All Forum Posts by: Amy Leonard

In my divorce a few years back, I was in a situation where I needed to secure housing and quickly for myself and my 2 kids. It’s an extremely competitive renting environment in my area. I tried to come up with ways I could stand out so I offered a year up front. I was at my job at the time for 13 years and made $130k a year, credit in the 800’s. As applications were rolling in, I offered the landlord $24k in one check to take the listing down. He took the bait. This experience inspired me to be an investor/landlord in my area. 

@Mark Fries that’s impressive! I work 50-60 hrs a week and trying to figure out when to fit in more than 4 sfh and 1 commercial. We self manage but it takes a lot of time to acquire and reno. I have 4 kids too (think that’s the complicating factor). You have any kids? Lol 

I’ve only bought sfh so far, I’m at 4 in 12 months. There are very few multi families in my area outside of inner city C/D neighborhoods. I get very nice cash flow out of my townhouses. But the singles are way out of price range to get even the smallest cash flow. My max will probably be 6 or 8. I have a decent amount in the stock market as well as 4 kids approaching college age. It’s really a matter of preference. My gold mine location has zero apartment complexes and zoning that doesn’t allow anymore townhouses to be built. Picking up these sfh allows families to move to a great school district. Virtually no competition for my rentals. I have a waiting list of future tenants if/when I acquire more. 

I'm also a convert (via the advice of my mortgage lender who has 60 doors himself) from the 15 yr to 30 yr. My 1st SFH I bought for $155k, 15 yr mortgage 25% down. It rents for $1475 and in one year it's at $170k in a conservative market. B+ neighborhood 3 bed 2.5 baths. While my cash flow is a little under $300 a month without expenses, approx $175 with expenses...$476 goes to principal every month. My 30 year similar deals have $145 going to principal and $400 cash flow with expenses. So, now I do 30 yr mortgages in my name (my commercial property is the only one in my LLC). And I make 1 extra mortgage payment a year making them a 21 yr mortgage instead of 30. So I have the cash flow to be able to reinvest, use for repairs, cover a vacancy etc. Have you considered personal financing?

My biggest REI issue is time. I work 50-60 hours a week at my "9-5", have 4 kids that all play sports, a 5300 sq ft house on 3 acres to maintain, 4 sfh's that I manage and repair, and a commercial property with multiple leases. Acquired the 4 properties in this last year. This investor is exhausted. Lol

In my units that I allow pets for a $250 refundable deposit and $25 a month extra rent per pet (2 max), I consider variables. I have only SFH with 3 beds, mainly families. Families have pets. Next, I consider the age and conditioning of the flooring (old/damaged/needs replaced soon) I allow pets. Wouldn't have new/newer flooring with pets. And finally, my properties with fenced yards are allowed pets. I have B+ rentals so not as much of an issue as say inner city multis. No discrimination with breeds, but all dogs so far are small ones. Just allowed my first cat, we will see how that goes.

Cozy has worked for a few of my tenants. But, my new tenant tried to use it to set up automatic rent payments however their credit union does not allow it. No experience with Zelle. 

 Dang that’s a reasonably priced house! That area must be where you all are hiding the $50k houses discussed at bigger pockets. lol                 A row home falling down in the most dangerous part of the inner city is $130k in my area. 

I'm investing pretty close to the strategy discussed in this post. In the last 10 months, I bought 4 SFH (3 bed 2.5 bath) in an A-/B+ neighborhood totaling $668k. My combined rents are $6470/month. It's highly competitive for housing and rentals in my area. All of my townhouses are within a 1/2 a mile radius. The school district is the top in the area, inventory for affordable housing is scarce and the townships in the school district will not approve the construction of housing greater than 4 units. There are no apartment complexes in the district. I've won these bids for less than asking because of no contingencies and 20% down. Tenants are high earners, been at their jobs for years and have credit scores over 720. Will they buy a house in the district in the next 1-3 years? Probably. I also agree with a previous post that these are the type of tenants that I'm comfortable dealing with. I'm not interested in the b/c multi market at this time. I used approx $150k of my cash for down payments/closing costs.

My mortgage lender (not a bank) has used every property I’ve bought as income immediately following purchase when I send them the lease and proof of security deposit. I’ve financed the 20% down myself so I don’t know if that’s the difference. I have 4 sfh (all in 10 months) in my name alone totaling 1.3 mil. I wouldn’t come close to qualifying for them with my income.