Posted on

Soliciting private money for flipping vs. buy & holding

Question:

Hi Tony…and thanks a million for this invaluable forum!

Got one for you about private lenders. I’ve started talking it up. I’m going to focus primarily on flipping in the beginning but I want to hold some as well once I get rollin. When I explain the dual focus some are asking the rate difference. I explain that the rate to retail is higher than holding on rentals. I’d like a better answer.

What should the difference be? If retail is say 9% what would long term be?

(if that was answered in your course…plz forgive me!)

Last one…should the Note provide the ability for the lender to convert if they like? It seems prudent to craft that in with friendly language along the lines of “we have the right to convert” so people know it’s possible from the outset and so I don’t have to go back and explain it once things are in motion.

One person said straight out…”I like the rate and security but aren’t crazy about it being short term.” I’m guessing that on occasion I’ll need to finance out retail money with different lenders who would be happy with less for a longer term. But it would be nice to convert people if I choose and/or if I need to because the property isn’t selling for one reason or another.

Did I say thanks?

Many, many, MANY thanks Tony.

-M.

Answer:

Okay, out of the gate let me just make one point very clear. When you’re trying to solicit money from people that have it, they’re motivation for lending it is as varied and different from one to the other as are grains of sand in the ocean.

You’re job is to attract the money based on the probability of a successful outcome. The two things that anyone lending money is typically focused on is:

1. The return ON their investment
2. And the return OF their investment
(the latter being the most important).

How you structure the notes (conversion) or the interest rates is solely up to you. What they will accept, you’ll soon find out, is solely up to them. I have found that what buys me the most leverage when wanting to skew those negotiations or numbers in my direction, typically have to do more with how good my deals are and how good I am at making them reach a happy and profitable conclusion.

I cannot, in good conscience, give you specific advice on what interest rate you should offer between short-term and long-term money, as I honestly believe this is a moot issue. Industry standards on this topic are clear and available for anyone who cares to look for them. Most investors know they can easily place their money with professional, respected hard money lenders like The Norris Group and earn an easy, effortless 12% on short-term and 9% on eight year financing.

I have found that the more geographically local the investor lender to my specific Target Market, the more familiar they are with my individual properties, my level of knowledge and experience, and successful track record, the more motivated they are to jump on my wagon and the stronger position I hold for negotiating. This typically becomes a “their money is chasing my deals” rather than the other way around.

I hope this helps.

Your friend always,
The Big Cheese
Tony
;D

Posted on

Flipping Short Sale Properties

Question:

Tony,
What is the best way for me to learn shorts? There are many in my area—some on mkt for LOTS of days. 😮

I would like to flip them to an investor but am clueless how that all would work—margins, time of assignment—bird dog it. Totally clueless.

Thanks!
ML

Answer:

The short answer is… by doing them.

The long answer is for the most part, Short Sales, are simple if you plan on holding them as long-term rentals and complicated if you want to do anything else (i.e. wholesaling them to other investors.) This is actually a very loaded question because there are too many directions you could go with Short Sales. (Too many moving parts!) Some may end up being profitable in the short run, but problematic in the long run. The problematic part is that if you are hoping to tie up Short Sales without initially closing the purchase escrow and then wholesaling them to other investors (again without closing the initial purchase escrow) you may find yourself being interviewed by an FBI agent about the fact they may consider your actions to be a fraudulent transaction where you are intending to defraud a federally insured lender. Some investors ignore this issue and deal with Short Sales as if they were an REO, and wholesale them without question. Some believe that if they disclose that they are purchasing the property with the intent of re-selling it with a profit that this is sufficient and absolves them from future legal consequences. Keep in mind that we are not talking about what’s fair or about your actual intent, we are simply discussing the possibility of your actions being interpreted by the Feds as fraud. Now, I’m sure there are many investors involved in flipping (wholesaling) as well as retailing Short Sales that have not (to date) experienced any problems whatsoever, however, I took the time to call the FBI and personally interview two agents. After spending two hours with them, the bottom line was when I posed the question, “if I purchase a Short Sale and re-sell it immediately to another investor for a profit, could that be construed as fraud?” Their response, was “absolutely, yes.” So therefore, as I previously mentioned, I only buy Short Sales to hold as rentals for at least 12 months before re-selling them to anyone. Although you may find on the internet plenty of information/advice/suggestions from “investors” on how to flip or wholesale Short Sales, I strongly caution you to do your own due diligence so that you are aware of the potential risk you might be taking which could come back to you bite you years after you’ve spent your Short Sale profit. Keep in mind we pursue Short Sales on a daily basis and buy them often. Many can be negotiated profitably without much trouble. The easiest way to learn and understand what’s involved in the complete process of a Short Sale (from beginning to end) is easily and accurately learned by taking a class offered by a local title company which are typically offered almost every month to Real Estate Agents and anyone else who wants to attend, typically for free or for a nominal fee.

We hope we have been of good service.

Thank you for your question.