All Forum Posts by: Ryan Landis

@Andrew Mok I agree with @Aaron K. on this one. The duplex financing will probably be pretty great when you owner occupy the place, for what it is worth. The big missing piece is how much you currently pay in rent, would the new place be something you want to actually live in, etc. But overall both are pretty great options. Most people when thinking out of state don't have a place like you do they feel very comfortable with.

@Thao Tran make sure your brokerage allows you to represent clients on the commercial side. That being said, might be easier to refer it to someone that specializes in commercial real estate (ideally what they want - i.e. industrial/apartments/etc.) and then work with that agent/broker to help them out. Depending on the state, you may be able to get a referral fee for this as well.

@Tyler Jordison cool - ya I would imagine with your background, and wanting to do it as an owner occ, most banks/credit unions will see this a lot better than a spec vacant lot buy/etc. You should be able to get both land and construction financing on it. Sometimes lenders can be a bit finicky with the land side, but if you have approved plans and are able to break ground, they should not be giving you too hard of a time. Most construction loans are for ~12 months give or take a few months each way, so they just want to make sure that you will have a finished product that they can roll you into more permanent financing with (they may likely keep the construction loan on their books before it goes to perm).

Congrats on the closing. Not sure what the utility situation is, but if there is a way to legally make it so everyone has their own meter/etc. might be a way to pass on some of the expenses. I have seen some people take a quad and run one of the units as a short term as well if you are up to it (we do that for a 5 unit we have - 4 traditional and 1 non traditional)

I am going to chime in and say I love Salt Lake, Utah. It is ~1hour 15 minutes on a flight from Oakland (Southwest flies direct and you can get flights for ~$100 each way). Get some fun perks like going to the snow each time you go to look at them as well.

Big issue is I always say Salt Lake is like the Bay, but just half the price (i.e. what cost $1M in the Bay and rents for $4K costs $500K in Salt Lake and rents for $2K). Good fundamentals for what it is worth.

@Tyler Jordison you can for sure get a land/lot loan. If you were just going to go purchase raw land, you might be at 50-80% LTV depending on the lender (I am sure there are some that go higher). If you have a background in building, probably a bit easier to get a loan because you can show them your plans/etc. for what you are going to do. Is the goal for you to build it for yourself or spec?

I love it when there is a w/d play that you can add to the mix. It is almost always worth it and you typically get your money back pretty quick for the cost. Big thing to do is just ensure there is no issue in the complex with you adding one (I have also seen it where some units will have them and they are "grandfathered" in per se because if every unit were to get one the water/etc. would change and that would impact HOA fees.

@Jaderic Pickens age is just a number ;)

In all seriousness, everyone always thinks their age is a weakness. Might help you out more than you think (maybe you remind them of their child/grandchild/etc.). Something worth remembering!

Also, for what it is worth, most things happen in person, but not everything does - you can do a lot online and over the phone when working with buyers and sellers nowadays.

@Amanda Fardella most of the ones that say they do it across the country do that to make it sound like they are "bigger" than they are honestly. It is very difficult to do it outside of the marketing that puts you in contact with someone that happens to be open to selling an out of state property. Focus your attention on 1 market and just crush that market. In regard to Buyers, as others will say, there are always buyers when you have a great deal. Outside of that, look for some of the better realtors in the market. They may be open to buying a property if they are doing well, or at least have a contact they can put you in touch with that might buy it for themself!

@Matt Carroll not sure what part of the country you are in, but you can always go buy properties in cash and then just snowball the rents to get more properties as you accumulate up enough cash to go buy a new one. Most people are advocating for debt, just depends on what you are trying to do. It is totally acceptable to take on no debt and still get to the same place everyone else is trying to - for example, maybe your savings rate on your W2 crushes it compared to all of these "leverage" advocates ;)