Real Estate Coach

Common Ways to Heat and Cool a Mobile Home

Phil Pustejovsky — Thu, 17 May 2012 17:54:41 +0000

Mobile homes and manufactured homes utilizes many of the same features and mechanical systems when it comes to heating and cooling a home’s interior. Below is a list of the most popular heating and cooling systems used in many mobile homes today.Split-Unit Central Air Conditioning:Around the time I was ten years old, my family upgraded from window air conditioning units (see below) to the now common place Split-Unit Central Air conditioning units that force cooled air throughout the entire home via a series of under-floor or above ceiling ducts. Ducts are closed passages running from the mobile home’s air-handler or forced air furnace to a vent typically located underneath the mobile home’s floor.The reason for the name “Split-Unit” is to signify that this air-conditioning system uses 2 separate appliances to force cooled air throughout the home. The exterior Compressor/Condenser is the component which sits outside the home and an Evaporator also known as an Air-Handler sits inside the home. Attached to the Evaporator is a fan which blows conditioned air throughout the home.Base model units are often priced in the thousands of dollars new and used, not including installation. As these units are seldom moved after installation in many areas you may need a city or county permit in addition to a licensed contractor to install a central air conditioning unit.Furnace:A furnace is comprised of a heating device either gas or electric (electric typically being the least efficient) and an air circulating fan which blows heated air into the ducts and onto the interior of the mobile home. Furnaces are typically small enough to be located inside a closet in your mobile home, and should be properly maintained yearly to avoid damages. Filters should be changed regularly to avoid potential problems. Used units on Ebay.com start for around five hundred dollars not including installation. Any cost associated with this repair should be factored into all purchase offers for a mobile home.Air-Source Heat Pump:Heat pumps both cool and heat homes. Although less well-known then central air-conditioning units above, heat pumps are generally more efficient and less expensive to own and operate. Simply put, a heat pump works by exchanging warmth for cold in the summer months and cold air for warmer air in the winter. A heat pump can stand alone and look very similar to an exterior compressor/condenser portion of a traditional central-air unit.Heat pumps do have limitations with heating a home when the exterior air temperature drops below 35-ish degrees Fahrenheit. This is one reason heat pumps are less commonly seen in the Northern half of the United States unless they are geothermal heated.Evaporative Coolers:Also known as Swamp coolers, wet-air coolers, and desert coolers, are self-contained units that use the act of evaporating a liquid into the air being pushed into the home to lower the interior temperature of the home. Evaporative coolers use ducts in the same ways furnaces and split-unit A/Cs work to distribute air evenly throughout the home. Evaporative coolers are generally found in drier states and can decrease the internal temperature of a home by as much as 40 degrees. Be aware of roof mounted units as these often contribute to roof leaks over time.

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Finding Your Buying Criteria When Fixing & Flipping Houses

Phil Pustejovsky — Thu, 17 May 2012 17:54:41 +0000

Some would say I’m boring. Predictable.I order the same meal, everytime, at the Mexican restaurant down the street from my office. When I walk into the neighborhood sushi bar the waitress doesn’t even bother handing me a menu. She knows I’m having the Bento Box B. From microwave popcorn to breakfast cereal to restaurants – it’s always the same.Why?I know exactly what I want. And when I don’t get it I’m usually disappointed.This is why buying a vehicle can be such a tedious experience. Have you ever walked into a car dealership and told the salesman exactly what you wanted? You explain the car must be silver with black leather interior, 2-door, convertible, good on gas and low on mileage. Before you know it, he’s showing you everything on the lot but what you just described to him 10 minutes ago.I can make you a great deal on this minivan he proclaims. Or how about this jacked-up superduty crew cab pickup truck with gigantic offroad tires and tow wench?It’s easy to say no because it’s not what you want right? Well, if you’re like me maybe it’s not that easy to say no, especially to a big truck.Establishing Your Buying CriteriaSimilarly, I also know exactly what I want when it comes to flipping houses. For starters, I’m not into advanced cosmetic repairs or major structural improvements. I prefer quick, easy-to-fix properties that require the basic stuff – carpet, paint, flooring, appliances, landscaping and minor mechanical repairs. The houses that require major renovations are generally more profitable but require more time and money to sell.It’s up to you to decide. Do you want to do more light cosmetic rehab deals or fewer big renovation projects? You’ll also need to determine the following:Target propertyTarget neighborhoodTarget price pointTarget rehabStick to your guns. Don’t be lured into buying a property that doesn’t match your buying criteria. Otherwise, you could end up with a lemon.This Article is Copyright © 2004-2012 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Finding Your Buying Criteria When Fixing & Flipping Houses

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Mobile Real Estate Investment Club

