All Forum Posts by: Alexander Felice

The inquiries won't hurt you too bad. You get 7-8 in 12 months before it negatively affects you anyway. Also, inquiries of similar security in a 2 week period are weighed less severe. 

What probably hurt you most is all the new account history like @Daniel Mohnkern mentioned. Your average age of credit history dropped significantly. 

I live in Fayetteville and I'm not a big fan of the REIA here so I've been looking for some locals to chat with. I'm pretty far away but I'll try to sneak out of work early and get over there to shake some hands!

You can manipulate the numbers however you want. I'm just posting what is standard. These tenants may be perfect, but the next ones may not be and it's important to make sure the property will still cashflow.

Management expense is a personal pet peeve of mine. Not counting it is what I consider incorrect accounting. SOMEONE is managing the place, and that's an expense. Even though you manage it now, you may not always manage it. It's important to make sure that if someone else manages the property that it still cashflows. 

what @Jon Holdman is referring to is monthly expenses that you have not listed. These numbers are missed by new investors and it's crucial you factor them in.

vacancy = 8-10%

Maintenance= 5-10%

Management (must be accounted for even if you self manage) = 8-12%

CapEx = 8-10%

A simpler way to do this is the "50% rule" which shouldn't be used in place of calculating actual expenses but to quickly see if a deal is worth your advanced attention. 

The 50% rule says that 1/2 of your revenue will go towards expenses before debt service. Based on your numbers it would look as such:

2300 rent

-1150 expenses

-mortgage PI ONLY (guessing ~650 based on what you provided)

= 500 net 

This still looks really good. I would take your time and go through all the calculations a few times to be thorough. BP has a calculator you can use for free a few times without upgrading your account as well. 

Don't forget:

vacancy

Management

Maintenance

CapEx

Make sure you still cash flow after you account for all expenses, not just PITI and utilities. Good luck!

I have a condo, I'll hang on to it, but I wouldn't buy another one. 

I don't like having to pay the HOA for no equity return, special assessments are a worry, and I find they have weird appreciation/devaluation.

@Stephen Chittenden is correct. A traditional personal mortgage won't be possible for an LLC you'll have to use commercial. Same boat as me, not ideal but it is what it is.

I'm a notary and I give that service away for free. It's not hard to find, it's not really necessary and it's just not that valuable. 

I could charge a fee to notarize where I work and I still do it for free LOL 

I think people could make money on notary in decades past but I don't see how it could be profitable in the slightest anymore.

People are BP aren't special just because they are on this website. It's up to you to your due diligence.

You can get great free info on this site, meet great people and find deals. You could also get scammed....no different than meeting people in your local area. Use this resource as an advantage, but don't assume that resource is infallible. 

Yeah I think a lot of people rely on social media but at this point it's been beaten to death. You need to generate REAL business and meaningful contacts. So many people are on social media nonsense that it has become the digital equivalent of junk mail you get at the house and just toss away. 

I'm not saying it's worthless, but as any small business owner you need to understand the cost it takes to get new clients, that time spent on social media has a real ROI and my bet is that number is low. When advertising is free, as with anything, you generally get what you pay for.