All Forum Posts by: Brian Black

@Simon W. Thanks for your reply post. If you look at the question and body following, perhaps it would be more clear. But I did state "my accountant suggested". So yes, I think having an accountant is a good idea. Not sure why "non-CPA" would be better or worse in this regard, but he is a CPA. Just cost? Do you have a different thought here?

You note "you will need two lines", so that seems to agree with what my accountant recommended as noted in the body of the question.

My accountant is great and this is not my only business. However, he might not necessarily know every one of the best tricks of the trade like @Greg Scott or others might regarding accounting/multifamily. So thus the question "is there is a better way". I think @Sendin and @Greg Scott nailed it for me so that I can indeed become more professional in the way I track these metrics to have a true index for future use.

Additionally, I like to learn so I think it is good to consider an approach to accounting in this field rather than just assume "my accountant will do that". Sometimes two heads are better than one.

@GregScott and @Bajric THANKS! Appreciate the input. 

Trying to start to manage the books more professionally and take a real look at the underlying mechanisms of finance here. 

Have a great day!

BHB

I am wanting to get a good idea of my TRUE vacancy rate including time lost to rehab etc...

My accountant suggested creating two line items to book both a lost revenue income and an offsetting
lost revenue expense for the same amount…just so you could see the activity on a leger.

Is there a better way?

THANKS!

BHB

I use avail.co and for $5 they list on multiple sites. Best results I have had over FB/CL/Others.

I would be in that place painting it as soon as possible! The cost is low. The request is reasonable.
Make the guy happy and keep collecting rent. If he moves, you will have to paint it anyway plus downtime updating and finding a renter.

Certainly it is not unreasonable to ask him to declutter an area to allow access to paint a section.
After 15 years I think you should buy him all the special paint you can find.

@Garavito Thank you for the thoughts. I will inquire about possibly separating them re: financing. It might make it easier to pick one or two off if needed. Each property does bring its own risks/benefits but at this time my local bank it willing to finance them all together. Once you mention that though, perhaps I should ask them to do them separately which would be more clean as I buy/sell/etc... down the line towards larger units. I plan to move toward MAINLY larger multi fam in the future, with occasional fip.

Thanks!

BHB

@Bjorn Ahlblad Thank you so very much for replying. I am very familiar and comfortable with the neighborhoods. Several are in very desirable locations (1/2), 1/4 in a good to average location, and 1/4 in a less ideal location. I am aiming to have nicer than average units for just above average prices in the need so will update to a standard just above the competition if possible. You might be right, I probably will incur a little more in water and sewer when the 8 plex is fully online (currently only 4 rented so will need rehab and are not reflected in known costs of water/sewer now). I will investigate. However, some of the investments in the properties are to separate out electric, gas, and as many utilities as possible to put those onto the renter column to pay. I usually pay for lawn and trash but try not to pay for anything else if possible. Some we can not escape shared utilities of course at times.

@MichaelOrlando Thank you for the reply. It seems when I use different calculators from different charts/graphs they do come out a little different. However, they do seem to all come out under 8%. I am not taking investors and all of these in a local county so I can watch them closely and feel like there is value in that for me. I do think I overestimated repairs to include making them all "perfect" so I have some leeway to bring up the COC metric likely. Could put off some of the "repairs" that will not immediately generate a return and use the cap-ex fund over the next 2 years to pay for them. Thus the COC return would reflect better I think. But, If I do this it might cost me some time before I refinance as well...

I would calculate what it looks like WITH "your half" as if you planned to rent it out (give that a value in the calculators) to determine if it is a good investment generally. Then calculate it as 0 for your unit to determine your living expenses and if this is a good option for your living arrangements regarding income/cash flow.

I put this on Multifamily / Apartments as a post. It might have been good under calculators. Stock vs Real Estate? Noob needs help understanding what a good deal looks like... or even need comparisons. Tyring to get the right keywords for those Real Estate Pros and Experienced investors who would have the experience to reply. Thanks for any help.