All Forum Posts by: Brandon Morgan

Quote from @Paul Novak:

Marcus I think this was a great post.  I have not subscribed to the stance of trying to get into a property with as little down as possible just to generate cashflow.  I have actually taking the unpopular stance of the exact opposite.  I have tried to focus on properties that are in good locations where I can attract good tenants and then adjusted what I put down to hit my cashflow goals.  Not adjusting for vacancy and maintenance my cashflow goal on a property is $500 per month at a minimum.  We have put down 20 - 40% on some properties to achieve this goal.  Like you said we have been saving upwards of 60% of our W2 income and business cashflow in order to do this.  

I agree with this strategy. I am newer to real estate and I only just recently stabilized my first rental property. I got a decently priced duplex in Pennsylvania and used my FHA loan. since the property was a real good price I cash flow about $600 a month since the mortgage isn't very high and I get rent from both tenants. I plan on getting a similar amount of cash flow from my next property and am willing to put 20% down if I need to. I feel this will keep my properties stable since expenses and everything will be covered. so far it is working.

Quote from @Wale Lawal:

@Brandon Morgan

Congrats on stabilizing your first rental! Scaling up doesn't always require 20% down—house hacking (FHA or 5% conventional), DSCR loans, seller financing, and the BRRRR method can help you acquire more properties with less cash upfront. If considering partnerships, set clear roles and agreements to avoid conflicts. Leverage your W-2 income for better loan terms, explore private/hard money for off-market deals, and network with investors to expand your deal flow.

Good luck!

 Thank you.

hey guys I am new to real estate and I just got my first rental property this past year and have tenants and things are finally stable now. I was wondering how people managed to scale their businesses faster. I make a decent amount of money nearly from my W-2 (over 100k) but still not enough to easily buy another property this year especially if I have to put down 20%. I was debating if I should partner with a friend or family member who is willing to work on a property together. ill be sure to make sure things are done legally and fairly so no one get short sighted and things don't get messy. I was wondering how other people managed to start scaling their business faster. did you guys work with partners or do any deals? was there any downsides to working with friends or family? I am open to any past stories, recommendations or advice? my goal is to at least be able to buy one property a year.

hey guys I am new to real estate and I just got my first rental property this past year and have tenants and things are finally stable now. I was wondering how people managed to scale their businesses faster. I make a decent amount of money nearly from my W-2 (over 100k) but still not enough to easily buy another property this year especially if I have to put down 20%. I was debating if I should partner with a friend or family member who is willing to work on a property together. ill be sure to make sure things are done legally and fairly so no one get short sighted and things don't get messy. I was wondering how other people managed to start scaling their business faster. did you guys work with partners or do any deals? I am open to any past stories, recommendations or advice? my goal is to at least be able to buy one property a year. 

Quote from @Dominic Mazzarella:

Quote from @Brandon Morgan:

hi all this is just a hypothetical. I currently am a new landlord. I bought a duplex house near Scranton this past year and it is rented out .  I am a few months in and it has been going okay so far despite a few hiccups. However I just realized there was a mistake in one of the tenants' lease! for one tenant it says that the landlord is responsible for utilities, and for the other tenant it says that the tenant is responsible for utilities. It is supposed to be tenant is responsible for utilities. I am going to have to have my realtor make an addendum to the lease. the tenant has been paying for utilities up until this point. has anyone ever been through this? also if the landlord becomes responsible for utilities would i be able to adjust the rent?? open to any advice, recommendations or past experiences. 

I’ve never had this specific issue but mistakes like this are pretty common. Creating an addendum is the right move, especially if the tenant has been paying utilities as intended. If they push back, you might consider adjusting the rent to reflect the change. Just ensure any updates comply with Pennsylvania laws and are handled transparently. Clear communication is key here. 

yeah the tenant pushing back is my concern. it just so happened that this happened with the tenant that seems to not like paying. and the heating is electric and this winter has been extremely cold which caused the electric bill to jump up to $800! so I am going to have to speak to the realtor and the tenant to see what we can do. hopefully she doesn't fight and it goes well otherwise i may have to adjust the rent.

Quote from @Chris Seveney:

Quote from @Brandon Morgan:

hi all this is just a hypothetical. I currently am a new landlord. I bought a duplex house near Scranton this past year and it is rented out .  I am a few months in and it has been going okay so far despite a few hiccups. However I just realized there was a mistake in one of the tenants' lease! for one tenant it says that the landlord is responsible for utilities, and for the other tenant it says that the tenant is responsible for utilities. It is supposed to be tenant is responsible for utilities. I am going to have to have my realtor make an addendum to the lease. the tenant has been paying for utilities up until this point. has anyone ever been through this? also if the landlord becomes responsible for utilities would i be able to adjust the rent?? open to any advice, recommendations or past experiences. 

 yes create the addendum but realize the tenant who has been paying could ask to be reimbursed for these costs as well as not accept the addendum. If it was discussed and just a typo and its a good tenant it should be fine but some tenants would definitely take advantage of this.

 yeah the tenant pushing back is my concern. it just so happened that this happened with the tenant that seems to not like paying. and the heating is electric and this winter has been extremely cold which caused the electric bill to jump up to $800! so I am going to have to speak to the realtor and the tenant to see what we can do. hopefully she doesn't fight and it goes well otherwise i may have to adjust the rent. 

hi all this is just a hypothetical. I currently am a new landlord. I bought a duplex house near Scranton this past year and it is rented out .  I am a few months in and it has been going okay so far despite a few hiccups. However I just realized there was a mistake in one of the tenants' lease! for one tenant it says that the landlord is responsible for utilities, and for the other tenant it says that the tenant is responsible for utilities. It is supposed to be tenant is responsible for utilities. I am going to have to have my realtor make an addendum to the lease. the tenant has been paying for utilities up until this point. has anyone ever been through this? also if the landlord becomes responsible for utilities would i be able to adjust the rent?? open to any advice, recommendations or past experiences. 

Quote from @Caleb Brown:

If they are not paying rent then go through the eviction process as normal. How big is the space they are renting? 

 3 bed 2 bath. its a pretty big space. I just wasn't sure if it is my responsibility to do something if the electric bill is high and are not satisfied. do I have to be concerned about that? i told them to apply to programs that are available to help with electric bill. 

hi all i am a new landlord and got my first rental property. tenants moved in in September and October. the first month was fine but when December hit it got extremely cold and the heating is electric. due to poor insulation in the home that we did not know about the heat has to be turned very high up to keep the home warm, however since everything is electric it is causing the electric bill to be $800. the utilities are the tenants responsibility. however because of this one of the tenants has been extremely non compliant with paying rent. I am doing my best to accommodate and fix the insulation as well as see if there are programs in place to lower the cost. however i want to be firm with tenant as they are not compliant with paying rent because of the cost of the utilities. I am not really sure what to do in this scenario. has anyone had any similar experience? 

Quote from @Daniel Vineis:

ya absolutely. most people just recommend multi family because it allows you to offset your income while living there without having roommates. also they tend to cash flow better so if the plan is to do this year over year making sure the rents cover your DTI when you move out is very important. I would say figure out a 5 year investment plan. How many houses you want to purchase and will they all be house hacks etc. Then figure out a standard of living your comfortable with and that will tell you weather or not single family or multifamily is the correct route for you. Strictly speaking from a financial point of view multi family's almost always make more sense unless your walking into some equity in a single family.

 creating a 5 year goal/plan makes perfect sense actually. thanks.