All Forum Posts by: Brandon Mattingly

Hi BP Community!

I'm so grateful to have stumbled across this fine group of people on the internet. It's truly been a gift to glean so much wisdom from both the site's original content and the forums to help me get started on my REI journey.

I close on my first buy-and-hold rental property in 10 days and MUCH of that is due to the gained knowledge and confidence I gained from this resource.

I've been applied the knowledge gained to analyze my hometown and surrounding area. I live in Valparaiso, Indiana, and have looked at homes in Chesterton, Griffith, and Crown Point as well. This is where I grew up and so I'm pretty familiar with the neighborhoods and school systems.

I initially was looking for small multi in the area, but I quickly saw that they be at the top or outside of my budget of $300,000 for a rent-ready multi. So Single Family became my focus. And with rents rising in this area, I saw that there were some decently cash-flowing properties near the downtowns of the "major" cities in the county.

I am curious to have others weigh in on how I've analyzed my first deal!

Single-Family
Near Downtown Valparaiso, B neighborhood
3bd/1bth
900SF
PP: $150,000
DP: $37,500 (25%)
CC: $5500
Rehab: $7000 for light cosmetic fixes and couple appliances replaced, doing self
Est. Rent: $1350
Vacancy: 5%
Capex/Mtnce: 10%
Tax: $2700
Ins: $450
Finance: 30yr @ 3.625% Fixed
Mgmt: Self
COC: 9%

I know it's not a home run deal, but I'm excited just to take the first step in investing and managing a property. Any thoughts on the deal?

Once I have the property leased up, I'll likely be on the hunt for another. I'm considering using a HELOC on my primary property which would give me about $80k for the next deal.

Anyways! Just dumped all that out in the open to share where I'm at!

My primary job is as a freelance commercial cinematographer, and from that line of work, I always loved turning digital acquaintances into real-life relationships. If any one in The Region ;) – agents, investors, contractors, wholesalers, etc – would like to connect, I'd be happy to buy you lunch!

I've been struggling to find a direct answer for this online elsewhere, so here it goes...

I've been looking into section 8 renting and I'm curious how rents are actually approved and configured.

I'm aware of the HUDUSER.gov datasets for FMR and have found the rental rates for the zip code I'm looking at.
1Bd = $760
2Bd = $940
3Bd = $1170

Now my main question is: Does this mean ANY two-bedroom, whether SF or MF automatically gets $940 for a two-bedroom? is this the max? average? do comps come into play?

For example, would a 2/1 apartment get the same rent as a 2/2 Single-family house?

I'm assuming not, but then how do you KNOW what rent you'll get approved for?

The question underneath all this is that I'm looking at a triplex with 2/1 units and trying to figure out what rent would be for section 8 tenants in this area.

Hope that all makes sense and appreciate ya'll in advance!

Hi all!

Thank you so much for the feedback on this. Long story short, I won't be pursuing the deal for other reasons, but really helpful to know this info if it comes up again.

Thank you Big Pockets community!

There is a property I'm looking at in my area that has three 2/1 SF homes on one parcel of land. The seller is not willing to split up the homes and sell them separately.

Sold as a "bundle" these homes would be a pretty good deal.

Current obstacle I'm facing is my lender made it clear that he would not be willing to finance the deal. The reasons being 1) Freddie Mac / Fannie Mae likely would not buy the loan and 2) he's never done financing on a deal like this before.

I've asked my lender how he's seen it done before, but I've gotten radio silence since then.

I'm curious what my options are aside from cash.

Thanks in advance everyone!