All Forum Posts by: Billie Miller

@Trina Pugmire we use Cozy for applications and screening and love it! Good luck with your house hack!

Great work, that's a beautiful renovation! I'm sure it was a drag during the rehab, but the check at closing was probably worth it!

I guess a shorter answer to your question, is to adjust your occupancy rates when you're determining your offer price. Higher occupancy for your rural 8plex and lower for your urban 4plex. Then you've nipped the entire problem in the bud.

I think the higher rent or higher unit count might be a little bit of a false choice and I think you're trying to compare apples and oranges here. A 4plex in an urban area is going to be a different animal than an 8-plex in a rural area. You can get residential financing for your 4plex but you can get commercial for your 8plex. Your 8plex is going to be valued differently than your 4plex (valued by NOI, not necessarily comps). Also, your purchase price per unit is going to be different in an urban area than in a rural area.

I would be more concerned with the cash flow. If the 8plex cash flows better (after factoring in higher vacancy and other things you're concerned about) than buy that one. If the expensive 4plex in the city cash flows better, buy that one.

Congrats on your house hack! We just moved out of our house hack a few months ago and it was a great experience.

Our tenants knew that we were their landlords, but it was never an issue. We didn't bother them and they didn't bother us unless it was necessary. I do know of some people that tell their neighbors that they are the property managers, not the owners. Then you can just say "it's the landlord's policy that you don't smoke" or whatever the issue may be.

We also require our tenants to have their rent automatically withdrawn every month. If a potential tenant protests that, that's a good indication that you shouldn't rent to them. Good tenants will want to have their rent automatically withdrawn every month so they don't have to worry about it. 

We use erentpayment.com. It costs us $3 a month per unit, but it's worth it not to have to chase down rent checks every month.

Have you thought of house hacking? We started out house hacking and it was a great experience. We bought a duplex, lived in one side and rented out the other. We lived for free while we were there, and now that we have moved out, we collet $600 a month in rental cash flow. 

It's a great way to get your living situation taken care of and a rental property bought with great, owner-occupied financing all at the same time.

If you can find a property that cash flows well in Atlanta now, I wouldn't worry too much about it being at the top of the market. Historically, rents haven't been as volatile as housing prices. So even if the value of your property takes a hit, as long as your rent can cover your expenses you'll be ok. 

I heard a saying once that went "The best time to buy real estate was yesterday, the second best time is today."

I was listening to a podcast once and heard some great advice. (I can't remember the show number and I'm pretty sure Brandon Turner said it, correct me if I'm wrong tho!)

He said something like "Are there already people in your area doing deals with the strategy you're interested in (flipping, rentals, whatever)? If so, that's proof that it's possible."

In places like southern CA where it's so saturated, it'll be tough to find the deals. But you'll have to be creative, find a niche, and then be persistent.

Are you asking about the amount of expenses or the type of expenses? The amounts will differ for everyone depending on their expenses structure, the age of the property, location, etc.

If it's 4 units or less, the types expenses (depending on your area of course) should be pretty similar to what a single family home would incur. The basic list includes: mortgage, repairs, capex, vacancy, hazard insurance, property taxes, property management, HOA fees (if applicable), water/sewer, trash, and lawn care.

The other thing to look out for with multifamily is how the water and electricity are metered. If the electricity isn't metered separately, the landlord is probably paying for the electricity. Same for water. You can institute a RUBS system or "utility fee" to get around this, if those costs are getting to be too expensive. That also gives tenants incentive to conserve water and electricity.

@Brian Pulaski I really did! 

He was also really annoyed that I wanted the kitchen demoed at the very beginning, with everything else, instead of when the kitchen guys came in to install it...I wasn't quite sure why I needed to explain that one haha. He would have have been difficult on many levels I think! 

Bumping this old thread, can't wait for this to come out! 

I just had a contractor refuse to even give me a bid on some work for our current flip. I'm pretty sure it's because I'm young and I'm a woman. He asked me if "So are you going to be handling the trades?" and just stared at me after I said "Yes. Is that going to be a problem for you?" He then told me "This has gotten off to a bad start, I'm not willing to do this job, good luck."