getting my feet wet......now what?

Hi all,

I understand your time is important, so i’ll try to make this brief. I’m finally making the venture into real estate business. My wife & I live in connecticut and we want to move to florida and start afresh. Living from paycheck to paycheck has taken its toll, and we’ve decided to make a change and invest.

We don’t have much cash, and her/my credit is not perfect, but then again its hardly the worst.

My idea is to form a company and to use the company to set up credit with a banking institution (is this easy to set up?).

Then we plan to purchase one HUD or forclosed home at a time (…to start with), renovate and repair it, and then find a buyer for it.

It sounds so simplistic that i’m not sure if i’m missing anything.

Is there a flaw to this plan? Also, is florida an ideal setting to try this idea out in? Do I need to set up a company to do this, considering that my credit is not good?

Any ideas will be greatly appreciated. I’m not sure where to turn for advice.

Thanks a lot

Richard
Bristol, CT

Setting up a company for credit purposes will not work. Banks figured out long ago that the company is only as good as it’s owner. It won’t get past first base.

Buying HUD homes isn’t such a hot idea either. Whenever things are made public so anyone with half a brain can get involved, there’s just too many people bidding way too much for any real deal to come together.

What’s your plan B

Howdy Clueless_newbie

Flordia is a great place to invest. You may find prices a little high and probably a sellers market. Appreciation is still the reason for buying and holding. You should find plenty there at this time still. I have heard of condo projects selling out in hours even before ground breaking.
It will be harder to find Huds and REOs and foreclosures there because of the sellers market and you may not even find a break even cash flow. Do not get discourgaged and find someting you can do. If you are changing jobs that may hurt a bit too.

The Corp idea is still good but will not help credit wise untill it can get established on its own. You should still be able to buy with your own credit with several different mortgage companies. Banks are tougher but mortgage companies understand better and are more flexible

Good luck and thank you,
Ted P. Stokely Jr
11505 Sw Oaks
Austin, Texas 78737
512-301-9171 home
512-587-6177 mobile

JoeKaiser & tedjr,

thanks a million for your responses. that actually clarified a lot for me. However i have a couple more silly questions, if you have the time :-;

My plan is this: My wife moves down to FL (not sure where in FL yet, still planning), I stay here and keep my job for now to pay our bills. When we get the opportunity and purchase a home below market value, we renovate the home to add value and then patiently wait for the right buyer to come along.
it seems simple but sometimes, patience and simplicity can pay dividends in the long run.

  1. should i try to apply with different mortgage companies to find which has more favorable terms? i heard somewhere that applying simultaneously for credit may work against you. Also, can i apply for credit with mortgage companies for a possible home in Fl while living in CT? (it seems possible, just making sure)

  2. is there a site that gives more (hopefully unbiased) information about the FL real estate market?

  3. Possible scenario: if HUDs are difficult to get started with, and real estate firms have snapped up most, if not all of the possible real estate pending for sale out there ( i expect this would be the case, please correct me if i’m wrong), how does the average joe like me get into the market? (apart from my simple plan above).

Please excuse my 20 questions. it is so rare to find a forum as informative as this one, so i’m trying to use the opportunity well.

Thanks in advance again

Richard