All Forum Posts by: Alecia Loveless

@Paul Kubin Hi Paul. I've been friends with my agent for 20 years. Over the years he's shown me whatever I've "had" to see at the moment. I amuse him. Recently we've done more transactions together and I finally feel he's got the hang of what I'm looking for. Not only am I on the MLS auto send for several local towns he also goes through the ones that are new at his agency each morning and sends me firsthand the best listings.

While I wouldn’t say he’s ever been the Rockstar up in my region he’s been here for 25 years following a distinguished banking career, and has focused on building solid relationships that create repeat clients.

You don’t always have to have the Rockstar to get everything you need. Sometimes being able to Foster your own perfect agent works out just as well.

@Seb Ko Hi Seb. I believe most people here recommend trying a smaller local bank or a credit union but I could be wrong. If you talk to someone in the lending department at these local type institutions they will quickly be able to tell you if they can help you or not.

@Daniel Lynch I was with my Ex for 20 years. For the first 8 we split costs and/or our business paid for everything. We sold that business and started a new one which never quite paid the bills and certainly not our expenses. My ex made good money as a real estate agent and would occasionally take me out to dinner but never paid bills or rent in my home. I racked up tens of thousands of debt and paid bills with a full time job and eventually we broke up and I started over. My ex continued living rent free for four years after our divorce in my home using my electricity, my cable, and my internet. I finally got the property sold and haven’t seen her in six months. I should have put my foot down 12 years ago and said we were splitting the bills.

Now I am debt free, have 10 doors and am looking to do more deals.

@Elizabeth Smith Locate a realtor who also has an international branch of marketing with their firm. You might have to find one who is not quite so local to yours or who is part of a chain like Century 21 or something that might work along side someone closer if a different branch office has the international marketing designation.

My local real estate company had some international connection when my bed and breakfast was listed during 2020 and Covid and we got a lot of foreign people who lived stateside whose family members abroad sent them to look.

Best of luck selling!

@Moe Die Both types of property have their ups and downs.

A single family rental has a conventional 30 year mortgage and usually a lower cash flow and traditionally costs less than its multi family counter part.

A small multi family, 2-4 units can also be bought with a 30 year conventional mortgage, will typically require a 25% down payment and after expenses should cash flow more than the single family.

Larger small multis 5-15 units are bought with commercial loans and as you get more tenants living together you can get more of the “headache” factor of dealing with larger amounts of people. These properties should cash flow more than the first two based on economies of scale, simply from having more units.

If you have little or no experience with property management I would recommend a single family house or a 1-4 unit to start with based on personal preference to get some experience before diving into the larger properties but nothing says you can’t buy a bigger one to start with if you feel comfortable with it.

@Justin Rockitter In my area there’s one inspector that is WAY more thorough than the rest. The realtors don’t like him because his reports tend to scare nervous buyers over small things. I’ve tried to get him for all my stuff but until my last property I’ve never been able to get him because he’s just booked solid.

However on this property he found things my contractor missed when we walked through including rotted floor joists throughout the basement and a partially unsupported chimney.

I brought in my “estimating contractor” who is familiar with pricing out work and knows the current costs of lumber as he is also a finished carpenter and he looked at everything and gave an estimate of $100,000 for the work needed on this $300,000 property.

At this point I could have taken or left the property and told the realtor my new price was $200,000. He negotiated a lower price and I said sorry I was firm at $200,000 and that is the price I got.

While I do have to pay out of pocket for the renovation it will all be write offs and I can fight my taxes on the lower price.

Between the $550 for the septic inspection by a septic inspector only not a septic company and the $500 for the very thorough building inspection it was the best money I’ve spent yet on my home inspections. My advice is don’t skimp get the inspections, check references, find the best inspector you can they can be worth their weight in gold.

@Maile Clancy I’m using GoDaddy SmartLine. I’m sure there’s better options but is $13 a month and working for now. However the selling realtor gave one tenant my real number who gave it to another tenant... so I’m kind of having a debate about just giving the real number out and saving the$150 a year.

@Emmanuel Ivory I always get inspections and got $94,900 off of my currently closing deal originally priced at $294,900 because of what we found and the estimate I got for repairs.

@Dylan Katz My sister has rentals north of the DFW metroplex and she did this with just one of her dozens of units and went back the following weekend to discover the pipes gone and the outside AC unit stolen. Lesson learned.

@Sam Conway Hi, welcome to the forums. I’m in New England so while not the same market, a similar type of situation.

My local area is made up of about 6 towns in about a 35 mile area. In May 2019 I bought a duplex in my hometown to house hack. I moved into my side and the other side underwent some significant renovations and 8 months later a tenant from another rental I had moved in.

In May 2020 before our local market started its hyper appreciation I bought a SFH. It's undergone renovation and was to be a long term rental but now that the incredible appreciation has hit I'm going to sell it and do a 1031.

I started looking for larger investments with more units. I came across a gorgeous 4 unit that I bought February 2021.

Mid June I expect to close on a 3 unit.

I’d certainly consider larger, mid-sized properties if a “nice” one came in the market. We have our fair share of fire traps around that I wouldn’t touch. Old 1870s type 3 story buildings with 1 staircase and 10 apartments in them and no fire sprinkler system.

I have been enjoying the conventional 30 year mortgages with the low interest rates. My current one is 3.675%. Commercial rates will be a little higher.

If you can find the larger 8-10 unit properties and the numbers work I say jump right in. It is a learning experience and you might want to take 4-5 months before buying a second 8-10 unit building while you learn the ropes and get your systems in place. But I feel confident that you can handle it!