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Supply is low! Should I list my house for as high as possible?
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Supply is low! Should I list my house for as high as possible?

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Supply is low! Should I list my house for as high as possible?

Supply in the Phoenix Metro area is LOW right now, which makes the demand that is actually average, seem really high! This is good for sellers! When supply is low, sellers tend to aggressively price their houses.

However, be cautious. Just because a buyer is willing to pay a certain price doesn’t mean it will appraise for that value.

Why does this matter?

If your buyers have limited funds for down payment, the appraisal coming in at sales price is a big deal! Traditional lenders won’t lend based on the sales price, but based on the appraised value. So if the appraisal comes in lower, you as the seller need to come down on your price and/or the buyer has to come in with more money.The buyer’s coming in with more money may not be an option. If you aren’t willing to lower the price, then you have just lost time and potential opportunities to sell your home and it will have to go back on the market and now your listing can be stigmatized / seen in a more negative light if more days on market and the deal falls out.

This becomes a big deal when you are paying holding costs for the property (taxes, insurance, interest on a loan, maintenance, etc). The longer that property sits, the more costs you are incurring, and the less profitable you will be.

So yes, it is a strong sales market. But still try to price accordingly to help yourself be successful!

Important note to remember: if a buyer is paying cash, they probably won’t get an appraisal because they don’t have financing that requires one. Certain price points are more likely to sell to cash buyers. In a market like this, focusing on flipping that type of property or focusing on that type of buyer can be a successful strategy since you can price more aggressively.

By Mike Zins| 2019-09-05T19:52:36+00:00 August 29th, 2019|Uncategorized|0 Comments

3 Reasons to use Hard Money for Real Estate Investing
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3 Reasons to use Hard Money for Real Estate Investing

Fix and Flip

3 Reasons to use Hard Money for Real Estate Investing

Photo by Emily Chavez Photography

There are many different loan types to choose from when financing real estate; Conventional, FHA, USDA, etc. Here are 3 reasons why people use hard money loans when investing in real estate, and why you might want to consider it!

1) You get money FAST

Using hard money allows you to close on a property FAST – sometimes in as little as 1 business day.

Why does this matter? If a motivated seller has multiple offers on a property, which offer are they more likely to accept? The offer that is 30-45 days out, with a lot of hurdles to jump through and the deal has a decent chance of falling apart, OR the offer that can close within 3 business days, like cash, no appraisal is required, and a lot more likely to close on time?

Speed will make your offer more competitive and help you win deals.

Practical tip: You need to find a hard money lender that won’t just tell you what you want to hear. You need to find a hard money lender that does what they said they were going to do. Find a lender that is transparent, informative, and that you feel you can establish a relationship with.

2) You get money EASIER

Because hard money lenders mainly qualify you mainly based on the value of the collateral and the project, there is a lot less underwriting and documentation required (typically no tax returns, paystubs, bank statements, etc). Additionally, there may be factors that affect your ability to get conventional financing (credit, income, source of funds). A hard money lender is going to be more flexible due to the property collateral being their primary factor in considering the loan.

Practical Tip: You do want a loan without a lot of hurdles, however you also want a lender that performs due diligence. They should still be looking into your exit strategy and ability to repay the loan. It is always helpful to have a second opinion in helping you evaluate the project and identify any potential pitfalls. If a lender is not doing this for you, beware! Predatory lenders do exist where they might want your project to fail, and make a bigger profit for themselves through foreclosure.

3) You can profit MORE

Using hard money as leverage is a big deal for a couple reasons:

It helps you profit more!
- Suppose you had $150,000. If you bought a $100,000 property with cash, put $15,000 to fix it up, and then listed it, sold it for $150,000 – you might make $20,000 (after you consider closing costs, holding costs like taxes, insurance, etc).

- If you instead used that $150,000 and a hard money lender to purchase three different properties for $100,000 (you have $60,000 in for the down payment for both properties). If you sold all of those for $150,000 like scenario A, you would make less profit on a single house in comparison to scenario A (due to loan costs). Instead of $20,000, maybe you make $15,000 per property. You have just made $45,000 with the same amount of cash available. Your ROI and total net profit goes way up with some leverage.

Using hard money as leverage can help you profit more!

You had to use less money – meaning you have more cash available if needed for emergencies, OR can put it into other projects.
It keeps your cash available. By utilizing financing for your project, you have more cash available if another great opportunity comes along, OR have more cash available if needed to finish existing projects.

