All Forum Posts by: Chris Grenzig

@Kenneth Lewis if you're 21 and you want a rental property by 24, I think the best/easiest path is to work on a career related to real estate. I was fortunate enough to find a job that worked in multifamily synidcation and I was there for 4.5 years and I learned a ton. Then I went out on my own and started buying some multifamily properties with my own money and some investors, and now we also started a property management business. 

Giving yourself 3 years I think is definitely doable. Spend the last year of college getting educated (assuming you'll graduate at 22, if not than your first year of work) and networking a ton. Then try to find a job somewhat related to the field, but I would probably lean towards something that is W-2. Ideally you would find something with a base salary plus commissions. A W2 makes getting a loan for an investment property easier, earning commissions allows for increased earnings which gives you more money to invest. 

Live as cheap as you can! I cannot stress this enough. If you can live with family for free our cheap, do it. Future you will thank you. 

Don't get caught up in having your own place, going to fancy places, big trips, etc. The way to have money to invest is to earn more than you spend and put that money aside. Put $1k+ a month (if you can) into a high-yield savings account like Marcus and earn 4-5% while you still can, and then when you have enough buy a property. If you can get free rent with Mom or someone, pay yourself the rent into that savings account. 

I would seriously consider househacking a 2-4 unit property in like a B neighborhood. If you have the stomach to self manage, do that. You'll learn even more doing it yourself but you might not have the time or the desire to, and that's okay. The cash flow from the other units may or may not cover your expenses or mortgage, but that's not the end of the world. 2-4 units in FL are expensive right now, but it allows you to get your own place, pay down the principal and start building your track record and portfolio. 

Keep saving, and after a year you could technically go do that again. 

Also, keep always hunting for new job opportunities. You can only live so cheaply, but good chance you can find a new job that can increase your salary $10-30k especially as you gain more experience in a career. 

DM if you want to talk more about it, I'd be happy to help if I can

@Kathy Merkh

Jacksonville FL brokers for 20-100 units:

Steve McAdoo with Franklin St

John Rutherford and Luke McCann with NAI

Sid Jones with OSCO Commercial

William Bruce with Matthew's 

Brandon Guy with TKC (TKC also does a ton in TN)

Simon Garwood with Warren Company

Also, if you need property management for Jacksonville we own and manage 51 units there, we've bought over 200+ units, and in my prior company, I oversaw a portfolio of 1,000 units in Jacksonville. We manage our own properties and do 3rd party management selectively in the Jacksonville area. We also manage in the greater Orlando area too. 

Finally, always keep an eye out for listings on loopnet and crexi, several agents and other companies who are a little less active but randomly have stuff and are good to try and keep up with. 

@Calvin Drake we own and operate 51 units in the Jacksonville area. Prior to that I worked for a company that owned a 1,000 MF units across 7 properties. 

If it meets the 1% rule, it's probably in a C- area or worse. Some people like/don't mind Arlington (and some pockets are better than others), but I no longer look there. 

Northside is slightly better in my opinion, but you got to be very particular. Same with the westside. 

Areas I like that I would consider C+ to B which should give decent cash flow are Orange Park, South Westside area near 295, Murray Hill area, San Jose, eastern area of Mandarin, East Arlington (east of 295), various pockets of the southside around University Blvd, and some others I circled in the red areas. It's just a generality, so don't get to hyper focused on where exactly the lines fall, but those are the areas I'd focus on. 

@Jorge F Rodriguez We went through this with our house, we would be negative on cash flow, but we weren't sure if it would still appreciate. I do think Florida in general has the ability to see some strong appreciation and rent growth after 2026/2027 because new construction starts for residential housing (especially multifamily) have dropped substantially. Right now all he projects are still being completed, but developments can be 3-7 year cycles depending on the size, so a lot of projects that kicked off in 2020-2022 when interest rates and insurance were below and rents/prices were soaring are still getting completed now. However, there's been significantly less new projects started (on average) from 2023 to today. So logic dictates that eventually demand will exceed supply in greater numbers within the next few years and we might start seeing higher rent growth/appreciation again.

