All Forum Posts by: Bryan Blankenship

@Clayton Pearce Are you talking about doing a 1031 exchange, or regular transactions? Most rentals are buy-and-hold, long-term strategies, of course, but if you're doing a 1031, you can roll a single family into more properties, obviously. It all depends on your local market and what your realistic goals and timelines are. 

@Brad Rabinowitz Well, that was unexpected LOL. The good news is, THEY'RE OUT! No need to wait for evictions, no difficulty navigating around them while doing showings. VERY thoroughly document the condition of the property as they left it. Use your lease to enforce your own standing here, especially since they abandoned the property before the lease expiration and with no notice to boot (what is the penalty for that in your lease? enforce it).

I'd look at the silver lining here and not worry or stress about it too much. 

@Matt Towner Welcome aboard, sir! Learn, absorb, listen to podcasts! There's a wealth of resources and networking available here, and you'd be silly not to take full advantage of it. :)

It sounds like you're well on your way already, so best of luck to you, and I look forward to reading about the success you had in this first deal, and all of the subsequent deals you'll be doing after that!

@Christopher G. Welcome aboard, Christopher! It's not possible to REALLY know what you're getting into if you don't go see it for yourself. The best you can do is get all the info you can from the seller on the condition of the property, then ADD 30% to that, because they're never accurate. So if they say it needs a kitchen remodel, bathroom remodel, and a roof, but everything else is totally 100% awesome, then calculate all of those costs together, figure in that if it needs both a kitchen and bathroom remodel, it's likely some of the mechanicals are older and will need attention too, and if the roof needs done, you'll probably need to take a look at the siding, etc... and you can see how adding 30% makes sense.

IF you do it that way, you'll get closer to the real costs. Even 30% is being a bit conservative, though, depending on the size, age, and location of the property. It's not uncommon to think you'll only need $20k on a property based on what you've been told, then you get inside and find that it's ACTUALLY $55k. A lot of people may look around a room and say, "oh, it looks fine as it is," as they stare at wallpaper from the 70s and stained, green shag carpet LOL.

Your best bet is to go as low as you can in price. The more wiggle room you have, the less those surprises impact your bottom line. Don't get to the point where you feel desperate for a deal and throw out a number that's too high JUST to get something. That will bite you in the butt real quick. :)

@Erwin Perez Welcome aboard, sir! You'll find a wealth of resources and networking available here. My sister-in-law used to live in Greenwood, so I'm only vaguely familiar with the area, but Indy is a great place to be to invest! Learn, absorb, listen to podcasts, read, and don't be afraid to take the plunge. A lot of people fail out of this industry because they get stuck in "analysis paralysis."

Do your due diligence and trust, but verify. If you follow those guidelines, you're golden. :) Best of luck!

@Matt Lawrence When in doubt, I do both. Basically what @John Teachout said - list on the MLS and make preparations for your plan B in the background. If no one bites, switch gears and do the work needed to it. If this has increased the value enough, re-list at a higher price with fresh, beautiful photos. If that's unlikely to happen based on the first listing (lack of showings or good feedback, etc), then advertise it as a rental.

Doing a refi is getting more difficult for the time being. Lenders are either pulling back or they are so busy they're pushing refis out. They're still happening, just on a delayed timeline. No one knows yet how much the lending market will change with everything that's going on!

@Rickey Miller Jr You're welcome, sir! There is definitely a ton of opportunity and money to be made if you position yourself to be able to take advantage of it when the time is ripe. That doesn't necessarily mean you sit on your hands, though. You still need to have everything in place and ready to go at a moment's notice. It took me many years to establish the relationships I have with crews, vendors, and fellow investors. If I didn't have those, I wouldn't have been able to retire at 35 years old LOL.

I've already seen a lot of players drop out in the last two weeks. It'll be interesting to see who makes it through to next year!

@Samuel Pavlovcik Welcome aboard, sir! Real estate investing is its own passion, and I think you'll have a blast with it.

Good luck! :)

@Jean Santiago I'm echoing what they've said: 2% vacancy is WAY low. We always use 5% at a MINIMUM. Add in insurance, property management (monthly fees plus leasing fees), and you'll need to increase that interest rate. I've been talking to a lot of lenders lately, and 3.5% for non-owner occupied is not very realistic in the current market.

As @Jaysen Medhurst said, don't get too optimistic about rent. These numbers LOOK great at first glance, but you have to make sure you really include everything, and opt to be a bit conservative to make yourself safe. I suppose if you're including utilities in their rent pricing, it makes a bit more sense, but from my experience, it's easier to find a tenant if you have a flat rent rate, then put the cost of the utilities right onto them. They might balk at $1600, but see $1450 and think that's reasonable.

Getting something truly rent-ready can sometimes only cost $500, but in a house that size, it's unlikely. Have you looked into the age of all of the mechanicals? There might be some big ticket items near the end of their useful life. Good luck! :)

@Account Closed Yup, the Midwest is great! Ohio (Cinci, Dayton, Columbus), Indy, KC, etc. Your dollar goes farther and the economies there are doing well with a variety of industries. $75K can easily get you into 2-3 decent single families if you finance. Just be careful not to get into lower class areas that kill your returns in an instant. :)

Good luck, sir!