Rental Property Investor · Maryville, TN · Member since 2016 · 28 posts · 26 votes
I am interested in hearing from people whose portfolio consists of single family rentals. I currently own 7 sfr. I’ve had great success acquiring them over the past three years. But it seems like this is the point where most people start investing in multi family. I’m not really wanting to do that. I run a car dealership in Maryville TN and love my job. So I really just want to keep snagging up sfr. Hopefully over the next ten years I can acquire about 30 more. Has anyone taken the single family only route? If so please lend some information on why you chose it. My initial goal was 40. But with me only being 28 years old. I think I should be able to pass that up
Contractor · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
7y
@Phillip Massey
And I work about 50 hours a week at my regular day job...
I probly work 65 hours a week and that's only because I really just love working in general. It's what I do! Some people have a bunch of hobbies or do a lot of traveling I pretty much just work and it brings a lot of enjoyment to me!
Contractor · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
7y
@Phillip Massey
I started in 2012. I decided to buy a home for my mother so she could move closer to me and then she decided she did not want the home so I just turned it into a rental and that started the whole thing!
Contractor · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
7y
@Phillip Massey
I do not utilize financing. I've actually never financed anything... My credit sucks because of this but I don't really care nothing beats the feeling of being debt free...
I just let my rents snowball and the next thing you know you've got enough money to buy another one and then you just play repeat...
BRRRR, I believe, just gets people over leveraged and into trouble...plus $150 -200 a door sucks.. lol....I like $500-600 a door...that's real money..
I started in 2012. I decided to buy a home for my mother so she could move closer to me and then she decided she did not want the home so I just turned it into a rental and that started the whole thing!
I started in 2015. But I do use financing. I have been using 20% down conventional financing. But just got my first brrrr property. You are at a torrid pace. So you’re averaging buying a property every other month for the past 6 years
Rental Property Investor · Concord, NC · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 3k+ votes
7y
What @Mark Fries said. I bought my first SFH buy/rehab/rent as a hobby 10 years ago. The 18th one allowed me to retire early and cash flow life. BTW, I don't need the 'dead equity' lecture. Clocks and calendars are for kids. Life is good.
Contractor · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
7y
@Phillip Massey
I have bought 4 this month only because December is always the best month to buy affordable rental properties because banks and people just want to dump them and you can really get a fantastic price!!
Contractor · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
7y
@Terrell Garren
I couldn't agree more with the whole dead equity garbage!!... it means nothing to me... what means something to me is getting those free and clear checks every single month knowing that I'm just crushing it...
It's only greed knocking on the door trying to get inside your head when it comes to the whole dead equity thing...
"However, I recognize the value in only SFR. It's less work, they appreciate better"
Only my personal opinion but I do disagree on these points. Per tenant I believe SFH is far more work and when I say work I mean maintenance per tenant. The whole one roof per tennat as opposed to one roof and multiple tenants. As for appreciation we all know the value of a SFH is driven by home buyers and the economy as opposed to the income based appreciation of a multi. Appreciation is always a complete unknown with SFHs. Yesterday is no guarantee of tomorrow as we all know.
Overall I view SFH investing as much higher risk, all your eggs in one basket, and therefor the "potential" reward less attractive. The value of multi investing falls squarely on strength in numbers.
Rental Property Investor · Member since 2018 · 41 posts · 8 votes
7y
@Mark Fries What are your general purchase price and monthly rent points to clear $500-600 per door? Just roughly speaking, are you buying $50,000 properties and then renting them for ????
Rental Property Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2013 · 100 posts · 85 votes
7y
@Phillip Massey I think it depends on your situation and market to a certain extent. I do like SFR as my target tenant is fairly picky and is more sticky when they have their own “home”. Also, the tenants are responsible for yard maintenance with SFR vs MF..
Specialist · Hoboken, NJ · Member since 2018 · 5 posts · 0 votes
7y
@Mark Fries Thanks! What is your typical pre-repair purchase price? I am looking to possibly buy cash, repair and rent. I used to live in town but that was many years ago. The neighborhoods that were war zones then seem like they still are.
Contractor · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
7y
@Monica Antonette
I buy for 20-25k, pre rehab.
I do buy on the North side but not in war zones only on nice streets and quiet neighborhoods...that's the key. I would never invest directly in a war zone.
Los Angeles · Member since 2018 · 464 posts · 471 votes
7y
I think it has to depend on the market. For example, here in Southern California, it's almost impossible to find a cash-flowing SFH. Yah, it'll appreciate like crazy, but expect it to be a tax deduction against other income for a bunch of years.
And it's only gotten worse since they started building the new Rams stadium in Inglewood. A couple of years ago you could get a 2 bedroom dump for 2 to $300K, fix it up, and maybe flip it for 20 to $50K profit or maybe hold it for modest cash-flow. Now, you can hardly find one for under 5 or 600K or more, and it's still a dump. You maybe can fix and flip it, but nobody is going to pay $3.5 to $4K monthly rent needed to cash-flow.
What @Mark Fries said. I bought my first SFH buy/rehab/rent as a hobby 10 years ago. The 18th one allowed me to retire early and cash flow life. BTW, I don't need the 'dead equity' lecture. Clocks and calendars are for kids. Life is good.
Thats awesome. I run a car dealership and using the sfrs for retirement. I’m 28 now. And just putting the properties on 20 notes.
Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
7y
I have a large portfolio of single families. I bought many of them during the downturn when they are cheap, so the yields are decent.
My main advantage with single families is that I get longer tenancy. My main disadvantage is that the repairs and turnover costs are much higher.
For my apartment buildings, my main advantage is scalability and efficiency. Scalability means that I can build a portfolio quicker. An example of efficiency is that I only have one roof and boiler. And also I don't have as many locations to manage - which can be a problem with single families.
I believe the single family model works well for the smaller or beginner investor. If the house is located in a decent area, it is easy to liquidate the investment by selling it as a regular house. Some of my single family rentals located in lower middle class areas are most likely permanent rental houses.
Rahway, NJ · Member since 2016 · 72 posts · 6 votes
7y
What type of financing is out there for single family rental properties? I always thought banks wanted at least 25% and charged a higher interest rate than owner occupied.
Are any of you using hard money as short term financing to brrrr deals?
Miami Beach, FL · Member since 2015 · 33 posts · 13 votes
7y
@Mark Fries I'm in Miami. Don't know jax very well. I would never buy in Miami lol 25k would get me a shoe box. Any info on the jax area to research would be appreciated. Looking for 1 property. Thanks. Starting out