All Forum Posts by: Brad Jacobson

The risk comes from owning the property in your name because if a tenant were to get hurt at the property, they could sue you and come after your personal assets. If the property is in an LLC, they can only sue the LLC which would be considerably less enticing. Having your name on the lease shouldn't change anything.

Note, all advice on this subject should come from an attorney so be willing to pay that $1,000ish up front to make sure you have your ducks in a row and go speak with a real estate attorney! 

Repair requests by appraisers can be really dumb and frustrating but it's all part of the gig.  You're going to have to perform on the itemized list to complete the transaction so I'd recommend getting on that ASAP to make sure your transaction goes through.  

Hire a handyman and don't put any more money into the repairs than is needed.  One time an appraiser made me repaint and entire house and I didn't have it done in time so I was out helping my team and the appraiser simply drove by and waived when he saw us out doing the work.  That's all he needed to check the box on his side...

I was going to give my own thoughts on this but @Andy Whitcomb's answer was so good, I'm just going to second it!

This has proven true for me as well.  I've switched strategies several times but I have held true to my "buy one property each year" plan and now that I'm six years and eight doors deeps, I continue to have new "doors" open for me and my strategies continue to revolve and change based on the opportunities that arise.

Whatever you do, don't wait.  Go buy real estate!

Tiny homes typically mean you'll just pay twice as much per square foot.  They also don't make as good as an investment as a more expensive, traditional single family that will appreciate 3%+ per year.

The best way to live frugally but comfortably is to max out your pre-approval and buy a multifamily property or single family with an ADU (accessory dwelling unit). Have your tenants pay your mortgage for you.

My wife and I live in a nice home in a nice neighborhood but we rent out a portion of our basement as an Airbnb and it almost always pays our entire mortgage for us.  Plus, we're getting loan pay down and appreciation on a $500,000 home.

Hopefully that makes sense!  Good luck!

The rule of thumb I've always followed for a flip is to have a minimum spread of $100k between purchase and ARV. Nothing wrong with that! Of course, bigger discounts equal bigger margins but a $100k baseline is fine in most markets.

The most important part is being certain of those numbers. We always lie to ourselves about ARV when we're trying to make a deal happen. As long as your numbers are honest, that's a fine game plan.

I've found that most of the courses teach the same material and it's all good stuff.

My single recommendation to you is to remember that you only get out of a course what you put in!  I've put in serious effort into courses and groups before and they benefited me tremendously.  I've also joined courses, groups, and masterminds where I haven't put in the effort and they became a total waste of money.

Commit and you'll do great in whichever course you choose!

Hi Sandy,

10% is a good average for most PM.  If you have multiple properties with the same company, they will likely be willing to negotiate that number down to 7-8%.

One of the MOST important questions to ask when qualifying a new PM is the fees you've outlined in your question!  Ensure you absolutely ask that as all PM have different fees like the cost to place a new tenant, handyman work, bids, etc.

I also am a huge advocate of going to a local RE meetup and asking who the real investors in your area recommend.  PMs can be hard to pick out so go ask the best who the best is and they'll be happy to refer you out!

Good luck!

My thoughts will all programs, masterminds, meetups, etc. is you get out what you put into them.

Personally, I never needed a paid program or mastermind because I became so heavily involved in the local real estate meetups that they got me on my feet!  However, I did put tons of time into them and ended up becoming the president of my local chapter.

If you're willing to put in 50 hours or more of dedicated work into this program, I'm sure it'll pay dividends.  If the first time you login to the courses is the last, it's not worth it!

Hey Jon!

I can't speak in detail to the loan programs in Michigan but here in Utah, I'd be able to recommend a few.

Local credit unions will often have programs that clients can use to purchase real estate and instead of handing the loans off to Fanny May or Freddie Mac, the credit union will service them.

Currently there's a local credit union that uses their own underwriting guidelines and could approve you even if your dad's income doesn't match traditional standards.

Other potential options would be a DCSR loan, seller finance, or other national programs with different underwriting strategies.

My ultimate suggestion would be is to go to the local real estate meetups and ask around for who the best and most creative lender is in your area.  That'll be the teammate you need to complete this.

Good luck! 

Like stocks or crypto, I simply "DCA" or dollar-cost average in by buying at least one rental every year.  I got spoiled to death with the equity booms in 2020-2021 but I could have never predicted that when I started in 2017.

As long as you're buying right and each unit has enough cashflow to sustain itself, it's always good to own real estate.  No bad strategies as long as you're buying with the right fundamentals.