However, I don't know that it means you should lose money every month in the hopes that eventually happen. If you're planning on buying MF in Tampa and you think you can find deals that will cash flow, then why not put your money into that and have some cash flow while still buying into the potential future appreciation/cash flow?

However, I would definitely consult a tax professional about selling your primary residence as the capital gains relief can be hugely beneficial and could impact your decision-making one way or the other. 

Also, happy to help evaluate your property in the Lake Nona area if you think it would be helpful at all.

@Gustavo Domit the points about the tax exemption are huge and pretty much override anything else. It gives you flexibility to do what you want with the money. Stick it in a high-yield savings account making 4-5%, $320k (your stated equity) at 4% is $12,800 per year, same cash flow with less risk, but less upside. This allows you to take your time to make your next move.

Alternatively, you might also be selling at close to the bottom of the market cycle. Oversupply and high rates have made it a tough market. I would talk to agents with listings in the neighborhood and see what the sale process has been like. How long have they been on market, what have offers been like, etc? Also, traditionally the summer is the best time to sell and the fall is worse, so I'd ask the agents about that too. 

@Jodie Cordell house hacking is a great strategy as long as you can stomach living next to guests or tenants depending on the strategy. I wanted to do it years ago but I lived in NY at the time and I didn't want to get involved with those landlord tenant laws. If you do end up going the regular rental route and want to self manage, check out evict.com which is one of the premier landlord/tenant attornies in the country. They have a huge library of free information on how to properly set up leases, rules, handle situations, etc. which we still find helpful when managing for other people. If you need any help with owning multifamily or management stuff let me know, we've bought over 200+ units and we still own 51, we also 3rd party manage for other owners so we have a good spectrum of experience. We cover Jacksonville and Orlando areas. 

@Antoinette Kelly happy to help if I can, we've bought over 200 apartment units which we've self-managed and currently own and operate 51. We also 3rd party manage residential properties for other owners. 

If you haven't already, work backward to figure out what you want to invest in. Figure out your personal and financial goals, then find the best type of investing to help you achieve those goals. Talk to agents, wholesalers, flippers, property managers, investors, commercial brokers, commercial managers, commercial investors, learn about everything. Then try and pick one that works the best, start going deep on it, and try and find your first property. 

@Shawn McCormick I'm going to ask you for that cabinet guys info just a heads up lol

@Ann Downer Go with something solid but basic. White shaker, oak shaker, or a light gray shaker style is fairly classic and timeless. With C class, the easier it is to maintain the better, and shaker cabinets are in abundance so if you have to replace a door or drawer in the future that makes it easier. Go with standard size options, don't do anything custom. We usually go with a cabinet specific company that also installs, I think it's probably a bit cheaper than home depot lowe's, but I don't think either option is bad. 

I would 100% go with hardwood cabinets over particle board. We did that on one of our properties to save about $1,000-1,500 per unit and I regret it. They look nice, and they'll last decently well, but any water and it deteriorates way faster. And the hardwood options are basically plywood cabinets, not like a solid piece of wood cut from a tree. A quick Google search can explain the differences better than me. 

I would also go with a granite or quartz counter. It's extra money again, but more likely to last longer than Formica. If you are going to go Formica, there are different levels for it with better options for longevity, don't go for the cheapest option. I'm assuming if you're replacing cabinets you'll need new countertops. 

A couple more things to consider as you do this, and I've overseen 100+ apartment units renovation that we've owned and managed so I have some experience in this. 

- If you're already tearing out the cabinets, maybe see how much more it would be to re-pipe the water lines or re-place exposed sewer lines. You probably will already have to do some drywall patching from pulling out cabinets, now is a good time to do it while the cabinets are out. It'll be worse to have to do it after new cabinets are already in a lot of the time. 

- If you're doing new cabinets and countertops, look at what other comps rent for and what other improvements you could do to help raise the rent. Easy options are new appliances, flooring, light fixtures, mirrors, etc. Calculate your ROI by taking the annual rent increase and dividing it by the cost of renovation. ROI on value do the same but divide the increased value by the reno cost.

- If you're doing kitchen cabinets, do you want the bathroom vanity to match or does it also need replacing?

