All Forum Posts by: Barb Asay

I would not hold this house as a rental

You would need to know the cost of the project to make a decision.  And than of course, what’s your ultimate goal with the property.  

If you are holding it as a rental than you would look at the increased cash flow verses the cost of the project.  

If it’s a flip than does the cost of the project increase the value enough to make it worth it?

If your short on cash and don’t have a way to pay for the renovations anyway than simply analyze if it cash flows as-is.

If you don’t want to do it no amount of money is going to make you happy about those stupid phone calls that the toilet isn’t working or they demand you come over immediately and level their stove because their pancakes aren’t level (true story)

If you can sell it I think I would. Especially if you're only clearing PITI. If you put a tenant in now and they stop paying after one month you're SOl. And who knows what's going to happen coming up. Work with the information you have available and do what's best for your family and your long term goals.

Do you want to be a landlord?

@Jasraj Singh

You can get 20% cash on cash.  You can get 50%.  You can get infinite, no cash in the deal at all.  You can also go bust.  

It depends on the individual deal, the market you’re in, your experience, your ability to add sweat equity...

I don’t know of any national ones  we use a local Community Bank.  And we were not able to utilize this strategy until about our 4th property if I remember correctly   Although I don’t remember if we COuLNDT or just didn’t know to ask   

This is exactly what we do often. Our bank allows us to appraise "subject to improvements" and we are able to take up-to 80% of that ARV out up front. Allows us to get our purchase price, repair costs and often extra cash all up front. Not a true BRRR I suppose but It's my favorite way

We have approx 20 buy and holds currently and I enjoy keeping my own books.   It has not deterred me from finding deals or growing my business.  In fact, I think it has helped me, as I understand the numbers much better and can make decisions quickly when it comes to buying, selling or rehabbing.  

I use Quicken for Rental Property.  It helps me keep track of my tenants and properties.  When I need reports for my bank or accountant they are easily accessible.  I also have a couple spreadsheets I use for analyzing deals  

I also tried quick books, but it was more than I needed, and frankly i didn’t have the patience or desire to learn.  

 Not true at all.  Just as you can have cash flow without appreciation you can have appreciation and no cash flow.  It works both ways and the price of the house has nothing to do with it.  And the price of the house often has nothing to do with the quality.   I have houses that I bought for next to nothing due to divorce situations, etc, and they are nice and I charged top dollar for our area.

But I BRRR and take advantage of ARV, a small appreciation AND killer cash flow. I'm ok with a house not appreciating quickly...but it cash flows almost $500 a month. And when it's paid off by the tenant...I still own a $100k house with absolutely zero cash invested. I guess it depends on your strategy and time line

Cheap does not mean cheap.  It’s about the deal and management.  

Where does a person find out if their state allows the landlord to bill for their time?  I’m in Iowa and I’ve read the landlord tenant laws and it’s not mentioned that I can see.