Phil Pustejovsky — Thu, 17 May 2012 10:24:07 +0000

Mobile Real Estate Investment Group

Website: www.mobile-rig.com

Contact: Steven Brown

Phone: 251-366-4663

Fax: 251-432-5762

Email: steve.brown@homevestors.com

Meeting Time: Weekly, Wednesday 12-1

Meeting Location: International Trade Club, Water St, Mobile, Alabama 36602

Additional Details: For-profit organization, Not a Member of National REIA

Port City Real Estate Investors Association

Website: www.PortCityREIA.com

Contact: Lawrence Roberts

Phone: 251-510-4862

Email: PortCityREIA@gmail.com

Meeting Time: every 4th Thursday, 6:30pm

Meeting Location: Mobile Public Library – 5555 Grelot Rd., Mobile, AL 36609-3643

Description: Meet fellow Real Estate Investors and Professionals in Mobile/Baldwin County, AL. Our meetings are held once per month. Port City Real Estate Investors Association is Mobile/Baldwin County, AL’s premier real estate investors club. We are designated as a 501 (C) non-profit assoc. We are committed to enhancing, educating, equipping, and encouraging real estate investors and professionals in the Mobile/Baldwin County, AL area. Our networking meetings are totally FREE and all are welcome!

Additional Details: Non-profit organization, Not a Member of National REIA

Florence Real Estate Investment Club

Phil Pustejovsky — Thu, 17 May 2012 10:10:18 +0000

North Alabama Real Estate Investors Association

Contact: Bill Hubbell

Phone: 205-828-0502

Fax: 205-764-7963

Email: bhubbel@msn.com

Meeting Time: 4th Thursday, 6 p.m

Meeting Location: Florence Public Library, N. Wood Avenue, Florence, Alabama 35630

Additional Details: Non-profit organization, Not a Member of National REIA

Birmingham Real Estate Investment Club

Phil Pustejovsky — Thu, 17 May 2012 09:50:10 +0000

Associated Investors of Alabama

Website: http://www.aiaclub.com

Contact: Jack Eyer, Chairman

Phone: 205-823-9008

Meeting Time: 4th Monday of the Month; 6-9PM

Meeting Location: Homewood Senior Center, 816 Oak Grove Rd, Homewood, AL 35209

Additional Details: Non-profit organization, Member of National REIA

Real Estate Investors Optimize Energy Efficiency Increase Profits

Phil Pustejovsky — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:10:25 +0000

It was nice to read that the Real Estate Roundtable, representing the nation’s top real estate ownership, development, lending and management firms, applauded the Obama Administration’s efforts to put Americans back to work by encouraging retrofit projects that will make buildings in our urban and suburban areas more energy efficient.

Let’s face [...]Real Estate Investors Optimize Energy Efficiency Increase Profits is a post from: Real Estate Investing Blog For Real Estate Investors.

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Using High Interest Private Financing is Still Better Than Cash

Phil Pustejovsky — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:43:02 +0000

With investors battling a tight credit market, the opportunity to obtain financing for investment properties can often times prove more difficult than expected for some investors. Five years ago many of these same investors had no problem walking into their local lender’s office and getting approved for a loan. Nowadays, it seems like underwriters need a blood sample to approve a loan for an investor (even when that investor could pay cash for the house 5 times over).There are any number of reasons why perfectly good borrowers cannot get approved for conventional financing including:Investors with damaged credit because of a previous investment that went bad (i.e. short sale or foreclosure on credit report)Investors who are self-employed and don’t show adequate income on their tax returns. (likely because they have a good CPA who writes off much of their income)Investors who already have 10 properties with financing (Fannie Mae caps the number of financed properties to 10)Investors who don’t have legal residence in the United States but want to invest in U.S. properties.Investors who have money in self-directed IRAs and want to use this money combined with leverage (financing) to acquire investment property.For investors that fall into these categories, it can be frustrating to feel like all of the opportunity for financing is out of reach. I have found however, that rather than simply resigning to an all cash option, these investors are still better off working with private financing, even when the monthly payment is close to break even cash flow (because of high interest and short amortizations).For example, we work with private financing in Atlanta that requires 50% down at 12% over a 100 month amortization. While this may seem exorbitant, it is interesting to dissect the returns on something like this compared to an all cash purchase.EXAMPLE:$80,000 Property$975.00 Monthly RentAssume roughly 4-months of rent to meet property manager, taxes, insurance, vacancy and other expenses. (this is very conservative, but will work for the simplicity of this example)Return for cash investor:$975.00/month x 8-months = $7,800.00 / $80,000 invested = 9.75% (plus rent and property value increases over time).Return using 100 month financing:50% down payment$40,000: 100-month loan has a monthly payment of $634.63 ($7,615 per year)$975.00/month x 8-months = $7,800.00 – $7,615.00 to pay loan = $185.

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When Investing In Real Estate – There’s Planning and There’s PLANNING

Phil Pustejovsky — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:14:00 +0000

When Investing In Real Estate – There’s Planning and There’s PLANNING

The concept of planning is used and abused, especially when it comes to real estate investing for retirement. I know, cuz I’ve seen me do it. The hardest, most expensive lessons I’ve learned came from planning instead of PLANNING. Investors whose end game is retirement income, simply can’t afford to rely on planning. It’s not that they won’t accomplish their goal(s), as many will. It’s just that their goals were originally set using the limited options menu provided by planning vs the much thicker menu available to those who PLAN.The AnalogyKnew a guy in high school who was gonna become a big time bodybuilder if it killed him. He was 15 and worked out at home in a room next to the furnace room, which was adjacent to the garage.