For some very rough numbers by the way, here's what I would be using. 

- Cabinets $4-7k hardwood installed, maybe more if it's a bigger kitchen and 2 bathroom vanities. 

- Counters $1,500-$3,000 quartz or granite

- Appliance set $1,800-3,000 depending on what you need, style and how nice. Anythig over $3k is too nice. No side-by-side fridges and take-out ice makers for C class in my opinion. Also, remove garbage disposals. If you don't have an over-the-range microwave ask an electrician how much to add a circuit, it could be pretty cheap, but it might be expensive too. Depends on the current setup. 

- Flooring $4-6/SF for 12 mil click plank supplied and installed, maybe $2-5/SF for glue down. Carpet is probably $1.50-3/SF but I'm less sure on that. Buy an extra box or two of planks to keep for future replacement if you do. 

Feel free to ask questions or DM if I can help more. 

 @Juliette Olsen Also, to answer this, we have pretty strict criteria. Firstly, you should come up with it and write it down somewhere. God forbid someone tries to claim you violated fair housing for denying them, you can point to your criteria and where they violated it and it had nothing to do with a protected class. If you want to take it a step further, email it to yourself or mail it to yourself so you have the postmark so you can show when it was created. 

Here's ours, you could also look at a bunch of listed homes for rent similar to yours and see what they list as their criteria or call the companies and ask to find out what others do. 

All adults who wish to live there must apply and pay app fees (it makes us money, but there is a cost to run background/credit checks too, so I would at least charge something, it also means the person applying is more serious)

3x rent combined verifiable income of applicants. Anyone self-employed is 2 years of tax returns. Child support and alimony we generally don't consider, social security and disability we do. 

620 credit score for all applicants, we will conditionally approve people slightly low on a case by case basis with increased security deposit

As a general rule, an applicant that has been convicted of a 1st Degree, 2nd Degree, Life, or Capital Felony, or any crime involving the sale or possession of controlled substances, within 10 years preceding the date of application within the last 10 years will be denied. We abide by the HUD General Counsel Guidance published April 4, 2016.

No outstanding balances for previous rentals, medical, and student debt we tend to be okay with, don't want to see a lot of outstanding collections in general. 

We use petscreening.com for any service or ESA animals, costs the landlord nothing.

Security deposit equal to 1 months rent or more. 

It's cheaper to be strict upfront with slightly longer vacancy than have unpaid rent in the future. 

 @Juliette Olsen we do manage long term rental properties in Orlando and there are plenty of great companies here, but obviously not all of them out there are great, so it might take a little work finding them. Happy to give some other names I think do a good job as well. 

Without going into crazy detail on things, here's the pros and cons of each

Self management is easy when everything goes well. It's not too hard to market it online, anyone can post to Zillow and pay for it, and people can apply right through there. You can pick someone, they can pay before they move in and if they're great people who pay on time, genuinely take care of the place, never cause or have issues, and pay on time consistently, then property management is easy. And that could very well be the case and may of our properties and residents are like that to a certain degree. 

The problem is we are always dealing with one issue or another across all the properties we manage, and some of them are awful, time sucking, soul sucking issues that are no fun to deal with; and we know what we're doing. If your self managing there are a lot of things you may not know, and if you don't have it set up right from the beginning or do something improperly you're going to have a really rough time. It could be something simple like making sure you have a legally compliant lease, or how to properly serve a 3-day notice for late rent, or could be more sophisticated of how to communicate with residents when their 4-year-old shoved their toy in the garbage disposal and they don't want to pay for it. Or maybe they are supposed to be taking care of the lawn and you get a letter from the city for violations because the grass is too tall. Or god forbid a pipe bursts or the sewers back up and you have to navigate that scenario. Even worse if it's at 2 AM. 

I don't know what's right for you, and with the online resources today being able to manage remotely only gets easier and easier, but property management is still a very labor-intensive business on average, and I would guess that eventually, a problem will pop up that you wish you weren't the one that had to deal with it. However, if you are okay with tackling those problems, then you can save a good chunk of change every year by doing it yourself.