Reader Questions; Private Lending

August 5, 2009 by 1 Comment

Heres a little Q&A from some of our readers…..

Hi, I’m a wholesaler from Louisiana and I visit your blog, I was wondering how do you finance your rehabs?  

We finance all our projects using mainly private lenders. We will use our own money from time to time but that is not our preferred route. With our private lenders we give them first mortgage postion and no greater than a 70% LTV. They lend us purchase and rehab money. Terms and interest rates vary. Alot of our private lenders are using funds set up in a self directed IRA. With a self directed IRA an individual can invest in not only stocks and bonds, but also Real Estate, notes, tax liens and mortgages. This gives you much more control, greater diversity, and better returns than just sticking your money into some mutual fund!

So, what is a Private Loan? It is a loan made to a real estate investor that is secured by real estate. Private Loan Investors are given a mortgage that secures their legal interest in the property and secures their investment. We are not talking about high Loan-To-Value (LTV) ratios the banks and savings and loan institutions make on homes. We offer very low LTV ratios to our Private Lenders to increase security of the loan. Our standard LTV ratios are under 75% of the value of the property securing the loan and frequently as low as 65% to 70%. This means additional security on the investment.

 

Working with private lenders has allowed us to take our business to the next level and do the volume of projects we are doing today. Dominic is an expert on the ins and outs of Private Lending… so if you have any further questions about self directed IRA’s,  or private lending, shoot us an email at info@hampdenhomebuyers.com.

Filed Under: Private Lending, Rehabbing Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Video Update at the Fire Damaged Multi Family

July 30, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Heres a video update from the fire damaged multi family that we are working on.  The outside is almost complete, inside all the rough is in so we are just waiting on inspections. Once inspections are complete we will begin insulating and than sheetrock. 

We’ve got a couple more rehabs under contract that we will be closing on in the coming weeks so be ready for some more great updates!!

Filed Under: 37 Mansfield St Springfield - Multi Family Rehab Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

39 Brooks St, Springfield MA

July 23, 2009 by Leave a Comment

We have the home on Brooks St on the market. We repaired some water damage spots, put gutters on the house, did some landscaping and a few other odds and ends. Once the work was done we cleaned it and staged it. This home was rehabbed by the previous owner so it is a nice change from the full gut rehabs we have been doing lately.  Here are some photos:

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The new furnace is a high effeciency direct vent unit that runs at 95%.

Heres what the property looked look before we bought it.

Brooks St EXT 1

Brooks Kitchen

Brooks Living Room

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Not as drastic a change as Bessemer or Hartford Terrace , but the improvements will help it show alot better.

Filed Under: 39 Brooks St Springfield MA, Finished Rehabs Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Video Archives

July 21, 2009 by Leave a Comment

I was digging through our video vault when I found this gem. It’s a video we put together a little over a month ago at the fire damaged three family we are working on.  It’s from the first day of work and you can see the property in more detail.

We’ve hit some snags at this property that has slowed us down a bit. First there was the stop work order, now the three building inspectors that have visited the site can’t seem to agree on the proper fire alarm/life safety system that we need. We can’t sheetrock and close up the walls till we know what type of fire alarm system we need to install. This all should be straightened out shortly and we will be ready for rough inspections and sheetrock!

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Bessemer–Finishing Up

July 14, 2009 by 6 Comments

Work is almost complete at Bessemer St. We have started showing the property and have received very positive feedback… we actually may be getting two offers before the house even officially goes on the market.

The transformation of this property has been amazing and the finished product is looking great. Have a look at the house now:

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New Roof, Windows, Siding, Gutters, Garage Door, Landscaping, Etc...