Practical Tip: While leverage is important and valuable, it’s important to find that sweet spot where you don’t become over leveraged. Speed is key in real estate projects and you always want to make sure you have enough cash available to finish out your projects (plus an additional amount set aside for emergencies, or those unforeseen expense or repairs that can pop up).

So why wouldn’t people use hard money loans for every transaction?

Hard money loans take on increased risk, and as a result they have higher interest rates. As shown above, sometimes this additional cost is worth it (or can be utilized as a bridge loan, where you have the hard money loan temporarily while lining up your long term, lower rate financing). Just make sure you are aware of the costs involved, and how that impacts your bottom line before closing on a hard money loan.

Did you know that we provide hard money loans on all of these types of transactions?

Fix and Flips

New Construction

Airbnb / VRBO / Vacation Rentals (including a cool cash out hack!)

Group Homes

Multi-Family

Bridge Loans

Commercial Loans

And more!

We’d like to be YOUR private money lender. Schedule an appointment to talk with me!

Mike Zins

And

Jean Klinkhamer

480-795-7133

mike@klinkloans.com

www.klinkloans.com

Klinkloans Fund is a part of the Private Lending Division of Stewardship Mortgage. Klinkloans Fund is a private money lender that provides trustworthy and reliable real estate financing and service to help real estate investors achieve their goals.

By Mike Zins| 2019-05-16T18:21:29+00:00 May 16th, 2019|Fix and Flip|0 Comments

Is the real estate market in a downturn? What should I do?

Photo by Nik Shuliahin on Unsplash

There is a lot of information out there regarding the real estate market, what it’s doing, and what people think will happen in the future.

Some of this information is helpful and some is not. So how do you know what information to listen to?

Here are five keys that we at Klinkloans think are important when analyzing information about the real estate market:

1) Don’t get swayed by sensational headlines

Bad news sells or clickbait is becoming pervasive. So you can’t always believe the headline or everything that you read. What are the facts and data supporting what I’m reading? What are the sources?
Media is in the business of getting attention. The media loves to sensationalize because it gets attention. Fear grabs people’s attention, so it can be easy to feed on.
This does NOT mean all info is spun negatively, it just means take everything your read with a grain of salt. We must separate facts from emotion.

2) There is no such thing as a national real estate market.

Markets are driven by supply and demand.
When there is a high demand for housing, prices will rise. Whereas when there is a large supply yet little demand, prices will fall.
Supply and demand constantly fluctuates and varies for each local market. Low demand in Albuquerque, NM doesn’t mean that same thing is happening in Phoenix, AZ. Each market is very different from other regions, states, cities, and even neighborhoods.
To summarize: if you see some national real estate news or “trends” just know that it may not apply specifically to your area. You need to know the local market that you are investing in.

3) Find good data and analysis for your local markets. Follow the experts!

We can all have opinions on where the market is going. However, it’s important to have solid data that is analyzing what the market is actually doing, and the direction it is headed in.

It is impossible to predict what is going to happen 2 years from now, even a year from now. However, with the right data, you can see what’s happening for the next couple of months in front of you. Tina Tamboer of the Cromford report said their data “acts like the headlights of a car that is showing you where you are going, and when there is a turn in the road”. You may not be able to see very far in front of you, but at least you can see far enough to identify if there is a turn.

Our favorite source for understanding the real estate market in Arizona is the Cromford Report.

They have some info available free to the public, but if you want more details, I collect data from experts and send it out to my own database. If you want to receive future market information I send out, you can sign up to receive it here.

4) Adapt accordingly

It is important for any business to be able to adapt and change in order to stay competitive. Investing in real estate is no different.
Is data showing a strong seller’s market? Then you can probably continue to flip with high confidence. Is the market now trending towards a buyer’s market, with a higher supply and less demand? Flipping is still possible, but you will now just have to ensure that your buy is a really good deal so your flip can be profitable. Even if values aren’t rising, buyers markets can be a great time to purchase real estate with low prices. You just need to make sure you are calculating and planning correctly for lower rents, lower sales prices, etc. that also comes with this type of market. Our Fund manager: Mr. Jean Klinkhamer bought and sold some of the most profitable flips in the downturn years of 2009-2011.
Money can be made in almost every market, but it requires analyzation and adaptation.

