All Forum Posts by: Christian Ehlers

The team is almost more important than the market especially when investing out of state. It does seem like there's a lot of positive factors working for Cleveland though, and I've been hearing about it more and more often so I feel this will be one of the next hot spots for investors from BP, kind of like parts of Florida and Texas have been the past few years. 

@Karan More I'd also say it's unlikely we see rates drop to 6% within 6 months or even a year, however if you find the right deal and the seller is actually motivated you shouldn't have any problem negotiating enough closing costs to use for a 2-1 Rate buy down. If the rate is 8% then that means you'd be at 6% for year 1, 7% for year 2, and the full 8% every year after, however that gives a 2 year window for rates to come down and you can refinance. 

Don't put yourself in a situation where you won't be able to make the payments if you can't refi within a year or even two, the deal must make sense long term incase things don't go according to plan. 

Thank you! @Bonnie Low I am familiar with Jessie's youtube channel and he's been a great help. I have a few of those factors going for me so hopefully that will help. Appreciate your time writing out that response

Good Luck Kelby! You're in a great spot and regardless of how this works out you'll have gained great experience to bring with you to the next deal. 

Quote from @Bonnie Low:

Have you looked at how your competition is priced on furnished finder? That's where I'd start, especially since you already have it posted. There. You can also search for 30+ day stays on airbnb in your area and see what similar properties are renting for. More and more travelers are using Furnished Finder now, whereas historically it was created for travel nurses. Because other types of travelers are flocking to it, I think there's a lot of confusion in the way people are pricing their properties. For example, you may have a 2/1 unit that someone has traditionally priced for travel nurses. Let's say they're asking $1600/mo. You may see a similar 2/1 unit that someone is advertising for $2500/mo. The difference may be that the more expensive property is being listed by someone who is used to renting it out as an STR and is hoping to get the same kind of rates as a midterm rental. An even better example would be a 3/2 listed for $2500/mo vs. a very similar 3/2 listed for $5000/mo. This could be a case of one person thinking their clientele is going to be a business traveler or rent-by-room to travel nurses and the more expensive listing targeting insurance placements. All that is to say that it's a little bit of the wild west right now with regards to pricing, but look at your competition, be honest about how your property compares to theirs in all ways (location, configuration, amenities) and price accordingly. You can always adjust your pricing.

Thanks Bonnie I will definitely dig into that more. That’s been part of the confusion for sure, as from what I can tell people get the most $$ for insurance claims, so doing that would be ideal I just don’t have any of those relationships built yet with the people who actually place families after they file a claim

Hi! I have a property currently being used as an STR in Jax Beach and would love to know if anybody could help me determine the best way to advertise this to rent it out Midterm during the winter, and ball park what I could expect to get for rents? I have 2 years experience in the STR space but Mid term is newer to me, so all I have is the property up on furnished finder. Thanks in advance for any advise!

If you are texting them/calling them on your cell phone then they will reach out to you directly anytime they have an issue. Be sure to use a simple property management software that can collect rents, allow them to submit maintenance requests, etc, without your direct involvement every step of the way. 

After househacking the first property there's really no point in selling after only 1 year unless you are in severe financial trouble at that point. You can only have 1 FHA loan in your name at a time but you could buy another property after 1-2 years with a conventional 5% down loan and househack that as well and you can use a portion of the rental income to help you qualify for the payment.

Don't overthink it, househack if you can to start, keep educating yourself and saving money and you'll figure out how to buy the next properties afterwards. 

Hey Anthony, your lender should be able to give you an estimated breakdown of closing costs in general and also for any specific property you are looking into buying. I don't love using percentages because it varies market to market depending on price points, property taxes, and other factors. 

You can also use closing cost calculators online from many local title companies. 

Seller finance would be a clean and simpler way to set this up if you have money for a downpayment but cannot qualify for a traditional loan. If they are worried about the mortgage having the Due on Sale clause called you could set it up as a contract for deed instead so that the title doesn't transfer to you and the due on sale can't be called.