New Kitchen w/Stainless Steel Appliances

New Kitchen w/Stainless Steel Appliances


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Tile Backsplash and Countertop. French Door Fridge. Lots of Recessed Lighting

 

Brushed Nickle Hardware, 18x18 Ceramic Tile Floor, Over the Range Microwave

Brushed Nickle Hardware, 18x18 Ceramic Tile Floor, Over the Range Microwave


First Floor Bathroom with New Fixtures and Ceramic Tile Floor

First Floor Bathroom with New Fixtures and Ceramic Tile Floor

 

Tile Tub Surround

Tile Tub Surround w/ Accent Border

 

Living Room w/ Fireplace and Hardwood Floors

Living Room w/ Fireplace and Hardwood Floors

 

Front Entrance/ Stairway

Front Entrance/ Stairway

 

Refinished Hardwoods

Refinished Hardwoods


Second Floor Bath

Second Floor Bath


Second Floor Bedroom

Second Floor Bedroom


Master Bedroom w/Front Load Washer/Dryer going in Second Floor Bath

Master Bedroom w/Front Load Washer/Dryer going in Second Floor Bath

 This one is turning out as nice as Hartford Terrace. Once it is completely finished and staged we should have buyers fighting over it.  We’ll be putting Bessemer and Brooks St on the market over the next week. I hope all the buyers aren’t on summer vacation and we can move both of these quickly.

Filed Under: 17 Bessemer St Springfield MA, Appliances Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It's a Jungle Out There

July 4, 2009 by 2 Comments

The backyard at Bessemer St is huge. It’s about 3 times as big as a typical city lot here in Springfield. The only problem is that is was completely overgrown from years of neglect and once all the leaves started to grow in it looked like a jungle.

Heres how it looked in the spring before all the leaves grew in:

Overgrown Backyard

Overgrown Backyard

Overgrown Yard from Roof

Overgrown Yard from Roof

 

So instead of breaking our backs trying to clear all this out by hand we called in some heavy duty reinforcements. Have a look at this machine….. it’s a tank.

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This little tank completely chewed up all the trees, saplings, weeds, leaves, pricker bushes and anything else that got in it’s way. It also tills up the soil and leaves you with a completely clear lot… all in just a few hours of work.  Now we have a nice clear, level backyard that is ready for grass seed.

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This giant backyard is an awesome selling feature. Most city lots are 5,000 square feet and offer very little space and no privacy. This yard is going to be an oasis for the new homeowner!

 

Bessemer is wrapping up and it will be done very soon. We’ve had to wait on some of the landscaping as it’s been raining here in Massachusetts for three weeks straight. The house is coming out really nice and we should be able to move it quickly.

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Weekly Recap; plus We're in the News

June 29, 2009 by 2 Comments

Last week we stayed pretty busy. I met Bank of Americas appraisor at a short sale we are working on in Springfield. The meeting went well and I’m hoping we can get the value down to a low enough point that we can purchase the property. 

Our local paper, The Republican, did an article about our company and the project at Bessemer St.  The article ran last week and adds further credibilty to our business and gives us some positive media coverage. Here is the article:

 Hampden Homebuyers in the News

Wow, We’re Famous!!!!

Filed Under: 17 Bessemer St Springfield MA, Hampden Homebuyers in the News Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Playing in the Dirt

June 18, 2009 by 1 Comment

We spent the afternoon doing landscaping over at Brooks St. I generally don’t do too much work at our properties myself, I leave that for the real contractors, however I do enjoy doing the landscaping from time to time. I don’t go to overboard, I usually will just plant some shrubs, evergreens and an ornamental grass or two. My favorites are boxwoods, azaleas, spirea, rhododendron, and Alberta spruces. I like to throw in some ornamental grasses for color and dimension. Because I use mainly evergreens I use the red mulch to add some more color as well. The main goal is to make it look fresh, clean and not too cluttered. If I can, I will try to save the mature landscaping already located around the property, but most of the time everything is so overgrown and unkempt it is best to take it all out and start fresh.

Heres what we did at Brooks St today:

Landscape Before

Landscape Before

 

Landscape After

Landscape After

 

Landscape Before

Landscape Before

Landscape After

Landscape After

House Before Landscape

House Before Landscape

House After Landscape

House After Landscape

 

We didn’t do too much, but it definitely helps the overall curb appeal of the house. We landscaped that whole front bed for less than $200, and most of that cost went to the three tall Arborvitaes, which cost $30 apiece.  The arborvitaes are a great foundation plant, especially in this situation as they block that ugly front wall pretty good.

Filed Under: 39 Brooks St Springfield MA, Rehabbing Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , ,