All Forum Posts by: Alecia Loveless

@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.

@Jeff Cua I’m using Venmo and allowing checks for now. If the checks become a problem for anyone such as a bounced check, I will insist on an alternative form of payment.

My bank is about 1/3 mile from my house so deposit is not a problem.

Venmo was very simple but the local bank stopped accepting it. Now I’m trying to set it up through a national bank I have an account with but their call center wait time has been a problem. I’m sure once I get it fixed it will be easy again.

I get an email when a deposit is made from Venmo identifying the depositor and it also identifies the amount deposited and person in Venmo app. Then you transfer the money from the app to your bank account. Next month I believe they are starting to take maybe 2% charge for services like rent and other recurring charges.

If I get it fixed I probably won’t change it due to the charge because the tenants like it.

@Ley Nezifort Still lots of good deals coming through the market in my neck of the woods if you’re willing to do some work and can move quickly on your decision to offer.

For the first time ever in the last month and a half have had 4 supposed whole salers actively creating lists of buyers for my area, I’m really off the beaten path, but no action from any of them yet.

I think the whole salers thought they’d discovered a cheap market about an hour north of me, hence the flurry of activity, but the properties in the particular location go on market in as is condition and all need to be rehabbed but the tenants just trash them so anyone who knows the area isn’t going to fall for that.

@Paolo Umali I, too, would take the deal.

One of the things I look at when purchasing a property is if I believe the rental market will stay fairly stabilized even if the the housing market collapses some. So, since you know your market, do you believe if the value of the home you’re buying fell from $550,000 to $475,000 could you still get $1400 for the basement and $1600-$1800 for the top part once you move out? That way your bills will still remain covered while the housing market recovers which it will eventually.

If the answer is yes, you can still generate $3,000-$3200 a month in rent because you have a good, desirable location then you should be fine to make the purchase.

If you think the whole economic basis of your town falls out if the housing market drops, like you live in an oil field town dependent on an oil boom it might not be a good opportunity.