or organization where a significant portion of your revenue, properties, followers, or fans disappear it is easy to seem that you are just focusing on more members or revenue … no matter if that is the case or not.

The reason I am involved with REIN personally is that as REIN gains more members, helps people build their businesses, and influences the different levels of government to make it easier for the REI’s to provide rental units, improve neighborhoods, and provide jobs … we all win. I am also business focused & love learning about businesses, no matter if they are in the music industry, real estate, pet sitting or fruit stands, there is so much you can learn from one industry and apply it to whatever you do, or whichever client I am coaching at the time.

I thank you for being willing to teach about what you are doing & hope you continue to encourage others to do the same.

We need more people outside the REI circles to understand all the good the REIs do by helping people out of tough situations & achieve their dreams, all through buying, fixing, renting, and selling properties, one house at a time.

~Jonathan Nation

One big plus to education is, it is a whole lot easier learning from people who are actually doing what they teach. I think we need less teachers that aren’t doing what they teach, and more teachers who are.
Just “speaking my mind”.

Which is sometimes not a good thing, but you asked.

Hope all are well.
Cheers,
Connie Williams

If you need additional assistance please do not hesitate to contact me at 615 885-5454.

See you next Wednesday,

Rachel

We look forward to seeing you next Saturday!

Rachel

Looked on REIN site for place to sign up for Wendy Patton’s Sat.Jan. 15 class and can’t find a place here to do that. It’s not listed under the Education section yet. Am I missing something? If not, when will it be posted to enroll in?

thanks,

Leesa

Thanks,

If you are back in town, Vena is also doing a day long seminar on the following Saturday. I hope you can make thaypt.

Thanks

Nick Callea

Even if you don’t have a full thought, you can vote at http://www.reintn.org/uservoice to tell us what you would like to see REIN do.

What did you do before real estate?
GM- construction; family in the business
MH- civil engineering, financial services
RB- engineering for 12 yrs

Why did you choose to invest in real estate?
RB- tired of income ceiling at job
MH- tired of old job, late nights, wanted to work for self
GM – family history in real estate made him interested; wanted to make $35 an hour

Do you have a spouse on board with you?
RB- yes – her property management knowledge very helpful
MH- yes – great sounding board
GM – been there, done that

What type property do you specialize in?
GM- 2/1, 800 sf, no storage, no garage; EZ to rent; EZ to sell; EZ to fix yourself when it needs repairs; first-time homebuyers love them – bigger pool of buyers; also looks for deals for his clients
MH- single-family, duplexes; now only does 37209 with ARVs of up to $200k; property close to his home and hates waiting in traffic when traveling to check on contractors or show rentals
RB- anything that’s a good deal

How do you find deals?
GM- I’m a real estate agent, so I can find my own deals on MLS; agents can be a good source for investors; drive for dollars; death notices in the newspaper; old car on blocks in front yard
MH- Uses MLS as an agent of American Heritage Realty, but doesn’t represent others; For Sale By Owner (FSBO); Yard Sales; Word of mouth – family and friends and other investors in REIN; being an agent has fees and continuing education requirements; uses another agent to sell his properties – doesn’t do it himself
RB- An agent, too; the easier the deal is to find, the faster it is gone; $1500-$2k/mo ad budget to get sellers to call him: postcards; flyers on doors; ads in newspaper; goes in as a Buyer first – then considers listing their property for them

How much rehab is too much?
GM – just needs to be a deal
MH – started slowly and built over time; the numbers need to make sense or location is bad or return is too low
RB – don’t want to spend more on rehab than the profit; start on something simple when you are new – carpet and paint

What trends are you seeing in the market now?
GM – today’s market can be influenced by anything; not just demand; you must be better educated today

How do you fund your deals? (your cash, someone else’s cash, your line of credit, your home equity line of credit, etc.)
RB- owner financing; private lender; HELOC; self-directed IRA; last option: local bank
MH- constructions loans with newer local banks (Franklin Synergy Bank, Avenue Bank, Cadence Bank, Reliant Bank, INS Bank, First State Bank); hard money lender; HELOC; cash
GM- owner finance; private lender (your momma)

How do you know if a given deal is a deal for you?
GM- $10k-$20k profit with little effort – buy at $60k and sell at $100k in 30-60 days; knows investors he can wholesale deals to with just a phone call; don’t be greedy: take a little profit and leave some $$ in the deal for your buyer
MH- $30,000 profit after rehab is done; $40k-$50k if more involved; 20% may not be a good figure – more or less may be good – but $30k minimum is his target
RB- first determine what it will sell for after repairs are made – be conservative and don’t get attached to the deal; remember holding costs (lawn care, utilities, insurance); likes 20% margin, less % on higher-priced houses.

