All Forum Posts by: Alecia Loveless

@Jaleen Anderson For me it depended on the loan amount and how much rent I take in as well as what my cash flow is.

I'm in a rural area and my loans aren't that big so I decided about 1/3 of each mortgage payments. It leaves some of the cash flow to go into reserves as well as all of my CapEx.

Originally I was trying to match the principal each month but decided that was not wise because part of it was having to come out of my pocket and that wasn’t sustainable as I scaled my portfolio.

@Henry Huang I would definitely contribute to the Roth. I started out strong with mine in high school then quit in college and never started again and now I’m 45 trying to play catch up and hoping real estate can fix my retirement account.

I would also recommend something like Acorns which is a Round Up investment vehicle where you link your debit card to the account and every time you make a purchase like $3.49 for a coffee the round up to the nearest dollar amount, $0.51 gets deposited in an investment account.

Then you can use the gift of your parents money to buy your first rental and start saving from your first job for your down payment on the second rental.

@Jon Christensen So I have lived in a tourist community along the way to OOB for 24 years now, owning 2 B&Bs for 23 years during that time. A LOT of Canadians stopped at my places on their way to OOB every summer. I’m sure to some extent that’s still the norm. My advice is have online booking through AirBnB and sync it to your website or other sites you are on.

Canadians will also be the nicest guests you ever have.

@Keith A. I got a second part time job within my field for a different local company. I typically work overnights and at the second company when one of their people goes on vacation or calls out sick on my days off I get a 13 hour shift.

It doesn’t compare money-wise to OT at my regular job but it’s been a nice fill in and it’s also at a lower tax rate than the OT is.

The best part is that for 90% of the shift I’m free to be on my phone, tablet , or computer, or do anything I want! Mostly I read and expand my knowledge.

@Mike M. My small town 2200 people has lost about 70% of its long term rentals to STR. Over the past year a few, maybe 5 properties out of 100 have been getting noise/party complaints. The town is now considering banning STR because of these 5 properties.

I have suggested licensing the STR properties with a nominal fee and a 2 year renewal period. There would be a 3-strike you're out rule for violations with an increasing fine structure for the owners before losing their license for the remainder of the 2 year period.

I don’t think it’s fair to penalize and ban everyone because of a few bad eggs.

@Grant Doyle Reach out to other lender(s) to see about getting a 30 year loan to lower the payment for the first thing.

Create a marketing pitch once you have figured out your cash flow and see if you can get 1-2 people to loan you the remaining down payment you need. Since I’m assuming it’s not a HUGE amount it wouldn’t be a syndication deal but rather a loan at a good enough percentage rate to interest someone if you can make it work. 7% paid each month amortized over 30 years with balloon payment in 3 years. Then you refi them out at end of the term.

Of course the cash flow would have to be enough to cover the monthly mortgage and payment to the lender.

@Alicia Shen I started out investing in my local area 22 years ago and had some bad experiences but learned a lot.

3 years ago I got back into the market and now have 10 units in 4 properties. I’ve learned a lot. But I’m ready for bigger investments and in my area the biggest deal you will find might be a 6-7 unit ancient house that’s been chopped up into one bedroom apartments.

So, I’ve gotten on board with someone and am preparing to create a team in an out of state market for a larger property. It’s going to take time and more effort than just plunking down a 25% deposit on a conventional 30 year mortgage but I’m optimistic that I can make it happen.

So don’t get discouraged. BiggerPockets has a book on out of state investing that’s great. Start there, and make your dreams happen!!

@Montez Blackburn I’ve been using the same accountant for 20 years to do my taxes with several businesses, trusts and properties involved. I’ve always done the bookkeeping. This usually runs me about $750 total.

This year as I’ve added a few more properties I’m thinking of hiring a bookkeeper who specializes in Quickbooks which is the software I use, I don’t know enough about it to fully utilize it, to organize my accounts and at the end of the year run reports for me for the accountant.

I haven’t gotten an estimate for this service yet but think that as I’m expanding my portfolio this is a wise next step to help minimize the damage from a possible audit. I don’t believe it will take someone familiar with Quickbooks more than 5 hours to reorganize my files.

I would suggest getting your accounting in order while you are starting out to have a good foundation to build from as you expand.

@Jonathan Giglio Hi Jonathan, I'm in northern New Hampshire and deals come across the MLS every 3-4 weeks or so. I know that's not all the time but if you're patient they happen in every market.

Just last week a 3/2 with a cute yard came on for $165,000. And there’s a 2 unit that’s two 3/1 houses for I think $239,000 now you could probably get for a little less. You’d have to probably get new tenants for that one because the two are below market rent but I think it works if they were paying market rent.

Neither were glamorous or home runs but both were solid deals to get started with.

I’ve been investing for years and I’ve finally signed up with a mentor and we’re shifting my direction now. And I’m moving toward a different market which I think was suggested to you. So my homework for the week was to pick two markets and connect with 3 Realtors in each market. So I can start them on the hunt for my desired property. Then I’m supposed to continue building my team and interview property managers in those markets until I find one I like in each market and try to get on board with them.

You could try the same thing. Find one market with a lower entry point than Southern New Hampshire. Using BiggerPockets locate a realtor in that market and contact them and see if they’ll work with you. Build your team. Go from there.

@Brian Buchanan Someone just bought our previously town owned 18 hole golf course. For the past 20 years the town had put all the proceeds back into maintaining and improving the course as much as possible but had made little to no capital equipment purchases beyond the carts and the bare minimum of maintenance to the club house.

So far the new owners, a local couple, have over hauled the club house from new electrical, new roof, and all new kitchen equipment, to starting a planned several year equipment purchase program for the course.

There’s definitely a market to get into private ownership of golf courses particularly if you can turn them into destinations for events and weddings to boost after hours revenue and build up your tournament schedule.

The new buyers of our town course have set a 5 year plan for generating more business, attracting more tournaments, and hosting more small events by having a functional restaurant with good food for the first time in years.

If you decide to get into this market, I’m sure your property will be more expensive than the one I’m talking about. I’d consider hiring a consultant to get your plan going and your property on track. Especially if it’s lacking in the tournament/wedding/function venue because you may need someone with the vision to help you turn it around. A good golf pro should be able to work on tournaments but not every facility manager has the scope to create a wedding facility.