All Forum Posts by: Keith Miller

Where are you living in Montana? I own Ponderosa Capital Partners with some partners, and we wholesale in Western Montana. Reach out and we can chat. 

Great questions Daniel. I wish I could help you, but I don't have any experience with section 8. If I were in your shoes, I would focus on property managers, as they have extensive experience dealing with Section 8. I'd recommend Paul Burow at Professional Property Management, or Josh Plum at Plum Property Management, both are experienced managers and can hopefully help. 

Rob Erickson is our speaker this month. Rob has been a practicing Lawyer since 2003 and in Missoula since 2009. Real Estate is one of his areas of expertise, and he will speak about the importance of structuring your investment to maximize both profit as well as protecting yourself and your assets. He will cover the importance of contracts, and some particular provisions important to real estate deals.

The Missoula Real Estate Meetup has three main goals:

1. Learn more about the Missoula Market

2. Make authentic connections

3. Share strategies and information

As always, there will be no selling of any products or services, and it's always free to attend.

We meet the third Tuesday of every month at the Highlander, at 6:00 PM. We usually have 30-40 attendees.

Field Trip! I am just finishing up my backyard ADU conversion, and if you want to get together with other real estate investors, discuss how the build went, the lessons I learned, and drink beer (optional), then you're invited! We'll meet at 6 PM on Monday, 1/16, at 515 W. Sussex Ave in Missoula. Hope to see you there!

https://fb.me/e/3a5u5IUxx

I agree with those above. Use the 3.5-5% down payment to get a primary residence, then convert it into a rental if you don't like the town. But I think you'll fall in love with Missoula if you give it shot! 

Hey Erika! 

I'll throw in my two cents here. New construction has its benefits for sure, with reduced maintenance and higher rents for the space. New construction can be a challenge though, depending on what you're planning on doing. The biggest hurdle is the cash. Construction loans will almost always require 25% down payments, and the land purchase will also require a 25% down payment. It's actually 50% if the land does not have sewer access. 

So you need more capital up front, and then you'll need to buy the land, hire someone to design your building, push it through the building department to get approved, then finding the builder to complete your project. Only then do you start making any money. So it's definitely a process, which is why most people start by buying existing buildings. 

Or in my case, buying existing buildings, then developing the backyard in some way (ADU or Townhouses). That can be a smarter move in my opinion, because you get the benefits of both situations. You have an existing structure that you can use right away, and ideally improve to force appreciation. But then you get to develop the backyard and add more value by building another structure.

I don't know much about Walla Walla though, but if you want to tackle this process in Missoula, I'd be happy to help!

Hey Shayna,

There's definitely a way to replace a single panel of click-in flooring, I know repairmen that would do that. I would leave the damaged flooring in place for now, explaining to the new tenant that you need to hire a professional to replace it, and that it will be a few weeks before they can come. Most tenant will agree to something like that, as long as they know a fix will happen relatively soon. I'm building my second Missoula ADU right now, they're pretty sweet little projects!

Below are my recommendations for local guys who could take on something like this, I'm happy to answer additional questions about them.

Jerimiah Purdham- Does good work, but usually booked out at least a month. Charges $50 per hour starting this winter

Joel Deming - (406) 493-7410- Local investor Liz Beaird says "Joel Deming all day long!"- He said "I've done flooring, some plumbing, some electrical, some drywall. I have experience with heavy equipment and heavy construction as well."

Jeremy- 406-560-7070- Does a good job tiling, did bathroom at my current house. Does all types of flooring.

Nick Pantaloni - (406) 830-4109. Local realtor Megan Robson recommends them. They do really lovely work on smaller projects and remodels, but they're completely capable of doing larger stuff too.

Our speaker this month is Matt Gehr. Matt is an experienced loan officer with Mann Mortgage. He has been in the banking industry for over 10 years and has worked in mortgage for seven. Matt is especially skilled working with complex income and asset structures, as well as self-employed borrowers. He will give insight into the current market, and what home buyers and investors can do to get a loan that fits their needs.


The Missoula Real Estate Meetup has three main goals:

1. Learn more about the Missoula Market

2. Make authentic connections

3. Share strategies and information

As always, there will be no selling of any products or services, and it's always free to attend.

We meet the third Tuesday of every month at the Highlander, at 6:00 PM. We usually have 30-40 attendees.

Thanks so much to Ryan Frey for an amazing talk at our November Meetup. It was so informative about development. I've linked the notes I took below, I hope you find them useful.

https://docs.google.com/docume...

Welcome Mason! I'd focus on the BP House Hacking book, it's pure gold man! 

Hey Jason,

Great question. I personally just use the BP lease for MT, which I can share if you don't have it. But if you need a lawyer, I'd recommend Kevin Jones, he's great, and highly recommended by a lot of investors.

Other recommended lawyers I'd send you to are Mike Bybee- John Strong highly recommends him. 
Jenna Lyons- Partner/Attorney at Wagner & Lyons, PLLC, she is Real Estate focused.