5) Be a Contrarian Investor

Don’t run with the crowd. If you run against the crowd, this is often where opportunities can be found. So even if everyone else is talking doom and gloom, try to find how you can turn this situation into an advantage!

Warren Buffett points out the simple recipe for being a contrarian investor,

“Two super-contagious diseases, fear and greed, will forever occur in the investment community. The timing of these epidemics will be unpredictable. … We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.”

What have you found helpful when analyzing the market?

We’d like to be YOUR private money lender. Schedule an appointment to talk with me!

Call, text, or email me if you want to learn more about real estate investment, or private money (hard money) loans. I would love to assist you.

Types of transactions that we lend on:

Mike Zins and Jean Klinkhamer

480-795-7133

mike@klinkloans.com

www.klinkloans.com

Klinkloans Fund is a part of the Private Lending Division of Stewardship Mortgage. Klinkloans Fund is a private money lender that provides trustworthy and reliable real estate financing and service to help real estate investors achieve their goals.

By Mike Zins| 2019-02-11T22:57:06+00:00 February 11th, 2019|Acquisitions, Fix and Flip|0 Comments

5 tips to make the most of your Airbnb / VRBO / Vacation Rental Property

1. Make sure short term rentals are allowed before you buy.

In 2016, a law was passed that prevents Arizona cities, towns, and counties from prohibiting short term and vacation rentals. However, HOA’s can still have restrictions in place. Before you buy your vacation home, make sure the HOA is not prohibiting short term or vacation rentals!

2. Add upgrades that motivate travelers to book

According to a survey conducted by Trip Advisor, when asked what amenities or features motivated travelers to book a vacation home, 4 out of the top 5 responses had to do with outdoor features (stunning views, private pool, outdoor grill, and hot tub).

Making some of these upgrades to a house can be expensive, but it is directly linked to motivating travelers to book your home. This will pay off in the long run with more high dollar bookings.

Don’t have the cash to make these upgrades? Klinkloans offers private money construction loans that will finance up to 75% of your costs that are being installed in the property. Point #5 in this article will tell you how you can finance construction AND get some of your cash out!

3. Plan for taxes and make sure you don’t miss any!

It’s important that you figure out what your taxes will be beforehand, There are occupancy taxes (hotel tax) that can range from 5 – 19% per night! This is in addition to a transaction privilege tax that is charged to businesses in Arizona. If you don’t plan for these taxes, it will eat into your profits more than you anticipated. Some booking agencies collect the taxes for you, others don’t. This varies by each rental marketplace and each location. Make sure you know beforehand who is responsible for collecting and paying these taxes! Do your research, and consult with a CPA so you can set your price accordingly.

Starting January 1, 2019, all online short term rental marketplaces such as VRBO and Airbnb will be required to register with the Arizona Department of Revenue and collect taxes on bookings.

4. Maximize your cash out using the Klinkloans Cash Out Mortgage Hack!

If you do a Klinkloans construction loan to make some of the upgrades mentioned in point #2, we can help you maximize your cash out of this property with the “Klinkloans Cash Out Mortgage Hack”.

This is a new and popular program Klinkloans is offering specifically for vacation rental properties. Once your upgrades/renovations are complete, you can start the refinance process (to get into a longer term, lower rate loan). Once the appraisal has been completed for the refinance, we will do a final cash out draw up to 80% of the appraised value (assuming the new loan terms are 80% LTV. We will go up to the LTV of the new loan being offered).

This allows you to get as much cash out of your investment as possible before doing a rate/term refinance. This extra cash could allow you to do the finishing touches on your home, recoup some of the money you have spent, or have money available for your next big investment!

For example: You buy a home for $250,000. You plan to put in $50,000 in renovations.

Normally we would lend up to 80% of your purchase ($200,000) and then 75% of your renovations ($37,500). This would give you a loan amount of $237,500.

When you do your refinance, say after the renovations, the property actually appraises for $350,000. We will lend up to 80% of this amount ($280,000). With an existing loan of $237,500, you can get one final draw of $42,500 to reach your $280,000 final loan amount which you will complete a rate/term refinance on.

So yes, you had to pay $50,000 for down payment, as well as $12,500 for renovations. But out of this $62,500, you will get $42,500 back in your pocket!

Higher rental income from vacation properties make the higher loan amount manageable. Then you can refinance into your longer term loan with a rate/term refinance, allowing you to get a more competitive rate than if you did a cash out transaction with your new lender.

