All Forum Posts by: Aaron Millis

@Dustin Woodley Sorry for the late reply. But I am in the process of buying a foreclosure using a Reno loan. So I need a licensed contractor to do some rehab stuff and work with my lender for everything he needs. I was working with someone but they aren’t very reliable so now I’m looking again. If you know of any good licensed contractors in Montgomery please let me know

Hi I’m just looking for any recommendations for great contractors in the Montgomery Alabama area. Thanks.

@Thomas W. this response Is more about your debt to income ratIo than It Is savIng up money: Some banks will let you count 75% of your rental income to offset your mortgage. So if your mortgage was 1000 and you rented the house for 750 you’d be even in their eyes, so you could now use your original income to buy another investment property. I’m currently in the process of doing this and will be closing on my 2nd property in December. I bought my first home conventional for 15% down which was about 22k with closing costs. I’m now ready to buy a home and I have about 20K saves up again.. but it wouldn’t even matter if I hadn’t rented out my first home- because my debt to income ratio got a fresh start basically so now I can afford as much as my income allows. And if you’re going to live in the home and fix it up you can get into it for less money down. I’m buying a foreclosure with a 5% down Reno Loan. And I will live in it for at least a year while I fix it up. This strategy isn’t great for anything huge or long term- since you’re only allowed so many loans from the bank. But it’s good for starting out especially if you have a fixed amount of income that isn’t likely to raise drastically anytime soon. It’s all about the DTI, so get a strong rental so you can repeat! Hope this helps

Hi BP. I am just looking for any recommendations in the Montgomery Alabama area for a contractor and or a home inspector. Any input is appreciated thanks.

Advice*

Hi BP,

So I am looking to get into multi family properties in the pretty near future and I just wanted to get anyone’s 2 cents that owns a commercial multi family property and to see how you started.

I have one rental property now that I live in (house hacking) and i am in the process of doing a HELOC on the property. So once that goes through I'll have roughly 50K of capital to play with.

I live in Auburn Alabama and the market here is pretty crazy so I have been looking at surrounding cities like Montgomery and Birmingham that are bigger and more affordable.

I know that the typical down payment someone’s needs for commercial is 25% so short of me getting seller financing, or a partner, or some other creative finance path my purchase power leads me towards properties that are typically in lower income areas- at least for the ones I’ve spotted. (200K ish)

I’ve listened to pretty much every podcast multiple times and often hear people saying that when they begin they focus more on cash flow and as they grow they look more towards appreciation opportunities. The kind of properties that are in my price range mostly seem like they would not see much appreciation in the foreseeable future.

So If you were me what would you do? Im definitely not the “analysis paralysis“ type of person therefore my worry Is that Ill jump Into something I shouldn't. Also probably worth mentioning I would definitely be wanting to self manage any acquired property, partly for the experience and also just because I have plenty of time to invest. Thanks.

Hi BP, So I’m not sure if I’m in the right area but my question was basically how to figure out what I need to do to change a duplex into a single family.. if it’s even possible. I’m assuming I need to talk to someone who has control over zoning houses? Also has anyone done this and can you tell me what the steps roughly are for the legal/physical aspects, and how it went for you (was it worth it) Thanks!

Hi all,

So I was just wondering if anyone knows where I can figure out what exactly I would need to do to change a multi family property into a single family- legally/physically/etc . Also I live in Alabama if that helps, or if anyone just already knows the answer. Thanks.

@Tony R Fox You've gotten a lot of good responses in here, the only thing I wanted to comment about that I saw you mentioned was the getting a mentor thing. If you're looking for a mentor/coach that's gonna cost you money I'd strongly suggest of think of BP as a mentor before going there. Meaning most of their books all the podcasts and obviously the forums. Lots of great things to learn around here man. I've been on here for like 2 years now and recently got my first rental and I'm still learning great things, getting new ideas everyday. Good luck man

@Samantha Miller I was actually in a pretty similar situation as you a few months ago. I had already had my house for a year so I didn't have the timing issue but I have a 4 bedroom 4 bath house in Auburn Al and it's my first property/investment/house hack, because I'm living in one of the rooms. I'm not sure what the demand is like where you are for housing but in auburn it's great. All I really did was put my place on Facebook marketplace and zillow and I got plenty of people inquiring. For me one of the biggest thing when choosing tenants/roommates I had to make sure I wouldn't despise them as a person. I'm sure that sounds messed up to a degree but you're going to be living with these people for possibly years so if they come off as immature or annoying or dirty etc don't look past that just because they might have the deposit and good credit. As far as you being in the middle of the semester I would say maybe it would be worth doing the vacation rental thing for a few months until until January when everyone subleases. Again idk what your area is like but I regret not doing that for my place in Auburn, because the football games here. Good luck!