All Forum Posts by: Jennifer Lee

My question is:

why is the real estate broker moving too? I understand that the owner is moving, but why is the RE broker moving too?

-------------------------

Find out how much rent is in the area, According to him it's $16/sq/yr @ 1400/mo and 1044 sqft (1400x12)/1044

in my area rent is $8-13/sqft/yr for mediocre areas, and $15-24/sqft/yr in better strip mall area or main street. 

-------------------------

One of my criteria for COMMERCIAL is has to be on a MAJOR street, with visibility, otherwise you need business that are destination and have customer come find them.

having visibility means you can rent it faster b.c I get my commercial tenant from my for rent signs, never for the MLS or Loopnet or other brokers.

------------------

evaluation:

You need to find out his expenses, 

TAX, INSURANCE, UTILITIES, 

Also find out if you need any DEFERRED MAINTENANCE (roof, HVAC, handicap, parking)

most listing are GROSSLY overpriced. and Most SELLER are not motivated and is just FISHING

I am just like you, that is why I find 1 deal every 1.5 yr.  My "victim" eventually GIVE into MARKET.

5 mixed used bldg:

asked $550K, 

dropped to $350K, 

and picked it up at $200K,

it now cash flow 15% cash on cash, 2 yrs later fully occupy

HI Brandon

I am doing one now, and @Bill Exeter was the one that advised me the best on here.

I have yet to identify the replacement. we just closed on buy-hold sale.

LOL I guess that everyone here is HANDS ON ACTIVE investors

hi,

just wondering how many on your are passive investor. aka hands off.

and if you choose to do so, why? what gave you that level of trust and confidence.

-----

me I'm hands on.

but my investor never seeing the units. this is family. basically gave me the fund to run with it.

my husband never really see it either, nor care to see it. as long as # works he is quiet ;)

im the most risk averse investor. I try to buy with the least amount of debt! cash if I can. Heloc was 2% lol!

we put 10-20% of our own cash and finance the rest still the heloc.

or buy the unit and then used heloc to finance the renov.

I had 4 properties servicing 1 debt that was 2% interest ;) min payment was $500.00/mo

but we would pay down the loan whenever we could.

----

no by no means mine is not the only way. I was just on the phone with a fellow investor, she used 100% other ppls money

Have you considered a HELOC (home equity line of credit)

Here is my story:

We have a condo in boston, when we found out we were moving for promotion, we quickly got a HELOC bc it was our primary home. we NEVER DREW any money out so we had a zero balance.

When we left, we put in a tenant at almost cost! almost no cash flow, but the tenant paid for the condo, zero $$$ from our pocket. 

my story is a little long, but with the promotion and "rent" we were able to buy 2 more properties @ 20% down-payment. a LIVE in FLIP and a commercial Triple Net Lease.

By the time we moved again for job promotion, this is now yr 10. We sold the Live in FLIP to buy our current primary @20% Down. My condo rental rates increased, we SOLD the Commercial Triple Net Lease due to distance.

We bought a replacement Commercial at 10% Cap rate with the cash, and FINALLY TAPPED into the HELOC.

we pay it down as fast as we can, and pay only the min balance required

Very long story short, we repeated this 3 more times using the HELOC to buy a Flip, mix used 5 unit buy hold, and a duplex.

We just sold the boston condo a 100% appreciation this wk after 15yr. This one condo bought us 6 properties. and now with the proceeds I hope for it to continue when I find a replacement ;p

Since this is your first investment, my advise is DO NOT RUSH IT!!!!!!

-------------------

I say this to my newbie clients all the time, and they do NOT listen until it's too late!!

BELIEVE IT or NOT, Buying Real Estate is the "EASY" part, especially if the deal went smoothly!

all of the sudden my newbies feel like superman, and want to get another ASAP!

------------

You said you just bought it with Flipping or Renting in mind. I would suggest you go through the process. Flipping means you have to put $$$ into this unit. Being that's its your first you may not have the necessary experience to flip.

---------

I have a newbie "client" that read a lot of books, and listened to a lot of youtube REI videos. I also gave her all kinds of advise. I ended up not being her agent bc she found properties prior to meeting me, (investors are not LOYAL, i don't have issues with it).

 And she ended up making classic newbie mistakes on renovations on 2 back to back purchase.  Not devastating but enough for her to say, darn not as EASY as the "guru" says.  And now she is learning to become a landlord. And she realized my advise against buying in that area was good advise, poor tenant pool. So she had to wait a few months to find a "qualified tenants"

----------

I have another newbie client earlier in my realtor career, had such an "easy" time buying real estate, she bought 3 against my advise with me. My brokerage at the time was of the mind set, CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT! I have since left said agency.

Then she went and bought on her own, and with other agents without me knowing, see no LOYALTY, hahaha

GUESS WHAT, she had 6 vacancy!!!! b/c she bought in "warzone", had to learn eviction process. She is now more of an expert than me, but she has a ton of headache!  And guess who gets the priviledge to hold her hands through all of it!

----------

Go through this process FIRST, see if you have the knack for Flipping or Renting, then proceed.

Use this house to build your NETWORK! Once you have it, you can do multiple projects at a time.

Control over my deals

Access to MLS,

exponential learning on all things real estate

learning all the pieces of real estate bc you work with different ppl and investor types.

involvement in things outside my own norm

analyzing deals I otherwise wont even bother, or have the capital to buy

Motivation to go into areas I would probably never go to

1. can you rent your co-op in NYC easily? I heard that it's "harder" to rent co-op.

2. Can you sell your co-op in NYC "fast"? I heard that it may take longer to close.

I ask because TIME LINE in your case plays a part

Do you need to sell NYC first bef you buy in LA?

------------

LA, have you contacted an agent? Loopnet is not the best place to find under 4 unit.

commercial is 5 units and up, the financing is a different monster ;p

4 units and under is still considered residential, same financing as single family.

-----------

Have you considered a LIVE In FLIP? where you buy a property that is undervalued with value add potential, fix it up, live in it for 2 yrs, and sell it? or refinance it at new appraised value.

ex, buy a 4 bed/1 bath, turning it into a 4/2 or 3/2.... 

----------

I like the idea of buying a LIVE ONE, RENT ONE situation, but I probably will never live next to my tenants ;p That's just me, however. 

---------

WHAT WE DID, was we took out a home equity line of credit while we were in our condo. 

When we moved, we put a renter in, and kept the HELOC, we didn't tap into it, so balance was ZERO. Renter was almost zero cash flow, but maintained the property for us, no $$$ from our pocket.

We rented, for a few month and bought a property, with money saved up, we took out a loan.  LIVE IN FLIP b.c we know it was temporary move!

Since the move was a job promotion. we built up some fund after 1 year, and bought our first investment property with saved up cash and took out a 5 yr ARM. Renting at a good cap of 10%, with Triple Net lease.

Rent for the condo, increased after 3 years, we finally have positive cash flow, with the 2 lease too.

We sold our home, and relocated to a better promotion and bought our current home. we took out a loan ;p

Now, our appetite for investment is growing. We sold our commercial unit, too long a distance.

We bought CASH a replacement commercial in our new area. We tapped into our HELOC ;p CAP is 7%

We pay down the HELOC as soon as we can and pay the min balance ;p

We continue this to buy 3 more units, a flip, 2 buy holds.  

We just sold our condo for a 100% appreciation 15 yrs later ;p this wk!!!

and now we are looking to find a replacement.

That one tiny condo in boston, bought us 5 investment properties. and generated 100% return on investment.  and hopefully continue once I buy a replace unit ;p