Where can first-time investors go for money to buy deals if they don’t have a rich Mom to loan you money?
FHA loan (if your credit is good); Hard-Money Lender; Partner who will put up the money; owner may provide the financing for you

How do you determine whether to flip or keep a house long-term as a rental?
RB- depends on the neighborhood: some are better for flipping and some for long-term renting; 3 bed/2 bath homes move fast for quick sales
MH- your personal situation may determine this – do you need the money now? Or are you trying to build equity for retirement? Neighborhood demand
GM- depends on your need for cash now; “I’m a treasure hunter… I want to hold something for a while and then cash it in.”

How accurately do you feel you need to estimate your repairs?
GM- ask a contractor to give you a bid; within 10%

Do you often find surprises after your initial inspection once you have begun to rehab a house?
GM- not with experience
MH- does heavy rehabs and knows everything needs to be replaced – no need for a home inspector on these deals; yes, I find surprises all the time but my ‘buffer’ of 10% saves me
RB- asks his trusted contractor if he is unsure; crawls under the house himself to check for mold, etc. Surprises happen.

Can you walk us through a recent deal you have done?
MH- $43k, 1000sf, master bath could be easily added to increase value and take it from a 2 bed/1 bath to a 2/2; $45k repairs; sold for $145k = profit of $30k to $35k after taxes
RB- listed for $219k; bought for $115k ; repairs $50k; holding time of 5-6 months; profit of $40k

Do you do your own work?
MH – no; only uses contractors referred by others

What do you do to a house to add value?
MH- crown molding in kitchen and living room; recessed lights in kitchen; 6-foot privacy fence; deck (even a little one); prefinished ¾ inch hardwood floors in LR and kitchen and maybe one bedroom; make your house look a little better than the other homes on the market in that neighborhood. Would use laminate in rentals but not in flipper homes.
GM- not everything you see on HGTV adds value; granite counters; every homebuilder has a show house that you would LOVE to live in. Note their paint color and landscaping and use those colors and ideas. Buyers buy ‘shine’ and a lifestyle we all want to live.

What is your 5 or 10-year goal?
GM- retire
MH- sell half the rentals and pay off the others; get into multi-family deals for income; do a handful each year
RB- flipping is just a paycheck; wants to use profits to pay down houses

How do you find the money for investing when you are first getting started?

Our approach was to emphasis the good & get out what information we
could as fast as we could, instead of focusing on what was no longer
planned or what was uncertain.

I hope you make the meeting this evening and help us to be a better
organization in the future.

Thank you for your interest in REIN. We would be happy to have you as a guest at the May meeting. The guest fee is $20 per person or $30 per couple. Our annual membership fee is $149 for individual, $185 per family.

REIN Members believe in the “come as you are” attire. Business suits, khaki pants and polo shirts, shorts and tee’s, are all welcome!

Please call me in the REIN office at 615.885.5454 if you have any additional questions. I look forward to meeting you on May 10!

Thank you again for your interest,

Rachel Sullivan

I would call and bug him everyday “hey Hal it’s Bryan, you found a property manager yet?” or “good afternoon Hal I hate to bug you again but just wanted to let you know that I’m extremely interested in the opening you have.” He would answer his phone every time with that uplifting, positive voice “Hey Bryan! Thanks for calling! I’m still looking yes and When I get back to the office I’ll check my schedule and we’ll get together. His Schedule was always FULL! Even with the cancer depleting him of his energy and pain that would make most people cry, he had a full schedule. He would go from early in the morning to well after I would leave my job at the time, around 4:30. I finally pestered him to the point that he HAD to interview me and from that day til now I realize that I am SOOOO fortunate to have met him. I met he and his wonderful wife Dickie at his office one evening and saw first hand what the cancer was doing to him.

To make a long story short he hired me and I spent a lot of time with him. The man knew EVERYBODY!
It didn’t matter if we we’re eating at a meat and 3 in East Nash, buying lumber at Lowes (not Home Depot! he did’nt care for Home Depot) or standing in the front yard of a potential “cream puff” as he would call ‘em. Someone would ultimately recognize him, shake his hand, and ask him how he’s been. I was like wow this guy’s a rock star. Hal did’nt even have to be there for people to recognize him and say hi to him! One time I was taking care of an issue at Metro Water and a gentleman behind me overheard who I was representing and said “You work for Mr. Wilson? How’s he doing? Tell him I said hello!” I could go on and on with stories and events that took place just hanging out with him.

I’ve learned so much in so little time from Hal and will never forget what he’s done for me. He was not only my boss but a very good friend and a father figure. I will truly miss working with him everyday and hearing all those stories, and he had some, as you could imagine.
God Bless you Hal and Thank You.

Holly and Jim Neumaier

We wish his family much peace as our thoughts are with them.

Sheila and Connie

Let me know how I can help.
Howard Hale

The meeting will be at the Al Menah Shriners Center, 1354 Brick Church Pike, Nashville, TN 3720
We like guests to pre-register, though there should be “tickets” available at the door.

Will this be your first REIN event?

We do have another Nashville Main Monthly meeting in April, too.