When many people see the “We buy houses for cash” or “Cash for Houses” signs, they wonder: Who are these Guys? Are they legit? How does it work? Can I trust them?
To answer these questions, and tell you more about Southwest Home Solutions, we interviewed the owner, Bill Peterson. Bill has been a New Mexico resident since 1981 and worked in the construction industry for more than 25 years before beginning his real estate investing career in 2005.
You’ve been in Santa Fe for nearly 40 years: how have you seen the city change during that time?
The growth of Santa Fe has been tremendous—the population of the county has doubled since I first moved here. The areas are much larger…subdivisions that are here now weren’t even imagined back then.
The continuing growth isn’t surprising to me. Santa Fe is a fantastic city, and people get the allure of living here. The outdoors, the multicultural aspects, the excellent weather, the cultural offerings and the friendly people—it’s all very appealing!
How did you get into Real Estate Investing?
My wife! When the recession hit, staying busy in construction was getting harder and harder. My wife’s brother and sister were both involved in real estate investing in the Albuquerque area and enjoyed it very much. So we decided we would take a Wednesday night intro to real estate investing class and it grew from there! We kept taking courses and began going to real estate auctions.
At one of these auctions, we lost out on an Albuquerque home that we had bid on, but it turned out the winner of the auction wasn’t able to purchase it. So we got it!
When we started to work on the house I realized there would be a bit of a learning curve when it came to fixing up the house and getting it sold. I had decades of experience in the construction field, but the rest of this particular deal was very challenging. Probably 80% of the issues I dealt with were new to me.
So I had to learn the 80% I didn’t know, things like property location scouting, working with title companies, working with realtors to market the property, finding financing, dealing with issues that come up when the property is under contract, doing title research at the County Clerk’s office, learning my way around City Hall, etc.
When all was said and done, it took more than twice as long as I imagined it might, but I walked away with a profit and the home buyers were very happy.
What was the most rewarding deal you have done?
I’d have to say my first rehab was the one I learned the most on. It took more work than any other deal—but it really was how I cut my teeth in the business, so it was, personally, very memorable for me.
The second deal that stands out in my mind was years later. After gaining more experience and increasing my circle of associates that I work with, I was able to help a wonderful couple who were within a month of losing their home to the bank. My broker friends Sean & Christine recommended the Sellers to me, as it was a house that needed too much work to list. The folks had some financial issues and couldn’t continue to pay on their home loan and were close to being foreclosed upon. We bought their house, paying off their loan and leaving them with enough money for a down payment for a good starter home for their growing family. It turned out to be a really great solution for them, as it kept a foreclosure off of their records and put them in another home, but with no loan payment. It was a win-win solution and was very rewarding for me.
What kinds of deals do you work on? How does the process work?
We serve the Albuquerque & Santa Fe areas and work with a wide variety of homeowner issues. We work with homeowners who are tired of being landlords and want to divest of their property (read a case study about this here). We work with aspiring homeowners who can’t quite qualify for a bank loan yet. We’re able to put them into one of our homes using a lease-option. This gets them to lease the house now and gives them time to improve their circumstances to be able to qualify for a loan to buy this same house at a later date.
We also help distressed homeowners facing financial difficulties and who need to get out from under overwhelming house payments. We have the ability to pay cash and close quickly on a house that they need to sell now. At times we can even help bring their payments current, helping them salvage credit scores and protecting their ability to purchase a home in the future.
These processes vary widely based on our clients and their needs. We use all the tools we have from our years of experience to create solutions that solve our clients’ specific problem. Some of our clients approach us after receiving a mailing, some come to us by word of mouth. Once we connect with them we get some information about their situation and then work with them in a step by step process to find a solution to their particular problem.
What is something you wished more people knew about real estate investing?
One thing that I’ve learned in this business that may surprise readers is that almost all the other investors I’ve worked with want to help other people. They are very giving by nature. They are not afraid to show people things or to help them out, and that has rubbed off on me. I like working in a field where most of the people I work with are great people.
The people that I know and work with who are real estate investors are hardworking folks doing their best to make a living for their families and are not get-rich-quick personalities. They tend to be people persons who are good at solving problems and adapting to changing circumstances. All that being said, being a real estate investor is a challenging and rewarding career!
One other thing I would like to expand on is to make people aware that they have more choices than they may think they have when it comes to home ownership. Probably 7 out of 10 Americans who want to be homeowners can’t yet qualify! But we can leverage our resources to make home ownership a possibility for these folks (read a case study about this here).
What makes Southwest Home Solutions unique?
At Southwest Home Solutions, we are committed to people. Whether it is just giving advice about credit repair, or quickly buying a house from someone facing imminent foreclosure, or helping someone get out from under a house that they can’t (or don’t want to) be in any more, we want to help people find creative solutions to tough real estate problems.
We have a wonderful team and take great pride in our work. We regularly acquire distressed homes and make them some of the best looking houses in the neighborhood! We are able to take a distressed property that often times has been abandoned or neglected and turn it into a house that someone wants to be in. It improves the neighborhood, raises home values in the area, helps the bank, helps the county tax rolls, and helps folks looking for housing solutions.
Whether our client is a first time home buyer, a homeowner facing foreclosure, or a homeowner that wants to divest of a second property, we have a wide range of experience in helping people and a large toolbox of creative solutions at our disposal.
__________________________________________________________
Do you have a real estate problem? Southwest Home Solutions may be able to help! Contact us using the form below and our team will give you a call. We look forward to working with you!