His dad had bought him a used bodybuilding set. It had everything including the rickety bench press setup. He worked his butt off for the entire summer. The results were fairly impressive. All the appropriate muscles had grown in size and strength. In fact, when he visited family at Thanksgiving, everyone made a big deal of his ‘new muscles’. He was proud of what his months of hard work had wrought.Then one day a buddy told him about the gym that was close to his home. Bike close. His friend added that the gym’s owner was also a world champ. Boom! The next day after school, he was there, talking with the owner. Long story short, he went home, talked his dad into paying the $10 monthly fee, and began working out under the one on one coaching of the owner.‘Bout 3½ years later he was a finalist in Mr. Teenage Southern California.The difference? He trained with a pro. A real world champ, who’d shown him the menu he’d never even known existed. See, he’d been bodybuilding, when all along he shoulda been BODYBUILDING.

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How to Address Closing Cost Credits in Short Sale Transactions

Phil Pustejovsky — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:33:43 +0000

How to Address Closing Cost Credits in Short Sale Transactions

Agents, buyers and sellers are abuzz because it’s a seller’s market again. Just a few weeks ago an agent friend of mine received 24 offers on his short sale listing, and another property in my area got 10 offers the very same weekend.When reviewing short sale offers with clients, it is important to look at the type of loan that the buyer will obtain: VA, FHA, or conventional financing. And, will the buyer require a closing cost concession from the seller?One of the unknown factors often associated with a short sale is whether the bank will approve the closing cost concession. For example, you may have an offer from a buyer that needs a 3% closing cost credit. However, it is entirely within the realm of probability for some short sale lenders to have guidelines that would prohibit them from approving that 3% closing cost credit.Then what do you do? A short sale seller is not going to net any money at closing and will not pay that closing cost credit out of his/her own pocket. But, there are two easy and obvious solutions:Suggest that the seller select an offer that does not ask for a closing cost credit.Write a counter offer whereby you specify that approval of the short sale closing costs by the short sale lender is not a contingency of sale.If you opt for the second option, then the buyer agrees to move forward if the bank does not approve the closing costs. Of course, there is always a way for a buyer to walk away from the deal with his/her head held high. However, this method could help make the short sale transaction a little more airtight..

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3 Key Factors in Buy and Hold Real Estate Investing Success

Phil Pustejovsky — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:33:43 +0000

3 Key Factors in Buy and Hold Real Estate Investing Success

As a Buy and Hold Investor for 10+ years I have seen a lot of things, made some mistakes and met a lot of people in the real estate business. This collection of experience has lead me to form an opinion on what makes a Buy and Hold Investor Successful. In this article I will focus on 3 characteristics or strategies that I find are key to long term success in Buy and Hold Investing.You Make Money When You BuyThe first thing I want to discuss is the standard statement of “You make your Money when you Buy.” When I started investing I thought I knew what this meant but in reality I had no clue. I got lucky because we were buying property in a rising market and thus, “luck” insured we were well taken care when we started investing.I don’t know about you but I don’t believe in “luck” as a business strategy. I will take all the good luck we receive, but I will never count on it.

After 10 Years of investing I have a much better understanding of the statement that you make your money when you buy. The first thing to understand is the purchase price of a property is only one factor that can drive making money when you buy. In fact, I think the really good investors look for opportunities where creativity and deal structure will drive the best value, as anyone can write up a low ball offer and on occasionally get it accepted. I like deals where I can create value by addressing problems with the property, such as finding those with lots of deferred maintenance or with a general low quality of the property. In addition I like to find properties that can be bought with one configuration but which can quickly be converted to another.

For example I will buy all of the 2 Bedroom, 1 Bath Houses that I can turn into 3 Bedroom, 1 Bath houses. The math is great when you can buy a 2 bedroom and then rent a 3 bedroom. Lastly I like to find deals where I agree to a price that I think is high but put together a financing structure that is very beneficial. For example, maybe I get the seller to finance the property at a low rate or I get the seller to take back a second mortgage at zero percent interest. In the end as a buy and hold investor I want to maximize my yield of the asset and price is only one factor that controls making money when you buy. Fast Occupancy and Low TurnoverSecond, I want to ensure Fast Occupancy and Low Turnovers. One of the components of buy and hold investing that I enjoy the most is reviewing a distressed asset and envisioning how we can turn it around quickly.

As a buy and hold investor one of your most important tasks is to quickly attract tenants and then ensure they stay as long as possible. This means that I generally fix the exterior first and I put in a sizzle feature or two that will force prospective tenants to stop the car and look at my rental property. If they don’t stop the car, they won’t rent your property.In addition I want to ensure that I am providing the best quality home at any given price point. There are lots of landlords in my market and I want to make sure that when two or more similar rental properties are compared, mine look to be a step above the rest.

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