All Forum Posts by: Amanda Rechsteiner

 Hartland/Howell/Brighton area in Livingston County, MI 

 Thank you! Either way it will. Selling as a big chunk is just easier and quicker haha!

 We have a real estate attorney who has been working on this for a little while. It is technically possible after some land swapping with the neighbor (road frontage requirements), township approvals, etc. but he suggested trying to sell it as is as an investor special first before starting that process.

Hey BP! I am very interested to hear thoughts on this one. Let me know what you've got.

I have a property in my portfolio that I am looking to sell off market and creatively. I own a parcel with two homes on it and they are both currently rented out, bringing in $3,400 a month. Highly appreciating and sought-after area, well maintained, high-demand rental market with little to no vacancy. But the lot is nonconforming due to its nature (2 single family homes, 1 parcel) so it will not pass traditional financing/appraisal. We have tried and I have spoken to SEVERAL lenders. Deals have fallen apart on it because of that. We have also talked to the township to ensure everything is legal and good and they have zero problems with the property but due to current zoning and allowances, traditional lending/appraisal standards don't love it. 

Obviously a cash buyer would be ideal. Any other thoughts for selling it? Also, to keep it off market (privacy reasons for everyone involved and unique nature of the property), are there any sites or ways to connect with investors that would be looking for a property like this? I am in some Michigan off market FB groups but that is as far as I have gotten. Should I connect with someone that may have a buyer list of investors? Where do I find good and reputable people?

Thanks!

Hi Joseph! 

I have been building my portfolio over in Lansing in the mid term rental space. Just an idea based on my experience and how I got started... I did not know how this market would be for mid term rentals and if there was even demand to fill. I looked at other mid term rental listings but clearly don't know about their inquiries and success. After listening to several podcasts, I heard you can list it as unfurnished with "furnishings to come." I posted my listing on Furnished Finder UNfurnished to get a feel for the demand as I was finishing renovations on the house (if you do this, still make sure you have great photos to make it stand out!). This does not always work but hear me out. I had to give it a few days to give it some traction and then I had 3 inquiries within a week. Travelers wanting to move in ASAP and they trusted that I would have it furnished nicely. Our current tenant paid for their background/credit checks and filled out their application within a few hours of inquiring and paid the first months rent to secure the place within 24 hours. Got him all set up in our system (TurboTenant) and he gave us a week to furnish it. Ever since then, we still get weekly inquiries on the property to the point where I'm buying another house over there and doing about the same thing haha. At this point, I have more tenant inquiries than houses and I'm realizing it is a great market for mid term rentals. At the beginning before I knew that though, I was not in a place to furnish an entire house for the off chance of it not working out. This is how I proceeded and it worked so it is an idea. If you decide to go this route, just make sure you have professional photography taken after furnishing before your tenant moves in so you can update your listing photos.

You never know unless you try! Best of luck.  

Love house hacking and seeing everyone's experiences. Here was my experience and how I did things... Learned over time and figured out the system that worked for us.

When showing the property, I did not tell them right away that I was the owner. I sent some pre screening questions and let them know I was the property manager. Once I knew I was moving forward with a tenant, I would then let them know before they committed and paid for background/credit checks. They will be seeing you around obviously and at least for us at this time, our address is on the lease so it's not really something you can hide. I am now looking into setting up a PO Box for everything for business purposes but for the time being, our address as the owners needs to be on the lease. But if a tenant does not feel comfortable knowing the owner is right there, why move forward with it and try to hide that you are the owner? I am all for transparency. None of our tenants have had a problem with it. BUT I still keep everything professional and protect boundaries. Just because you are the owner and a neighbor does not mean you can't still be professional. Definitely keep boundaries and remember that a business is a business.

I have separate bank accounts for each property. I collect rent through TurboTenant and they have set up late fees if they do not pay. I began by collecting checks at the very beginning. Don't do that. Have a system set up and ready. Don't intermingle personal finances and business (Not my area of expertise though). 

Best of luck!

Congratulations! Don't you love seeing the transformation? How long did this flip take?

Hi Jennie, I'll DM you! I'd love to help in any way I can and bounce ideas off of each other. But to put this quickly here, I do not form a new LLC with every new partner for every deal.

 Responded! Thanks for reaching out.

 Hi Tanner, I just messaged you. Looking forward to connecting.