5. Providing a great guest experience will maximize your profits

There are so many things that someone can and should do to help increase their bookings, from taking good pictures, to pricing well and adjusting prices seasonally, using the right listing platform, etc.

At the end of the day, ultimately what will help your investment be successful is consistent bookings. The way that you will get consistent bookings is by providing great value to your customers and a great guest experience. Leave them a welcome gift, be in touch with them at the beginning and the end, Go above and beyond to make sure that their stay is memorable and evokes positive emotions.

Beyond this, some platforms have incentives for hosts who go above and beyond for their guests (see the Airbnb “Superhost” Program).

The more memorable the stay for your guests, the more repeat bookings, positive reviews, and overall bookings you will get. This is what will ultimately make your vacation rental home a success.

—-

What’s the best advice that you have for these types of investments?

We’d like to be YOUR private money lender. Schedule an appointment to talk with me!

Call, text, or email me if you want to learn more about real estate investment, or private money (hard money) loans. I would love to assist you.

Mike Zins (NMLS#183815)

And

Jean Klinkhamer (NMLS#1504656)

480-795-7133

mike@klinkloans.com

www.klinkloans.com

Klinkloans aims to help borrowers achieve their goals. We do this through fast, quality service, competitive pricing, and building long term relationships. A long term, reliable relationship with us gives borrower’s peace and enables them to invest time, money, and energy into other projects or other important areas of their lives.

Klinkloans Fund LLC is a part of the Private Lending Division of Stewardship Mortgage LLC Stewardship Mortgage LLC is an Equal Housing Opportunity Lender and a licensed Mortgage Broker MB#0909516 and Loan Originator NMLS#154011 in the state of Arizona. Stewardship Mortgage LLC is acting as a Loan Originating Agent and NOT a Principal.

By Mike Zins| 2018-11-30T22:59:39+00:00 November 30th, 2018|Uncategorized|0 Comments

5 Tips for Fix and Flipping Homes
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5 Tips for Fix and Flipping Homes

Fix and Flip

5 Tips for Fix and Flipping Homes

Tip #1: Use an LLC

Benefits of using an LLC:

-Liability protection

-Potential tax advantages (discuss with your CPA, an LLC taxed as S-Corp may reduce your taxes)

We recommend using http://www.valleydocs.net/ paralegal service for LLC creation. They are fast and low cost. ($220 as of 2018)

Tip #2: Form a team around you

Simply put, you won’t be good or an expert at everything. Know your weak spots, and get people on your team who are strong in those areas! For example, if you aren’t great with estimating repairs, get a contractor on your team who is knowledgeable and can help you avoid some costly mistakes.

Tip #3: KNOW the area and wait for the right deal

It is crucial to know the area you are buying in. If it’s an area you aren’t as familiar with, find a realtor or investor who is an expert in that area and get their thoughts. Be patient! If you jump into a deal that doesn’t have enough margin, your potential profits can disappear quickly.

Tip #4: Get your investor discount at title

Every title company offers a discount on investment property transactions. Ask for it, ask the amount, and check your settlement statement to make sure you get this discount. This usually applies to both the escrow fee and the owners title insurance policy. This should save you HUNDREDS of dollars per transaction.

Tip #5: Build a relationship with a private money lender that you trust

Closing your purchase quickly and reliably is critical to your reputation as a quality buyer which will help you get good deals in the future. Having a lender that is reliable and ready to move quickly with you is crucial and can make a huge impact on your success.

Klinkloans offers financing for:

Fix and Flips, Construction loans, Trustee Sales, Rental Houses, Group Homes (Assisted Living Homes), Airbnb/VRBO properties, 1031 Exchange, Bridge Loans, and more!

We would love to be YOUR private money lender. Please call, text, or email us if you want to learn more about real estate investment or private money (hard money) loans. We would love to assist you.

Mike Zins and Jean Klinkhamer

480-795-7133 | mike@klinkloans.com | www.klinkloans.com

Klinkloans is a private money lender that builds relationships with borrowers and helps them achieve their goals. We do this through fast, friendly, quality service, direct communication with decision makers, and competitive pricing. A long term, reliable relationship with us gives borrower’s peace and enables them to invest time, money, and energy into other projects or other important areas of their lives. We built our lending upon our experience of doing our own fix and flips and would love to assist you with yours.

By Mike Zins| 2018-11-16T22:56:07+00:00 November 9th, 2018|Fix and Flip|0 Comments