All Forum Posts by: Cassi Justiz

In our area, they base the bedroom vouchers off of the current needs. So since it's just the two of them she may not be able to qualify for a higher bedroom count. It's worth trying though! 

Unfortunately, with Section 8 you can only charge what they approve. You have to apply for an increase and they decide what rental rate they will pay. With it being significantly under rented, you should be able to get it up to at least her max voucher allowance if you can provide proof of market rates.  One thing to keep in mind is that even if you and the tenant agreed on her making up the "difference" in rent, you are not legally allowed to collect any additional funds from the tenant without section 8 approval. You also have to honor their current lease and request a price increase at the time of renewal. 

This COULD be different in your area, so definitely double check with your local office. This is based on my experience with Section 8 in my area. 

There is always space for successful wholesalers. There will always be people that need to sell houses that do not have the ability to go "on market." New and inexperienced wholesalers may have a hard time if there is a large market adjustment because theoretically there will be an increase in inventory. If there are 100 distressed houses for sale on the MLS, the distressed house that you are trying to sell will be in direct competition with those. You will need to be able to price it competitively which will be a little more tough if there is a surplus of distressed homes available. The wholesalers that don't know how to price their inventory will be the ones that end up locking up deals at prices they can't move and falling out of the game.

So typically the banks that offer fixed interest rates are underwritten by Fannie/Freddie. You'll have better luck looking into commercial financing at a small bank. These banks almost always keep their notes in house, but they also almost always require some version of a balloon payment or rate adjustment after a few years. This isn't usually a big deal and is super common in the investment space. These are the same banks that will loan based on ARV rather than purchase price and do some other creative stuff. Your best bet is to ask the investors in your local area what bankers they are using to fund deals and what terms they are getting.

I'm still investing in the OKC area, but like Michael said it's definitely tight right now. Like a lot of other parts of the country, our demand far exceeds our inventory. "Balanced" inventory is considered 6 months and we are currently sitting at under 1 month of inventory in most price points. 
Late last year we were still picking up 1% rule deals on the MLS. I don't think we've offered on anything in the last 6 weeks with fewer than 4 other offers on it and we're putting out at least 5-10 offers a week. I would say 1-2% over list price is becoming the minimum competitive offer right now (and those offers aren't even getting readily accepted).
*Obviously, if you are looking at distressed or tenant occupied properties it doesn't always make sense to go over list price. BUT in the "turn-key" space, it's nuts right now. 

20-30 year roofs sounds like a dream. I live in Oklahoma and we'd be doing good to have a quality roof last 15 years. If you have a roof over 10 years old, it's probably going to have to be replaced prior to a retail sale. 

If she's moving out, I'd call it a win. With all of the fun eviction moratoriums, there isn't a lot that you can do once a tenant decides they aren't going to pay rent. Depending on your state, you may be able to send them to collections or small claims court for unpaid rent but that will depend on how your lease is worded and your local laws. 

You're definitely not crazy. I work with a lot of out of state clients and regularly see people doing 1031 exchanges to reallocate their investment funds to investor friendly states after selling properties in "unfriendly" states OR in areas where they've had crazy appreciation. Some of these areas have made it really difficult for small landlords to justify buying or keeping investment property there. 

I've worked with a few out of state investor clients that use Hemlane for their PM software/services. They've been overall happy with it, but you are going to be more involved in the process than you would be with a full service PM on board. That could be a pro or a con depending on your personal feelings about being involved in your property management. 

I would say it's worth a shot, especially if you already have tenants in place and are happy with the services so far. I'd be a little more hesitant to start them out with a big rehab project or make-ready, but for day to day stuff it seems to be pretty smooth.

Try reading Scott Trench's book Set for Life. Increase your income, decrease your expenses and consider house hacking as a first rental. You can get in for a lower down payment as an owner occupant than you can as an investor, so it's a great option if you can take advantage of it! 

@Tracy Streich and @Scott England would both be great Tulsa resources to connect with!